Researchers have conducted most studies on primate conflict management and resolution in captive settings. The few studies on groups of the same species in captivity and in the wild and the overall comparison across species of findings from studies in both settings have reported patterns of variation in the rates of various postconflict affinitive behaviors that may be setting related. In fact, some authors have claimed that the high rates of postconflict affiliation reported in captive studies could represent an artifact of captivity. I explored the claim and conclude that it is unjustified. I argue that the dichotomy captivity vs. wild is conceptually meaningless and scientists should abandon it as an explanatory variable, that differences across studies both in setting-related variables and in the methods used for assessing postconflict affiliation reduce the strength of comparisons within and across settings, that the empirical evidence thus far available neither allows adequate assessment nor supports any claim that links the rate of postconflict affiliation to captivity or wild conditions, and that studies conducted in both settings may be equally useful—and should be used—to test theoretically relevant hypotheses regarding the causes and predictors of variation in postconflict affiliation. Instead of asking the title question, I would ask which variables influence postconflict affiliation and then whether the variables are really associated only with one of the two settings.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Abbeg, C., Thierry, B., and Kaumanns, W. (1996). Reconciliation in three groups of lion-tailed macaques. Int. J. Primatol. 17: 803–816.
Arnold, K., and Barton, R. A. (2001a). Post-conflict behaviour of spectacled leaf monkeys (Trachypithecus obscurus). I. Reconciliation. Int. J. Primatol. 22: 243–265.
Arnold, K., and Barton, R. A. (2001b). Post-conflict behaviour of spectacled leaf monkeys (Trachypithecus obscurus). II. Contact with third-parties. Int. J. Primatol. 22: 267–286.
Arnold, K., and Whiten, A. (2001). Post-conflict behaviour of wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) in the Budongo forest, Uganda. Behaviour 138: 647–690.
Aureli, F. (1992). Post-Conflict Behaviour among wild long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis). Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 31: 329–337.
Aureli, F. (1997). Post-conflict anxiety in nonhuman primates: The mediating role of emotion in conflict resolution. Aggress. Behav. 23: 315–328.
Aureli, F., Cords, M., and van Schaik, C. P. (2002). Conflict resolution following aggression in gregarious animals: A predictive framework. Anim. Behav. 64: 325–341.
Aureli, F., Das, M., and Veenema, H. C. (1997). Differential kinship effect on reconciliation in three species of macaques (Macaca fascicularis, M. fuscata, and M. sylvanus). J. Comp. Psychol. 111: 91–99.
Aureli, F, Das, M., Verleur, D., and van Hooff, J. A. R. A. M. (1994). Post-conflict social interactions among Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus). Int. J. Primatol. 15: 471–485.
Aureli, F., and de Waal, F. B. M. (2000). Natural Conflict Resolution. University of California Press, Berkeley.
Aureli, F., and van Schaik, C. (1991). Post-conflict behaviour in long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis): I. The social events. Ethology 89: 89–100.
Aureli, F., van Schaik, C. P., and van Hooff, J. A. R. A. M. (1989). Functional aspects of reconciliation among captive long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis). Am. J. Primatol. 19: 39–51.
Aureli, F., Veenema, H. C., van Panthaleon van Eck, C. J., and van Hooff, J. A. R. A. M. (1993). Reconciliation, consolation, and redirection in Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata). Behaviour 124: 1–24.
Baker, K. C., and Smuts, B. B. (1994). Social relationships of female chimpanzees. Diversity between captive social groups. In Wrangham, R. W., McGrew, W. C., de Waal, F. B. M., and Heltne, P. G. (eds.), Chimpanzee Cultures. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, pp. 227–242.
Björnsdotter, M., Larsson, L., and Ljungberg, T. (2000). Post-conflict affiliation in two captive groups of black-and-white guereza Colobus guereza. Ethology 106: 289–300.
Call, J. (1999). The effect of inter-opponent distance on the occurrence of reconciliation in stumptail (Macaca arctoides) and rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). Primates 40: 515–523.
Call, J., Aureli, F., and de Waal, F. B. M. (1999). Reconciliation patterns among stumptailed macaques: A multivariate approach. Anim. Behav. 58: 165–172.
