Skip to main content
Log in

Dominance competition through affiliation and support in Japanese macaques: An experimental study

International Journal of Primatology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

It has been proposed that monkeys direct grooming to high-ranking individuals in an attempt to obtain agonistic support in return. But whether these two categories of interactions are causally related has proven difficult to establish. Part of the problem stems from the fact that in stable groups social relationships reflect an equilibrium state and that behaviors need only be performed at low rates and long intervals to maintain the current social structure. In theory, however, if affiliative and supportive interactions are indeed causally related, it should be possible to accentuate their temporal relation, hence their causal dynamics. For example, destabilizing dominance relations can be expected to induce competition for status and force individuals to deploy behavioral tactics for settling new rank relations. We experimentally induced rank reversals in a captive group of Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) composed of three matrilines (A-B-C rank order). A reversed C-A-B order composed of three individuals per matriline was maintained for 2 weeks. The results show the close temporal relation among (i) asserting one’s rank, (ii) competing for access to dominants through affiliation and interferences in affiliation, (iii) receiving support from dominants against lower-ranking individuals, and (iv) supporting dominants against subordinates. These findings are compatible with one version of the affiliation-for-support hypothesis, namely that monkeys affiliate with dominants as a way to assert their position in the hierarchy. In a functional perspective, mutual selfishness provides a better explanation than reciprocal altruism because the possibility that both groomers and supporters derive immediate net benefits cannot be excluded.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Boccia, M. L., Reite, M., and Laudenslager, M. (1989). On the physiology of grooming in a pigtail macaque.Physiol. Behav. 45: 667–670.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Boyd, R. (1992). The evolution of reciprocity when conditions vary. In Harcourt, A. H., and de Waal, F. B. M. (eds.),Coalitions and Alliances in Humans and Other Animals, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 473–489.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapais, B. (1983). Dominance, relatedness and the structure of female relationships in rhesus monkeys. In Hinde, R. A. (ed.),Primate Social Relationships: An Integrated Approach, Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 208–217.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapais, B. (1988a). Experimental matrilineal inheritance of rank in female Japanese macaques.Anim. Behav. 36: 1025–1037.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chapais, B. (1988b). Rank maintenance in female Japanese macaques: Experimental evidence for social dependency.Behaviour 104: 41–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chapais, B. (1992). The role of alliances in the social inheritance of rank among female primates. In Harcourt, A., and de Waal, F. B. M. (eds.),Coalitions and Alliances in Humans and Other Animals, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 29–60.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapais, B., and Larose, F. (1988). Experimental rank reversals among peers inMacaca fuscata: Rank is maintained after the removal of kin support.Am. J. Primatol. 16: 31–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chapais, B., and Lecomte, M. (1995). Induction of matrilineal rank reversals by the alpha male in a group of Japanese macaques.Am. J. Primatol. (in press).

  • Chapais, B., and Schulman, S. R. (1980). An evolutionary model of female dominance relations in primates.J. Theor. Biol. 82: 47–89.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chapais, B., Girard, M., and Primi, G. (1991). Non-kin alliances, and the stability of matrilineal dominance relations in Japanese macaques.Anim. Behav. 41: 481–491.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chapais, B., Prud’homme, J., and Teijeiro, S. (1994). Dominance competition among siblings in Japanese macaques: Constraints on nepotism.Anim. Behav. 48: 1335–1347.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheney, D. L., and Seyfarth, R. M. (1990).How Monkeys See the World, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

    Google Scholar 

  • Datta, S. B. (1983). Relative power and the maintenance of dominance. In Hinde, R. A. (ed.),Primate Social Relationships: An Integrated Approach, Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 103–112.

    Google Scholar 

  • Datta, S. B. (1992). Effects of availability of allies on female dominance structure. In Harcourt, A., and de Waal, F. B. M. (eds.),Coalitions and Alliances in Humans and Other Animals, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 61–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • deWaal, F. B. M., and Luttrell, L. M. (1986). The similarity principle underlying social bonding among female rhesus monkeys.Folia. Primatol. 46: 215–234.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fairbanks, L. A. (1980). Relationships among adult females in captive vervet monkeys: Testing a model of rank-related attractiveness.Anim. Behav. 28: 853–859.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fedigan, L. M. (1991). History of the Arashiyama West Japanese macaque in Texas. In Fedigan, L. M., and Asquith, P. J. (eds.),The Monkeys of Arashiyama. Thirty-Five Years of Research in Japan and the West, State University of New York Press, Albany, pp. 54–73.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hemelrijk, C. K., and Ek, A. (1991). Reciprocity and interchange of grooming and “support” in captive chimpanzees.Anim. Behav. 41: 923–935.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hutchins, M., and Barash, D. P. (1976). Grooming in primates: Implications for its utilitarian function.Primates 17: 145–150.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kawamura, S. (1965). Matriarchal social ranks in the Minoo-B group: A study of the rank system of Japanese macaques. In Altmann, S. A. (ed.),Japanese Monkey, a Collection of Translations, pp. 105–112.

  • Keddy Hector, A., and Raleigh, M. J. (1992). The effects of temporary removal of the alpha male on the behavior of subordinate male vervet monkeys.Am. J. Primatol. 26: 77–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koyama, N. (1967). On dominance rank and kinship of a wild Japanese monkey troop in Arashiyama.Primates 8: 105–112.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKenna, J. J. (1978). Biosocial functions of grooming behavior among the common Indian Langur monkey (Presbytis entellus).Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 48: 503–510.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pereira, M. E. (1989). Interactions of juvenile savanna baboons. II. Agonistic support and rank acquisition.Ethology 80: 152–171.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pereira, M. E. (1992). The development of dominance relations before puberty in Cercopithecine societies. In Gray, P., and Silverberg, J. (eds.),Aggression and Peacefulness in Humans and Other Primates, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 117–144.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raleigh, M. J., and McGuire, M. T. (1989). Female influences on male dominance acquisition in captive vervet monkeys,Cercopithecus aethiops sabaeus.Anim. Behav. 38: 59–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schino, G., Scucchi, S., Mastripieri, D., and Turillazzi, P. G. (1988). Allogrooming as a tension-reduction mechanism: A behavioral approach.Am. J. Primatol. 16: 43–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seyfarth, R. M. (1976). Social relationships among adult female baboons.Anim. Behav. 24: 917–938.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seyfarth, R. M. (1977). A model of social grooming among adult female monkeys.J. Theor. Biol. 671–698.

  • Seyfarth, R. M. (1980). The distribution of grooming and related behaviors among adult female vervet monkeys.Anim. Behav. 28: 798–813.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seyfarth, R. M. (1983). Grooming and social competition in primates. In Hinde, R. A. (ed.),Primate Social Relationships: An Integrated Approach, Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 182–189.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seyfarth, R. M., and Cheney, D. L. (1984). Grooming, alliances, and reciprocal altruism in vervet monkeys.Nature 308: 541–543.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Seyfarth, R. M., and Cheney, D. L. (1988). Empirical tests of reciprocity theory: Problems in assessment.Ethol. Sociobiol. 9: 181–187.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Silk, J. B. (1982). Altruism among femaleMacaca radiata: Explanations and analysis of patterns of grooming and coalition formation.Behaviour 79: 162–187.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Terry, R. L. (1970). Primate grooming as a tension reduction mechanism.J. Psychol. 76: 129–136.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Chapais, B., Gauthier, C. & Prud’homme, J. Dominance competition through affiliation and support in Japanese macaques: An experimental study. Int J Primatol 16, 521–536 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02735801

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02735801

Key words

Navigation