Final answer:
Altruism in sociobiology is explained by the concept of inclusive fitness, which involves behaviors that may decrease an individual's personal fitness but increase the likelihood of genetic relatives' success. This is often due to kin selection, an evolutionary strategy that favors the reproductive success of an organism's relatives, sometimes at the cost of the organism's own survival.
Step-by-step explanation:
Sociobiologists explain altruism by invoking the concept of inclusive fitness. This concept considers not only the individual's own reproductive success but also the impact an individual's actions have on the reproductive success of their genetic relatives. This form of fitness considers the shared genes passed on through relatives, making the seemingly altruistic behaviors advantageous in terms of genetic survival. One key mechanism through which altruism operates is kin selection, where individuals may engage in behaviors that benefit their relatives, even at a cost to themselves, thereby increasing their inclusive fitness.
Examples of such behaviors include bees working for the hive without reproducing themselves, meerkats standing guard to alert their colony, and wolves sharing meat with absent pack members. While these actions decrease the individual's direct fitness, they benefit the relatives who share a significant proportion of their genes, thus contributing to the individual's inclusive fitness. Evolutionary game theory has suggested that many actions regarded as altruistic may actually convey indirect benefits to the individual, underpinning their evolutionary persistence.