Call, J., Aureli, F., and de Waal, F. B. M. (2002). Post-conflict third-party affiliation in stumptailed macaques. Anim. Behav. 63: 209–216.
Call, J., Judge, P. G., and de Waal, F. B. M. (1996). Influence of kinship and spatial density on reconciliation and grooming in rhesus monkeys. Am. J. Primatol. 39: 35–45.
Castles, D. L., Aureli, F., and de Waal, F. B. M. (1996). Variation in conciliatory tendency and relationship quality across groups of pigtail macaques. Anim. Behav. 52: 389–403.
Castles, D., and Whiten, A. (1998). Post-conflict behaviour of wild olive baboons. I. Reconciliation, redirection and consolation. Ethology 104: 126–147.
Chaffin, C. L., Friedlen, K., and de Waal, F. B. M. (1995). Dominance style of Japanese macaques compared with rhesus and stumptail macaques. Am. J. Primatol. 35: 103–116.
Chapais, B. (1995). Alliances as a means of competition in primates: Evolutionary, developmental, and cognitive aspects. Yearb. Phys. Anthropol. 38: 115–136.
Cheney, D. L., and Seyfarth, R. M. (1989). Redirected aggression and redirection among vervet monkeys, Cercopithecus aethiops. Behaviour 110: 258–275.
Colmenares, F. (1996). Conflictos Sociales y Estrategias de Interacción en los Primates. I: Esquema Conceptual y Tipología basada en Criterios Estructurales. In Colmenares, F. (ed.), Etología, Psicología Comparada y Comportamiento Animal. Síntesis, Madrid, pp. 341–399.
Colmenares, F., Zaragoza-Cuesta, F., and Hernández-Lloreda, M. V. (2002). Grooming and coercion in one-male units of hamadryas baboons: market forces or relationship constraints? Behaviour 139: 1525–1553.
Cooper, M. A., Aureli, F., and Singh, M. (2004). Reconciliation in a Temple group of bonnet macaques. Folia Primatol. 75: 250 (Abstr).
Cooper, M. A., and Bernstein, I. S. (2002). Counter aggression and reconciliation in assamese macaques (Macaca assamensis). Am. J. Primatol. 56: 215–230.
Cordoni, G., Palagi, E., and Borgognini Tarli, S. (2004). Reconciliation and consolation in captive lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla). Folia Primatol . 75: 79. (Abstr)
Cords, M. (1993). On operationally defining reconciliation. Am. J. Primatol. 29: 255–267.
Cords, M. (1997). Friendships, alliances, reciprocity and repair. In Whiten, A., and Byrne, R. W. (eds), Machiavellian intelligence II. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp. 24–49.
Cords, M., and Aureli, F. (2000). Reconciliation and relationship qualities. In Aureli, F., and de Waal, F. B. M. (eds.), Natural Conflict Resolution. University of California Press. Berkeley, pp. 177–198.
Cords, M., and Thurnheer, S. (1993). Reconciling with valuable partners by long-tailed macaques. Ethology 93: 315–325.
Daniel, J., Santos, A. J., and Vicente, L. (2003). Reconciliation and post-conflict behaviour in a captive group of vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops). I. Primatological International Conferences at ISCSP, October 2003, Lisbon.
Das, M. (2000). Conflict management. In Aureli, F., and de Waal, F. B. M. (eds.), Natural Conflict Resolution. University of California Press, Berkeley, pp. 263–280.
Das, M., Penke, Z., and van Hooff, J. A. R. A. M. (1997). Affiliation between aggressors and third parties following conflicts in long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis). Int. J. Primatol. 18: 159–181.
de Waal, F. B. M. (1987a). Dynamics of social relationships. In Smuts, B. B., Cheney, D. L., Seyfarth, R. M., Wrangham, R. W., and Struhsaker, T. T. (eds.), Primate Societies. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp. 421–429.
de Waal, F. B. M. (1987b). Tension regulation and nonreproductive functions of sex in captive bonobos (Pan paniscus). Nat. Geo. Res. 3: 318–335.
de Waal, F. B. M. (1993). Reconciliation among primates: A review of empirical evidence and unresolved issues. In Mason, W. A., and Mendoza, S. P. (eds.), Primate Social Conflict. SUNY Press, Albany, NY, pp. 111–144.
