Work

Capuchin Monkeys Display Affiliation Toward Humans Who Imitate Them

Year: 2009

Type: article

Abstract: During social interactions, humans often unconsciously and unintentionally imitate the behaviors of others, which increases rapport, liking, and empathy between interaction partners. This effect is thought to be an evolutionary adaptation that facilitates group living and may be shared with other primate species. Here, we show that capuchin monkeys, a highly social primate species, prefer human imitators over non-imitators in a variety of ways: The monkeys look longer at imitators, spend more time in proximity to imitators, and choose to interact more frequently with imitators in a token exchange task. These results demonstrate that imitation can promote affiliation in nonhuman primates. Behavior matching that leads to prosocial behaviors toward others may have been one of the mechanisms at the basis of altruistic behavioral tendencies in capuchins and in other primates, including humans.

Source: Science

DOI: 10.1126/science.1176269

Authors: Annika Paukner, Stephen J. Suomi, Elisabetta Visalberghi, Pier F. Ferrari

Institutions: National Institutes of Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Research Council, Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, University of Parma

Language: English

Topic: Primate Behavior and Ecology

Subfield: Social Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Institutes of Health

Award: G1667031398