Abstract
An aspect of social systems that is similar between chimpanzees and humans is that males form larger groups than females do. Both chimpanzee and human studies suggest that large groups are costlier for females than for males, so females attempt to reduce group size. Social ostracism of female group members occurs in both species and may serve as a mechanism for group size reduction. We formed groups of female and male children to examine directly whether human females would be more likely than males to employ social ostracism. We asked 7 female and 7 male groups of 10-yr-old children to compose and perform a play about a topic of interest to them. Female groups engaged in social ostracism more than male groups did. Further, within female groups, cortisol levels remained higher for female perpetrators of social ostracism than for their victims, suggesting that social ostracism is costly. In contrast, more frequent 1:1 conflictual behavior occurred in male than in female groups, but cortisol was unrelated to frequencies of 1:1 conflicts. Our results support the theory that human females find groups aversive and seek to reduce their size via social ostracism. Coalitions minimize the risk of retaliation but may induce costs.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abbott, D. H., Keverne, E. B., Bercovitch, F. B., Shively, C. A., Mendoza, S. P., Saltzman, W., et al. (2003). Are subordinates always stressed? A comparative analysis of rank differences in cortisol levels among primates. Hormones and Behavior, 43, 67–82. doi:10.1016/S0018–506X(02)00037–5.
Ahlgren, A., & Johnson, D. W. (1979). Sex differences in cooperative and competitive attitudes from the 2nd through the 12th grades. Developmental Psychology, 15, 45–49. doi:10.1037/h0078076.
Baillargeon, R. H., Zoccolillo, M., Kennan, K., Cote, S., Perusse, D., Wu, H., et al. (2007). Gender differences in physical aggression: A prospective population-based survey of children before and after two years of age. Developmental Psychology, 43, 13–26. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.43.1.13.
Baker, K. C., & Smuts, B. B. (1994). Social relationships of female chimpanzees: Diversity between captive social groups. In R. W. Wrangham, W. C. McGrew, F. B. M. de Waal, & P. G. Heltne (Eds.), Chimpanzee Cultures (pp. 227–242). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Bales, R. F., & Borgatta, E. F. (1955). Size of group as a factor in the interaction profile. In A. P. Hare, E. F. Borgatta, & R. F. Bales (Eds.), Small Groups: Studies in Social Interaction (pp. 495–512). Toronto: Random House.
Belle, D. (Ed.).(1989). Children’s Social Networks and Social Supports. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Bem, S. L. (1974). The measurement of psychological androgyny. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 42, 155–162. doi:10.1037/h0036215.
Benenson, J. F., Apostoleris, N. H., & Parnass, J. (1997). Age and sex differences in dyadic and group interaction. Developmental Psychology, 33, 538–543. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.33.3.538.
Benenson, J. F., Duggan, V., & Markovits, H. (2004). Sex differences in infants’ attraction to group versus individual stimuli. Infant Behavior and Development, 27, 173–180. doi:10.1016/j.infbeh.2003.09.008.
Benenson, J. F., & Heath, A. (2006). Boys withdraw more in one-on-one interactions whereas girls withdraw more in groups. Developmental Psychology, 42, 272–282. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.42.2.272.
Benenson, J. F., Markovits, H., Muller, I., Challen, A., & Carder, H. P. (2007). Explaining sex differences in infants’ preferences for groups. Infant Behavior and Development, 30, 587–595. doi:10.1016/j.infbeh.2007.03.010.
Benenson, J. F., Roy, R., Waite, A., Goldbaum, S., Linders, L., & Simpson, A. (2002). Greater discomfort as a proximate cause of sex differences in competition. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 48, 225–247. doi:10.1353/mpq.2002.0010.
Boesch, C., & Boesch-Achermann, H. (2000). The Chimpanzees of the Tai Forest. New York: Oxford University Press.
Cairns, R., Xie, H., & Leung, M. (1998). The popularity of friendship and the neglect of social networks: Toward a new balance. In W. M. Bukowski, & A. H. Cillessen (Eds.), Sociometry Then and Now: Building on Six Decades of Measuring Children's Experiences with the Peer Group (pp. 25–54). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Campbell, A. (1999). Staying Alive: Evolution, culture, and women's intra-sexual aggression. The Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 22, 203–252.
Campbell, A. (2004). Female competition: Causes, constraints, content, and contexts. Journal of Sex Research, 41, 16–26.
Chapais, B. (1996). Competing through cooperation in nonhuman primates: Developmental aspects of matrilineal dominance. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 19, 7–24. doi:10.1080/016502596385901.
Crick, N. R. (1995). Relational aggression: The role of intent attributions, feelings of distress, and provocation type. Development and Psychopathology, 7, 313–322.
Crick, N. R., & Grotpeter, J. K. (1995). Relational aggression, gender, and social-psychological adjustment. Child Development, 66, 710–722. doi:10.2307/1131945.
Crick, N. R., & Grotpeter, J. K. (1996). Children’s treatment by peers: Victims of relational and overt aggression. Development and Psychopathology, 8, 367–380.
