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green-beard effect. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
green-beard effect, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
green-beard effect in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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English
Etymology
From a hypothetical example used in Richard Dawkins' book The Selfish Gene (1976), whereby a person with a green beard acts altruistically towards other people with green beards.
Proper noun
green-beard effect
- (biology) A hypothesis in evolutionary biology that explains selective altruism among individuals of a species, involving preferential treatment of individuals with certain characteristics.