de Waal, F. B. M. (1994). Chimpanzee’s adaptive potential. A comparison of social life under captive and wild conditions. In Wrangham, R. W., McGrew, W. C., de Waal, F. B. M., and Heltne, P. G. (eds.), Chimpanzee Cultures. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, pp. 243–260.
de Waal, F. B. M. (1996). Conflict as negotiation. In McGrew, W. C., Marchant, L. F., and Nishida, T. (eds.), Great Ape Societies. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp. 159–172.
de Waal, F. B. M. (2000a). The first kiss. Foundations of conflict resolution research in animals. In Aureli, F., and de Waal, F. B.M. (eds.), Natural Conflict Resolution. University of California, Berkeley, pp. 15–33.
de Waal, F. B. M. (2000b). Primates, a natural heritage of conflict resolution. Science 289: 586–590.
de Waal, F. B. M., and Aureli, F. (1996). Consolation, reconciliation, and a possible cognitive difference between macaques and chimpanzees. In Russon, A. E., Bard, K. A., and Parker, S. T. (eds.), Reaching into Thought. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp. 80–110.
de Waal, F. B. M., Aureli, F., and Judge, P. G. (2000). Coping with crowding. Sci. Am. 282: 76–81.
de Waal, F. B. M., and Ren, R. (1988). Comparison of the reconciliation behavior of stumptail and rhesus macaques. Ethology 78: 129–142.
de Waal, F. B. M., and van Roosmalen, A. (1979). Reconciliation and consolation among chimpanzees. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 5: 55–66.
de Waal, F. B. M., and Yoshihara, D. (1983). Reconciliation and redirected affection in rhesus monkeys. Behaviour 85: 223–241.
Demaria, C., and Thierry, B. (2001). A comparative study of reconciliation in rhesus and tonkean macaques. Behaviour 138: 397–410.
Dunbar, R. I. M. (1979). Population demography, social organization, and mating strategies. In Bernstein, I. S., and Smith, E. O. (eds.), Primate Ecology and Human Origins: Ecological Influences on Social Organization. Garland STPM Press, New York, pp. 65–88.
Dunbar, R. I. M. (1984). Reproductive Decisions. An Economic Analysis of Gelada Baboon Social Strategies. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.
Dunbar, R. I. M. (1988). Primate Social Systems. Croom Helm, London.
Dunbar, R. I. M. (1992). Time: A hidden constraint on the behavioural ecology of baboons. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 31: 35–49.
Fuentes, A., Malone, N., Sanz, C., Matheson, M., and Vaughan, L. (2002). Conflict and post-conflict behavior in a small group of chimpanzees. Primates 43: 223–235.
Gust, D., and Gordon, T. P. (1993). Conflict resolution in sooty mangabeys. Anim. Behav. 46: 685–694.
Hemelrijk, C. K., and Luteijn, M. (1998). Philopatry, male presence and grooming reciprocation among female primates: A comparative perspective. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 42: 207–215.
Henzi, S. P, Lycett, J. E, and Weingrill, T. (1997). Cohort size and the allocation of social effort by female mountain baboons. Anim. Behav. 54: 1235–1243.
Henzi, P., Lycett, J. E., Weingrill, A., and Piper, S. E. (2000). Social bonds and the coherence of mountain baboon troops. Behaviour 137: 663–680.
Hill, D. A. (2004). The effects of demographic variation on kinship structure and behavior in cercopithecines. In Chapais, B. and Berman, C. M. (eds.), Kinship and Behavior in Primates. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 132–150.
Hinde, R. A. (1983). Primate Social Relationships: An Integrated Approach. Blackwell, Oxford.
Hohmann, G., and Fruth, B. (2000). Use and function of genital contacts among female bonobos. Anim. Behav. 60: 107–120.
Isbell, L. A. (2004). Is there no place like home? Ecological bases of female dispersal and philopatry and their consequences for the formation of kin groups. In Chapais, B., and Berman, C. M. (eds.), Kinship and Behavior in Primates. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 71–108.
Janson, C. H., and van Schaik, C. P. (2000). The behavioral ecology of infanticide by males. In van Schaik, C. P., and Janson, C. H. (eds.), Infanticide by Males and Its Implications. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp. 469–494.
