Comparison of the Reconciliation Behavior of Stumptail and Rhesus Macaques

Abstract

Observations were made following spontaneous aggressive incidents in a breeding group of captive stumptail macaques (Macaca arctoides). Participants were observed both during the first 10 min following the aggressive incident, and during matched‐control observations. Data on 670 pairs of former opponents were collected, and compared with a sample of 573 such pairs of rhesus macaques (M. mulatta), which had been observed with identical methods in a previous study. Selective attraction between opponents was confirmed for the stumptail monkeys, i.e. both the absolute and the relative rate of nonagonistic body contact between individuals increased after aggression between them. The species was found to be considerably more conciliatory than rhesus monkeys, and to have a remarkably rich repertoire of reassurance gestures. The most characteristic conciliatory behavior is the hold‐bottom ritual, in which one individual (usually the subordinate) presents its hindquarters, and the other (usually the dominant) clasps the other's haunches. The high rate of reconciliation among stumptail monkeys extended to all relationship classes, and a correlation with the closeness of social bonds (measured as time spent in association) could not be demonstrated. Because of the generality of the species' high peacemaking tendencies it is assumed that group cohesiveness is of great survival value in the wild.

Reconciliation, consolation and postconflict behavioral specificity in chimpanzees

“…Kiss and embrace represented a significant proportion of behaviors used for reconciliation and consolation, and both were found to be more likely to occur during PCs than MCs. This supports the view that chimpanzees exhibit ''explicit'' as opposed to ''implicit'' postconflict affiliation [de Waal & Ren, 1988], although, contrary to de Waal & van Roosmalen's [1979] findings, both behaviors were equally likely to be used for reconciliation and consolation. If behavioral specificity enables dominance-subordination relationships to be reaffirmed [de Waal, 1986[de Waal, , 1993, it is unclear why kiss and embrace would be employed given that those behaviors provide no clear signal about the relative status of the partners.…”

“…Species with tolerant social systems, which are characterized by high rates of reconciliation, may be more likely to employ ''explicit'' forms of reconciliation, using behaviors rarely used outside a conciliatory context [de Waal & Ren, 1988]. In these species, behavioral specificity, i.e.…”

The interpersonal function of pain

“…Formation of social resources may draw upon features associated with personal experience and expression of pain as well as responses to pain by others. For instance, both human and animal research suggests that prolonged suffering (as often accompanies chronic pain; [7]) is associated with increased likelihood of sufferer appeasement behaviour [3,8,10]; appeasement describes efforts to placate or pacify others in situations of potential or actual conflict. In this way, it is possible that expressions of vulnerability associated with pain may contribute to reduced social tensions and associated consolidation of social bonds.…”

Conciliatory gestures promote forgiveness and reduce anger in humans

“…Following conflict, many nonhuman social vertebrates selectively increase physical proximity with their former opponents and/or engage in postconflict affiliative interaction with them, which animal behavioral researchers have labeled "reconciliation" (15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20). The relational model of aggression (21)(22)(23) posits that the evolved function of reconciliation is to restore valuable relationships.…”

“…Furthermore, humans are capable of forgiving transgressors without reconciling with them, and vice versa (3). Despite these distinctions, reconciliation in nonhuman animals appears to depend on relationship qualities such as value, security, and compatibility (15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(25)(26)(27)(28). To the extent that the same is true of humans, the widespread prevalence of forgiveness in human societies and human interaction (2, 3) might attest to the fact that humans, like many other group-living animals, possess evolved mechanisms whose function is to inhibit revenge and restore cooperative social interaction following conflict.…”