Synergy effect of strategy diversity and persistence promotes cooperation

Cooperation is a ubiquitous phenomenon in the real world, even in highly competitive environments, which seems to defy the principles of natural selection. The factors of strategic heterogeneity and persistence are crucial in fostering cooperation, and numerous studies have been devoted to unraveling their effects. However, the intricate interplay between these two elements has seldom been explored. In this research, we present a dual-mechanism framework that encompasses both the diversity of cooperation strategies and the adaptive persistence with which individuals adhere to their chosen strategies. Numerical simulations reveal that the synergistic effect of these dual mechanisms can significantly and stably increase the number of non-defective agents, particularly in situations where the temptation to defect is high. Moreover, despite being presented with a multitude of cooperation strategies, agents tend to converge on a single preferred strategy. When agents shift their preference from a high cooperation strategy to a low cooperation strategy, there is an increase in the number of non-defective agents, yet the global cooperation willingness remains unchanged.