Judge, P. G. (1991). Dyadic and triadic reconciliation in pigtail macaques (Macaca nemestrina). Am. J. Primatol. 23: 225–237.
Judge, P. G. (2000). Coping strategies under crowded conditions. In Aureli, F., and de Waal, F. B. M. (eds.), Natural Conflict Resolution. University of California Press, Berkeley, pp. 129–154.
Judge, P. G. (2003). Conflict resolution. In Maestripieri, D. (eds.), Primate Psychology. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, pp. 41–68.
Kappeler, P. M. (2003). Reconciliation and post-conflict behaviour in ringtailed lemurs, Lemur catta, and redfronted lemurs, Eulemur fulvus rufus. Anim. Behav. 45: 901–915.
Kappeler, P. M., and van Schaik, C. (1992). Methodological and evolutionary aspects of reconciliation among primates. Ethology 92: 51–69.
Koyama, N. (2001). The long-term effects of reconciliation in Japanese macaques Macaca fuscata. Ethology 107: 975–987.
Kutsukake, N., and Castles, D. L. (2001). Reconciliation and variation in post-conflict stress in Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata fuscata): Testing the integrated hypothesis. Anim. Cogn. 4: 259–268.
Lehner, P. N. (1996). Handbook of Ethological Methods. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
Martin, P., and Bateson, P. P. G. (1993). Measuring Behaviour: An Introductory Guide. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
Mason, W. A., and Mendoza, S. P. (1993). Primate social conflict: An overview of sources, forms, and consequences. In Mason, W. A., and Mendoza, S. P. (eds.), Primate Social Conflict. SUNY Press, Albany, NY, pp. 1–11.
Matheson, M. D. (1999). Social contact following severe aggression in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta): A new test of the consolation hypothesis. Int. J. Primatol. 20: 961–975.
Matsumura, S. (1996). Postconflict affiliative contacts between former opponents among wild moor macaques (Macaca macaca). Am. J. Primatol. 38: 211–219.
Palagi, E., Paoli, T., and Tarli, S. B. (2004). Reconciliation and consolation in captive bonobos. Am. J. Primatol. 62: 15–30.
Palagi, E. T., Paoli, T., and Tarli, S. B. (2005). Aggression and reconciliation in two captive groups of Lemur catta. Int. J. Primatol. 26: 279–294.
Petit, O., Abegg, C., and Thierry, B. (1997). A comparative study of aggression and conciliation in three cercopithecine monkeys (Macaca fuscata, Macaca nigra, Papio papio). Behaviour 134: 415–432.
Petit, O., and Thierry, B. (1994a). Reconciliation in a group of black macaques, Macaca nigra. Dodo J. Wildlife Preservat. Trusts 30: 89–95.
Petit, O., and Thierry, B. (1994b). Reconciliation in a group of Guinea baboons. In Roeder, J. J, Thierry, B., Anderson, J. R, and Herrenschmidt, N. (eds.), Current Primatology, Vol II: Social Development, Learning and Behaviour. Université Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg, pp. 137–145.
Preuschoft, S., Wang, X., Aureli, F., and de Waal, F. B. M. (2002). Reconciliation in captive chimpanzees: A reevaluation with controlled methods. Int. J. Primatol. 23: 29–50.
Ren, R., Yan, K., Su, Y., Qi, H., Liang, B., Bao, W., and de Waal, F. B. M. (1991). The reconciliation behavior of golden monkeys (Rhinopithecus roxellanae roxellanae) in small breeding groups. Primates 32: 321–327.
Roeder, J. J., Fornasieri, I., and Gosset, D. (2002). Conflict and postconflict behaviour in two lemur species with different social organizations (Eulemur fulvus and Eulemur macaco): A study on captive groups. Aggress. Behav. 28: 62–74.
Rolland, N., and Roeder, J. J. (2000). Do ringtailed lemurs (Lemur catta) reconcile in the hour post-conflict? A pilot study. Primates 41: 223–227.
