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Evolutionarily stable preferences

Author

Listed:
  • Ingela Alger

    (TSE-R - Toulouse School of Economics - UT Capitole - Université Toulouse Capitole - Comue de Toulouse - Communauté d'universités et établissements de Toulouse - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement)

Abstract

The 50-year old concept of an evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS) provided a key tool for theorists to model ultimate drivers of behavior in social interactions. For decades economists ignored ultimate drivers and used models in which individuals choose strategies based on their preferences-a proximate mechanism for behavior-and the distribution of preferences in the population was taken to be fixed and given. This article summarizes some key findings in the literature on evolutionarily stable preferences, which in the past three decades has proposed models that combine the two approaches: individuals inherit their preferences, the preferences determine their strategy choices, which in turn determines evolutionary success. One objective is to highlight complementarities and potential avenues for future collaboration between biologists and economists.

Suggested Citation

  • Ingela Alger, 2023. "Evolutionarily stable preferences," Working Papers hal-03929518, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03929518
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-03929518v1
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Ingela Alger & Laurent Lehmann, 2023. "Evolution of Semi-Kantian Preferences in Two-Player Assortative Interactions with Complete and Incomplete Information and Plasticity," Dynamic Games and Applications, Springer, vol. 13(4), pages 1288-1319, December.
    2. Boris van Leeuwen & Ingela Alger, 2024. "Estimating Social Preferences and Kantian Morality in Strategic Interactions," Journal of Political Economy Microeconomics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 2(4), pages 665-706.
    3. Qi Su & Alexander J. Stewart, 2025. "Evolutionary dynamics of behavioral motivations for cooperation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-12, December.
    4. Pau Juan-Bartroli & Jos'e Ignacio Rivero-Wildemauwe, 2025. "Social preferences or moral concerns: What drives rejections in the Ultimatum game?," Papers 2510.22086, arXiv.org.
    5. Ingela Alger & José Ignacio Rivero-Wildemauwe, 2024. "Doing the right thing (or not) in a lemons-like situation: on the role of social preferences and Kantian moral concerns," Working Papers hal-04578697, HAL.
    6. repec:osf:socarx:9yjes_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Debora Princepe & Onofrio Mazzarisi & Erol Akcay & Simon A. Levin & Matteo Marsili, 2025. "The pursuit of happiness," Papers 2506.10537, arXiv.org.
    8. Alger, Ingela & Rivero-Wildemauwe, José Ignacio, 2024. "Does a veil of ignorance trigger the inner Kantian in us?," TSE Working Papers 24-1531, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE), revised Nov 2025.
    9. Ingela Alger & Sergey Gavrilets & Patrick Durkee, 2024. "Proximate and ultimate drivers of norms and norm change," Working Papers hal-04758853, HAL.
    10. Christian Hilbe & Maria Kleshnina & Kateřina Staňková, 2023. "Evolutionary Games and Applications: Fifty Years of ‘The Logic of Animal Conflict’," Dynamic Games and Applications, Springer, vol. 13(4), pages 1035-1048, December.
    11. repec:osf:socarx:9yjes_v2 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Pérez Velilla, Alejandro & Beheim, Bret & Smaldino, Paul E., 2025. "The Development of Risk Attitudes and their Cultural Transmission," SocArXiv 9yjes, Center for Open Science.
    13. Wang, Xiaoyue & He, Zhixue & Chen, Ju & Zhang, Mingjuan & Shi, Lei, 2025. "Balancing peer preference and payoff pursuit in migration shapes social cohesion within unequal endowment populations," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).

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