  We are living in an uncertain and dynamically changing world, where optimal
decision-making under uncertainty is directly linked to the survival of
species. However, evolutionary selection pressures that shape value-based
decision-making under uncertainty have thus far received limited attention.
Here, we demonstrate that fitness associated with different value-based
decision-making preferences is influenced by the value properties of the
environment, as well as the characteristics and the density of competitors in
the population. We show that risk-seeking tendencies will eventually dominate
the population, when there are a relatively large number of discrete strategies
competing in volatile value environments. These results may have important
implications for behavioural ecology: (i) to inform the prediction that species
which naturally exhibit risk-averse characteristics and live alongside
risk-seeking competitors may be selected against; (ii) to potentially improve
our understanding of day-traders value-based decision-making preferences in
volatile financial markets in terms of an environmental adaptation.
