Social Bonds Flashcards
What are some data to suggest humans are innately social?
Polar explorers, after months of extreme isolation, experienced a reduction in cognitive function
What does sociality consist of:
1) Social status
2) Social integration
3) Early life adversity
What is the evolutionary benefit of social bonds?
Bonds are a way to increase RS in the context of the socioecological model, where stronger/stable bonds = more likely to live longer
Why do female-female bonds form?
1) Defense against males (e.g., bonobo coalitions)
2) Competition with other females (e.g., dominance hierarchies in baboons)
What do social relationships among FF in FF-bonded groups look like?
1) Higher rank = higher feeding and RS
2) Youngest ascendancy within families
3) Coalitions where there is biased support of kin (supporting higher-ranking individual)
4) Few reversals in rank, where between family rankings are more important
What is the pattern seen with social relationships and infant success?
Infants of social mothers tend to survive more as social relationships:
1) Buffers difficult environments
2) Increases access to resources
3) Lowers rate of harassment
4) Lowers mother’s stress
What is the pattern observed with social relationships and longevity?
Aging = higher mortality rate (mainly due to predation), but those with good relationships, for any given age, are more likely to survive
What is an example of a species that exhibits rare male-male bonds?
Savanna baboons, where lower-ranking males form coalitions for consortships
Which species commonly has male-male bonds?
Chimpanzees (male philopatric) and Assamese macaques (female philopatric)
What are male-male bonds useful for?
Alliances (correlated with grooming, proximity, etc) to achieve and maintain dominance
What is polyadic aggression?
2 or more individuals acting together in aggression against others and includes
1) Coalitions
2) Alliances
What is a coalition?
An interaction that does not necessarily indicate long-term ally-ship
What is an alliance?
A relationship where partners are long-term allies (social bond)
In chimpanzees, what are the difference in cues between dominant and subordinate individuals?
1) Dominant individuals have their hair erect, stand bipedally
2) Subordinates look small, give submissive grunts or screams
What kind of coalitions do chimpanzees form?
Mate-guarding coalitions (by males) to
1) Maintain close proximity to females
2) Chase/attack other males that try to mate
3) Attack/coerce the female
What is the female aim in terms of mating?
Paternity confusion
What is the male aim in terms of mating?
Paternity certainty
What are some politics that have been observed in chimpanzee society?
Alpha males maintain reproductive access but subordinate male chimpanzees exchange political support for mating opportunities
Why are Assamese macaques unique in terms of their social system?
They are female philopatric but maintain strong male-male bonds (amongst non-kin)
What are the benefits of maintaining male-male bonds in Assamese macaques?
1) Males with strong bonds increase their dominance success or maintain high status
2) Males that fail to bond dropped in rank or stayed at the bottom
3) More social = higher RS
What are some constraints against male-female bonds?
1) Sex philopatry
2) Male RS is increased by limiting association with females after fertilization
What are the benefits of male-female bonds to males?
1) Potentially mating effort (signals good quality mate)
2) Increased social support
3) Possible paternal care (probable offspring, or increased mating chance)
What are the benefits of male-female bonds to females?
1) Help with offspring
2) Increased access to resources
3) Protection against predation, aggression, infanticide
What do chimpanzee relationships look like between females and males?
1) Male-male > female-male > female-female
2) Male-female associations increase during estrus (attentive toward female receptivity)
