Social Bonds

Question 1

What are some data to suggest humans are innately social?

Answer 1

Polar explorers, after months of extreme isolation, experienced a reduction in cognitive function

Question 2

What does sociality consist of:

Answer 2

1) Social status
2) Social integration
3) Early life adversity

Question 3

What is the evolutionary benefit of social bonds?

Answer 3

Bonds are a way to increase RS in the context of the socioecological model, where stronger/stable bonds = more likely to live longer

Question 4

Why do female-female bonds form?

Answer 4

1) Defense against males (e.g., bonobo coalitions)
2) Competition with other females (e.g., dominance hierarchies in baboons)

Question 5

What do social relationships among FF in FF-bonded groups look like?

Answer 5

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

Question 6

What is the pattern seen with social relationships and infant success?

Answer 6

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

Question 7

What is the pattern observed with social relationships and longevity?

Answer 7

Aging = higher mortality rate (mainly due to predation), but those with good relationships, for any given age, are more likely to survive

Question 8

What is an example of a species that exhibits rare male-male bonds?

Answer 8

Savanna baboons, where lower-ranking males form coalitions for consortships

Question 9

Which species commonly has male-male bonds?

Answer 9

Chimpanzees (male philopatric) and Assamese macaques (female philopatric)

Question 10

What are male-male bonds useful for?

Answer 10

Alliances (correlated with grooming, proximity, etc) to achieve and maintain dominance

Question 11

What is polyadic aggression?

Answer 11

2 or more individuals acting together in aggression against others and includes
1) Coalitions
2) Alliances

Question 12

What is a coalition?

Answer 12

An interaction that does not necessarily indicate long-term ally-ship

Question 13

What is an alliance?

Answer 13

A relationship where partners are long-term allies (social bond)

Question 14

In chimpanzees, what are the difference in cues between dominant and subordinate individuals?

Answer 14

1) Dominant individuals have their hair erect, stand bipedally
2) Subordinates look small, give submissive grunts or screams

Question 15

What kind of coalitions do chimpanzees form?

Answer 15

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

Question 16

What is the female aim in terms of mating?

Answer 16

Paternity confusion

Question 17

What is the male aim in terms of mating?

Answer 17

Paternity certainty

Question 18

What are some politics that have been observed in chimpanzee society?

Answer 18

Alpha males maintain reproductive access but subordinate male chimpanzees exchange political support for mating opportunities

Question 19

Why are Assamese macaques unique in terms of their social system?

Answer 19

They are female philopatric but maintain strong male-male bonds (amongst non-kin)

Question 20

What are the benefits of maintaining male-male bonds in Assamese macaques?

Answer 20

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

Question 21

What are some constraints against male-female bonds?

Answer 21

1) Sex philopatry
2) Male RS is increased by limiting association with females after fertilization

Question 22

What are the benefits of male-female bonds to males?

Answer 22

1) Potentially mating effort (signals good quality mate)
2) Increased social support
3) Possible paternal care (probable offspring, or increased mating chance)

Question 23

What are the benefits of male-female bonds to females?

Answer 23

1) Help with offspring
2) Increased access to resources
3) Protection against predation, aggression, infanticide

Question 24

What do chimpanzee relationships look like between females and males?

Answer 24

1) Male-male > female-male > female-female
2) Male-female associations increase during estrus (attentive toward female receptivity)

Question 25

How are friendships properly defined?

Answer 25

By a break in a frequency distribution of proximity scores (characterization of who an individual associates with)

Question 26

In Chacma baboons, which sex maintains friendships?

Answer 26

Females are the ones to actively maintain their relationship with males

Question 27

What is the Hinde index?

Answer 27

Measure of which sex is approaching and which sex is withdrawing from the interaction

Question 28

How do friendships affect infants?

Answer 28

Friendships reduce rough infant handling and distress

Question 29

Do chimpanzees form friendships?

Answer 29

No