Editing Evolutionary game theory (section)

===Social behaviour===
[[File:Game Theory Strategic Social Alternatives.jpg|thumb|300px|Alternatives for game theoretic social interaction]]

Games like hawk dove and war of attrition represent pure competition between individuals and have no attendant social elements.  Where social influences apply, competitors have four possible alternatives for strategic interaction.  This is shown on the adjacent figure, where a plus sign represents a benefit and a minus sign represents a cost.

* In a ''cooperative'' or ''mutualistic'' relationship both "donor" and "recipient" are almost indistinguishable as both gain a benefit in the game by co-operating, i.e. the pair are in a game-wise situation where both can gain by executing a certain strategy,  or alternatively both must act in  concert because of some encompassing  constraints that effectively puts them  "in the same boat".
* In an ''altruistic'' relationship the donor, at a cost to themself provides a benefit to the recipient.  In the general case the recipient will have a kin relationship to the donor and the donation is one-way.  Behaviours where benefits are donated alternatively (in both directions) at a cost, are often called "altruistic", but on analysis such "altruism" can be seen to arise from optimised  "selfish" strategies.
* ''Spite'' is essentially a “reversed” form of cooperation where neither party receives a tangible benefit. The general case is that the ally is kin related and the benefit is an easier competitive environment for the ally.   <small>Note: George Price, one of the early mathematical modellers of both altruism and spite, found this equivalence particularly disturbing at an emotional level.</small><ref>{{cite book |author=Harman, O. |title=The Price of Altruism |date=2010 |publisher=Bodley Head |pages=Chapter 9 |isbn=978-1-847-92062-1}}</ref>
* ''Selfishness'' is the base criteria of all strategic choice from a game theory perspective – strategies not aimed at self-survival and self-replication are not long for any game. Critically however, this situation is impacted by the fact that competition is taking place on multiple levels  – i.e. at a genetic, an individual and a group level.