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Prosociality in a despotic society
Debottam Bhattacharjee1, Eythan Cousin1,2, Lena S Pflüger3,4
1Animal Behavior & Cognition, Department of Biology, Utrecht University, Padualaan 8, 3584 CH Utrecht, the Netherlands.
Iscience
|May 1, 2023
Summary
Japanese macaques exhibit prosocial preferences, providing food for others. Social tolerance and kinship significantly influenced their willingness to share, highlighting complex socio-ecologies in fostering altruism.
Area of Science:
- Primatology
- Behavioral Ecology
- Evolutionary Anthropology
Background:
- Prosociality, the intent to benefit others, is hypothesized to evolve through social tolerance and interdependence.
- Most research focuses on tolerant species, yet despotic societies offer unique insights into prosociality due to nepotism and strong dependencies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate prosocial preferences in Japanese macaques, a species with a despotic social structure.
- To examine the roles of kinship and dyadic tolerance in modulating prosocial behavior within this species.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a group service food-provision paradigm with semi free-ranging Japanese macaques.
- Quantified the extent of food provisioning and analyzed the influence of kinship and dyadic tolerance on these behaviors.
Main Results:
- Japanese macaques demonstrated significant prosocial preferences, providing food for conspecifics at levels comparable to tolerant species.
- Dyadic tolerance was a key predictor for both the likelihood and magnitude of provisioning.
- Kinship was found to predict the magnitude of provisioning, but not its likelihood.
Conclusions:
- Complex socio-ecological factors, including kinship and tolerance, foster prosocial tendencies in Japanese macaques.
- Findings suggest that frameworks for understanding prosociality should incorporate diverse forms of interdependence beyond those found in typically tolerant species.
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