Romero-Benavente, T., and Colmenares, F. (2003). Conflict management strategies of aggressors in a colony of baboons (Papio hamadryas): Postconflict affiliation and aggression and time-sharing. Folia Primatol. 74: 217–218 (Abstr)
Sambrook, T. D., Whiten, A., and Strum, S. C. (1995). Priority of access and grooming patterns of females in a large and a small group of olive baboons. Anim. Behav. 50: 1667–1682.
Schino, G., Rosati, L., and Aureli, F. (1998). Intragroup variation in conciliatory tendencies in captive Japanese macaques. Behaviour 135: 897–912.
Silk, J. B. (1996). Why do primates reconcile? Evol. Anthropol. 5: 39–42.
Silk, J. B. (2002). The form and function of reconciliation in primates. Annu. Rev. Anthropol. 31: 21–44.
Sommer, V., Denham, A., and Little, K. (2002). Postconflict behaviour of wild Indian langur monkeys: Avoidance of opponents but rarely affinity. Anim. Behav. 63: 637–648.
Swedell, L. (1997). Patterns of reconciliation among captive gelada baboons (Theropithecus gelada): A brief report. Primates 38: 325–330.
Thierry, B. (2000). Covariation of conflict management patterns across Macaque species. In Aureli, F., and de Waal, F. B. M. (eds.), Natural Conflict Resolution. University of California Press, Berkeley, pp. 106–128.
van Schaik, C. P. (1989). The ecology of social relationships amongst female primates. In Standen, V., and Foley, R. A. (eds.), Comparative Socioecology The Behavioural Ecology of Human and Other Mammals. Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 195–218.
van Schaik, C. P., and Aureli, F. (2000). The natural history of valuable relationships. In Aureli, F., and de Waal, F. B. M. (eds.), Natural Conflict Resolution. University of California Press, Berkeley. pp. 307–333.
Veenema, H. C. (2000). Methodological progress in post-conflict research. In Aureli, F., and de Waal, F. B. M. (eds.), Natural Conflict Resolution. University of California Press, Berkeley, pp. 21–23.
Veenema, H. C., Das, M., and Aureli, F. (1994). Methodological improvements for the study of reconciliation. Behav. Proc. 31: 29–38.
Watts, D. P. (1995a). Post-conflict social events in wild mountain gorillas (Mammalia, Hominoidea) I. Social interactions between opponents. Ethology 100: 139–157.
Watts, D. P. (1995b). Post-conflict social events in wild mountain gorillas (Mammalia, Hominoidea) II. Redirection, side directed behaviour and consolation. Ethology 100: 158–174.
Wittig, R. M., and Boesch, C. (2003a). The choice of post-conflict interactions in wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Behaviour 140: 1527–1559.
Wittig, R. M., and Boesch, C. (2003b). “Decision-making” in conflicts of wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): An extension of the relational model. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 54: 491–504.
Wrangham, R. W. (1980). An ecological model of female-bonded primate groups. Behaviour 75: 262–300.
York, A. D., and Rowell, T. E. (1988). Reconciliation following aggression in Patas monkeys, Erythrocebus patas. Anim. Behav. 36: 502–509.
Zaragoza, F., and Colmenares, F. (1997). Reconciliation and consolation in Hamadryas baboons, Papio hamadryas. Adv. Ethol 32: 150 (Abstr).
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Project grants PB92-0144, PB95-0373, PB98-0773, and BSO2002-00161, from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Spain have continuously funded my research on conflict management and resolution in nonhuman primates and children. I thank the Directorate of the Madrid Zoo for permission to conduct the long-term research project on the colony of hamadryas baboons and for their collaboration. I prepared portions of the paper while I was a guest scientist in the Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, at Leipzig, Germany. I thank Josep Call and Michael Tomasello for the use of the facilities in their department and for their hospitality, and the Ministry of Education and Science, Spain, for funding my stay through a Salvador de Madariaga scholarship (PR2004-0015). I thank Nicola Koyama and Elisabetta Palagi for inviting me to participate in the IPS Symposium in which I presented a draft version of the paper, and the Facultad de Psicología of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid for a travel grant to attend. Finally, I thank 2 anonymous reviewers for their constructive and helpful comments.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Colmenares, F. Is Postconflict Affiliation in Captive Nonhuman Primates an Artifact of Captivity?. Int J Primatol 27, 1311–1336 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-006-9080-x
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-006-9080-x