Prosociality in a despotic society

Debottam Bhattacharjee; Eythan Cousin; Lena S. Pflüger; Jorg J.M. Massen

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2023.106587

Prosociality in a despotic society

Debottam Bhattacharjee^*, Eythan Cousin, Lena S. Pflüger, Jorg J.M. Massen

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Prosociality is the intent to improve others’ well-being. Existing hypotheses postulate that enhanced social tolerance and inter-individual dependence may facilitate prosocial preferences, which may favor the evolution of altruism. While most studies are restricted to “tolerant” (cooperatively breeding and self-domesticated) species, despotic societies provide an alternative opportunity to investigate prosociality due to nepotism and ample inter-individual dependencies. Japanese macaques live in hierarchical matrilineal societies, with strong kin bonds. Besides, tolerance among non-kin may persist through reciprocity. Using a group service food-provision paradigm, we found prosocial preferences in a semi free-ranging group of Japanese macaques. The extent of provisioning was at levels comparable to tolerant species. Dyadic tolerance predicted the likelihood and magnitude of provisioning, while kinship predicted the magnitude. We emphasize the role of a complex socio-ecology fostering individual prosocial tendencies through kinship and tolerance. These findings necessitate a framework including different forms of interdependence beyond the generally tolerant species.

Original language	English
Article number	106587
Pages (from-to)	1-19
Number of pages	19
Journal	iScience
Volume	26
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2023.106587
Publication status	Published - 19 May 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We are thankful to Affenberg Zoobetriebsgesellschaft mbH and its directors, Peter and Svenja Gaubatz, for allowing us to conduct the research. We thank all animal caretakers for their excellent care and assistance and especially Max Dorner for building the apparatuses. The study received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions research and innovation program under grant number H2020-MSCA-IF-2019-893016 awarded to D.B.

Funding Information:
We are thankful to Affenberg Zoobetriebsgesellschaft mbH and its directors, Peter and Svenja Gaubatz, for allowing us to conduct the research. We thank all animal caretakers for their excellent care and assistance and especially Max Dorner for building the apparatuses. The study received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions research and innovation program under grant number H2020-MSCA-IF-2019-893016 awarded to D.B. Conceptualization: D.B. J.J.M.M.; Methodology: D.B. J.J.M.M.; Investigation: D.B. E.C.; Data Curation: D.B. E.C.; Visualization: D.B. J.J.M.M.; Supervision: L.S.P. J.J.M.M.; Writing—original draft: D.B.; Writing—review & editing: D.B. L.S.P. J.J.M.M. The authors declare no competing interests. We support inclusive, diverse, and equitable conduct of research.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s)

Funding

We are thankful to Affenberg Zoobetriebsgesellschaft mbH and its directors, Peter and Svenja Gaubatz, for allowing us to conduct the research. We thank all animal caretakers for their excellent care and assistance and especially Max Dorner for building the apparatuses. The study received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions research and innovation program under grant number H2020-MSCA-IF-2019-893016 awarded to D.B. We are thankful to Affenberg Zoobetriebsgesellschaft mbH and its directors, Peter and Svenja Gaubatz, for allowing us to conduct the research. We thank all animal caretakers for their excellent care and assistance and especially Max Dorner for building the apparatuses. The study received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions research and innovation program under grant number H2020-MSCA-IF-2019-893016 awarded to D.B. Conceptualization: D.B. J.J.M.M.; Methodology: D.B. J.J.M.M.; Investigation: D.B. E.C.; Data Curation: D.B. E.C.; Visualization: D.B. J.J.M.M.; Supervision: L.S.P. J.J.M.M.; Writing—original draft: D.B.; Writing—review & editing: D.B. L.S.P. J.J.M.M. The authors declare no competing interests. We support inclusive, diverse, and equitable conduct of research.

Keywords

Biological sciences
Evolutionary biology
Zoology

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10.1016/j.isci.2023.106587Licence: CC BY

PIIS2589004223006648Final published version, 2.65 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Prosociality in a despotic society",

abstract = "Prosociality is the intent to improve others{\textquoteright} well-being. Existing hypotheses postulate that enhanced social tolerance and inter-individual dependence may facilitate prosocial preferences, which may favor the evolution of altruism. While most studies are restricted to “tolerant” (cooperatively breeding and self-domesticated) species, despotic societies provide an alternative opportunity to investigate prosociality due to nepotism and ample inter-individual dependencies. Japanese macaques live in hierarchical matrilineal societies, with strong kin bonds. Besides, tolerance among non-kin may persist through reciprocity. Using a group service food-provision paradigm, we found prosocial preferences in a semi free-ranging group of Japanese macaques. The extent of provisioning was at levels comparable to tolerant species. Dyadic tolerance predicted the likelihood and magnitude of provisioning, while kinship predicted the magnitude. We emphasize the role of a complex socio-ecology fostering individual prosocial tendencies through kinship and tolerance. These findings necessitate a framework including different forms of interdependence beyond the generally tolerant species.",

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Prosociality in a despotic society

Abstract

Bibliographical note

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Keywords

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