Evolution of Cooperation: Combining Kin Selection and Active Linking into Matrix Games with Social Dilemma

Darwinian selection should exclude cooperation from evolution. However, cooperative behavior is common among organisms. The problem that how do kin selection and dynamic linking work together to promote the evolution of cooperation in the diverse 2 × 2 matrix games (prisoner's dilemma, snowdrift, and hawk-dove) is considered in this paper. Kin selection is considered to comprise non-random interactions with the same strategy, rather than random interactions; at the same time, we think of interact between individuals as random and not involving kin selection. Linking dynamics between individuals are considered in random interactions. Thus, we decided to combine kin selection and active linking into a general matrix model. The results show that both mechanisms promote the evolution of cooperation in prisoner's dilemma, snowdrift, and hawk-dove games. Moreover, we conducted numerical simulation for the three games and concluded that kin selection promotes the evolution of cooperative behavior in the population by comparing the effects of kin selection parameters on the change in the proportion of cooperators.