Group augmentation, collective action, and territorial boundary patrols by male chimpanzees
Year: 2017
Type: article
Abstract: Significance Many animals, especially humans, carry out activities collectively because the benefits of doing so exceed those that can be achieved individually. But how can collective action evolve when individuals receive the benefits of cooperation regardless of whether they pay the costs of participation? Collective action may be especially difficult to achieve when groups are large, because each individual’s contribution has a small effect on the outcome. We show that group augmentation theory helps explain one of the most striking examples of collective action in nonhuman primates, territorial boundary patrolling by male chimpanzees: Males bear the short-term costs of patrolling even when they have little to gain immediately because patrolling enhances group size, increasing the male’s chances of future reproduction.
Language: English
Topic: Primate Behavior and Ecology
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funders: National Science Foundation, Wenner-Gren Foundation, Primate Conservation, Yale University, Leakey Foundation, National Geographic Society, Boston University, University of Michigan, Arizona State University, Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging
OpenAlex ID: W2662421659