Bluesky

Facebook

Access through your institution

Buy or subscribe

Ever since Charles Darwin, scientists studying evolution have grappled with how cooperative behaviours that are costly to an individual but beneficial to others can be consistent with maximal fitness. In 1981, writing in Science, Robert Axelrod and William D. Hamilton1 presented key findings on how such cooperation can evolve. They accomplished this by weaving together two emerging ideas of the time in this area of research.

Access options

Access through your institution

Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals

Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription

$32.99 / 30 days

cancel any time

Learn more

Subscribe to this journal

Receive 51 print issues and online access

$199.00 per year

only $3.90 per issue

Learn more

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 651, 894-895 (2026)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-00802-7

References

- Axelrod, R. & Hamilton, W. D. Science 211, 1390–1396 (1981).

Article

PubMed

Google Scholar

- Maynard Smith, J. & Price, G. R. Nature 246, 15–18 (1973).

Article

Google Scholar

- Trivers, R. L. Q. Rev. Biol. 46, 35–57 (1971).

Article

Google Scholar

- Hamilton, W. D. J. Theor. Biol. 7, 1–16 (1964).

Article

PubMed

Google Scholar

- Rapoport, A. & Chammah, A. M. Prisoner’s Dilemma: A Study in Conflict and Cooperation (Univ. Michigan Press, 1965).

Google Scholar

- Hammerstein, P. in Genetic and Cultural Evolution of Cooperation (ed. Hammerstein, P.) 83–93 (MIT Press, 2003).

Google Scholar

- Clutton-Brock, T. Nature 462, 51–57 (2009).

Article

PubMed

Google Scholar

- Wu, J. & Axelrod, R. J. Conflict Resolut. 39, 183–189 (1995).

Article

Google Scholar

- Sugden, R. The Economics of Rights, Co-operation and Welfare (Blackwell, 1986).

Google Scholar

- Lenfesty, H., Mathew, S., Fikes, T., Ross, C. T. & Boyd, R. Proc. R. Soc. B 291, 20240861 (2024).

Article

PubMed

Google Scholar

- van Veelen, M., García, J., Rand, D. G. & Nowak, M. A. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 109, 9929–9934 (2012).

Article

PubMed

Google Scholar

- Graser, C. & van Veelen, M. Tinbergen Institute Discussion Paper No. TI 2024-022/I (2024).

- Mathew, S. & Boyd, R. Preprint at PsyArXiv https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/e5zuc_v1 (2026).

- Hruschka, D. J. & Henrich, J. J. Theor. Biol. 239, 1–15 (2006).

Article

PubMed

Google Scholar

- Leimar, O. & Bshary, R. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 121, e2317736121 (2024).

Article

PubMed

Google Scholar

- Xue, M. & Silk, J. B. Evol. Hum. Behav. 33, 17–25 (2012).

Article

Google Scholar

Download references

Reprints and permissions

Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Read the paper: The Evolution of Cooperation

Why reciprocity is common in humans but rare in other animals

The role and rule of relatedness in altruism

See all News & Views

Subjects

Evolution

Human behaviour

Latest on:

Evolution

Human behaviour

Paul R. Ehrlich obituary: pioneering ecologist who caused controversy by predicting a ‘population bomb’

Obituary 20 MAR 26

Local agricultural transition, crisis and migration in the Southern Andes

Article 18 MAR 26

Adaptive evolution of gene regulatory networks in mammalian neocortex

Article 18 MAR 26

AI set to map risks of future climate disasters

World View 18 MAR 26

Knock knock, no one’s there. Study finds scientists’ jokes mostly fall flat

News 18 MAR 26

AI can ‘same-ify’ human expression — can some brains resist its pull?

News 11 MAR 26

Jobs

Open Rank Faculty Position in Engineering - School of Science and Engineering

The School of Science and Engineering (SSE) at theCUHK-Shenzhen sincerely invites applications for Tenure/Teaching/Research Stream faculty positions

Shenzhen, China

The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen - School of Science and Engineering

Open Rank Faculty Position in Science - School of Science and Engineering

The School of Science and Engineering (SSE) at theCUHK-Shenzhen sincerely invites applications for Tenure/Teaching/Research Stream faculty positions

Shenzhen, China

The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen - School of Science and Engineering

Global Recruitment for Faculty, Postdocs, and Specialists at Hangzhou Institute of Medicine, CAS

Seeking exceptional Senior/Junior PIs, Postdocs, and Core Specialists globally year-round

Hangzhou, China

Hangzhou Institute of Medicine Chinese Academy of Sciences (HIMCAS)

Faculty Positions in School of Engineering, Westlake University

The School of Engineering at Westlake University is seeking to fill multiple tenured or tenure-track faculty positions in all ranks.

Hangzhou, Zhejiang (CN)

Westlake University

Global Talent Recruitment Announcement o

Forty-five years of progress after a key paper about the evolution of cooperation