Life History Theory and Exploitative Strategies

Exploitative strategies involve depriving others of resources while enhancing one’s own. Life history theory suggests that there are individual differences (life history strategy) and environmental characteristics (life history contingencies [LHCs]) that influence the use of exploitative strategies. However, past work manipulating LHCs has found mixed evidence for the influence of this information on exploitative behavior. We present three studies that help clarify the effects of this type of information. Results indicated that younger individuals are most sensitive to LHC information. We also found, contrary to predictions, that communicating slow LHC information (i.e., high population density, intraspecific competition, and resource scarcity) increased rather than decreased the temptation to engage in exploitative behavior. Limitations and future directions are discussed.