CHARITY really does begin at home鈥攁t least with our closest
relatives.
To explain apparent altruistic behaviour, biologists came up with the idea
that people and animals help their kin so they can pass on their shared genes.
Until now no one has been able to show people really do behave this way.
George Fieldman鈥檚 team at Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College asked
64 students to perform a strenuous skiing exercise in return for a small cash
reward. They had to crouch with their back to a wall and thighs parallel to the
ground. The longer they could hold this position, the more money was on offer.
In different trials they were told they could either keep the cash, or it would
go to close or distant relatives, or to a friend.
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Students working for relatives sharing half their genes lasted for 80 seconds
on average. But they only lasted 65 seconds for those with whom they shared
one-eighth, and even less for friends. Not surprisingly, two minutes was the
norm when the participants pocketed the cash themselves.
The test proves that people will do more to help closer relatives, even when
there is a cost to themselves, says Fieldman. Other studies into human altruism
have been largely observational. But this is the first experiment testing what鈥檚
known as Hamilton鈥檚 rule, Fieldman told the Human Behavior and Evolution
conference in London last week.
Fieldman says that his students obey a 鈥済enetic rule of thumb鈥� even if they
are not actually thinking 鈥榯hese people have genes in common with me鈥�. The cue
is 鈥業 love this person鈥� and so I will pull out all the stops for them.鈥