Daly, M., & Wilson, M. (1999). Darwinism and the roots of machismo. Scientific American, 10, 8–15.
de Waal, F. B. M. (1982). Chimpanzee Politics. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Dickerson, S. S., & Kemeny, M. E. (2004). Acute stressors and cortisol responses: A theoretical integration and synthesis of laboratory research. Psychological Bulletin, 130, 355–391. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.130.3.355.
Eder, D., & Hallinan, M. (1978). Sex differences in children’s friendships. American Sociological Review, 43, 237–250. doi:10.2307/2094701.
Feshbach, N. D. (1969). Sex differences in children's modes of aggressive responses toward outsiders. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 15, 249–258.
Feshbach, N., & Sones, G. (1971). Sex differences in adolescent reactions toward newcomers. Developmental Psychology, 4, 381–386. doi:10.1037/h0030986.
Fine, G. A. (1980). The natural history of preadolescent male friendship groups. In H. C. Foot, A. J. Chapman, & J. R. Smith (Eds.), Friendship and Social Relations in Children (pp. 293–320). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Freedman, D. G. (1974). Human Infancy. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Goodall, J. (1986). The Chimpanzees of Gombe. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Groschl, M., Rauh, M., & Helmuth-Gunther, D. (2003). Circadian rhythm of salivary cortisol, 17alpha-hydroxyprogesterone, and progesterone in healthy children. Clinical Chemistry, 49, 1688–1691. doi:10.1373/49.10.1688.
Gunnar, M. R., & Vazquez, D. M. (2001). Low cortisol and a flattening of expected daytime rhythm: Potential indices of risk in human development. Development and Psychopathology, 13, 515–538. doi:10.1017/S0954579401003066.
Leaper, C., & Holliday, H. (1995). Gossip in same-gender and cross-gender friends’ conversations. Personal Relationships, 2, 237–246. doi:10.1111/j.1475-6811.1995.tb00089.x.
Maccoby, E. E., & Jacklin, C. N. (1974). The Psychology of Sex Differences. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Markovits, H., Benenson, J., & Dolenszky, E. (2001). Evidence that children and adolescents have internal models of peer interactions that are gender differentiated. Child Development, 72, 879–886. doi:10.1111/1467-8624.00321.
Markovits, H., Benenson, J. F., & White, S. (2006). Gender and gender priming: Differences in speed of processing of information relating to dyadic and group contexts. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 42, 662–667. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2005.09.003.
Mitani, J. C., Watts, D. P., & Lwanga, J. S. (2002). Ecological and social correlates of chimpanzee party size and composition. In C. Boesch, G. Hohmann, & L. F. Marchant (Eds.), Behavioral Diversity in Chimpanzees and Bonobos (pp. 102–111). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Nishida, T. (1989). Social conflicts between resident and immigrant females. In P. G. Heltne, & L. A. Marquardt (Eds.), Understanding Chimpanzees (pp. 68–89). Cambridge, UK: Harvard University Press.
Nishida, T. (1990). A quarter century of research in the Mahale mountains: An overview. In T. Nishida (Ed.), The Chimpanzees of the Mahale Mountains (pp. 3–35). Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press.
Owens, L., Shute, R., & Slee, P. (2000). “Guess what I just heard!” Indirect aggression among teenage girls in Australia. Aggressive Behavior, 26, 67–83. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1098-2337(2000)26:1<67::AID-AB6>3.0.CO;2-C.
Pusey, A. E. (1980). Inbreeding avoidance in chimpanzees. Animal Behaviour, 28, 543–552. doi:10.1016/S0003-3472(80)80063-7.
Pusey, A., & Packer, C. (1987). Dispersal and philopatry. In B. B. Smuts, D. L. Cheney, R. M. Seyfarth, R. W. Wrangham, & T. T. Struhsaker (Eds.), Primate Societies (pp. 250–266). Chicago: Chicago University Press.
Rodseth, R., Wrangham, R. W., Harrigan, A. M., & Smuts, B. B. (1991). The human community as a primate society. Current Anthropology, 32, 221–254. doi:10.1086/203952.
Sapolsky, R. M. (1993). The physiology of dominance in stable versus unstable social hierarchies. In W. A. Mason, & S. P. Mendoza (Eds.), Primate Social Conflict (pp. 171–204). New York: State University of New York Press.
Savin-Williams, R. C. (1980). Social interactions of adolescent females in natural groups. In H. C. Foot, A. J. Chapman, & J. R. Smith (Eds.), Friendship and Social Relations in Children (pp. 343–364). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Schlegel, A., & Barry, H. III (1991). Adolescence: An Anthropological Inquiry. The Free Press, New York.
Seeley, E. A., Gardner, W. L., Pennington, G., & Gabriel, S. (2003). Circle of friends or members of a group? Sex differences in relational and collective attachment to groups. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 6, 251–263. doi:10.1177/13684302030063003.
Simmons, R. (2002). Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls. New York: Harcourt.
Talge, N. M., Donzella, B., Kryzer, E. M., Gierens, A., & Gunnar, M. R. (2005). It’s not that bad: error introduced by oral stimulants in salivary cortisol research. Developmental Psychobiology, 47, 369–376. doi:10.1002/dev.20097.
Tiger, L. (1969). Men in Groups. New York: Vintage Books.
Townsend, S. W., Slocombe, K. E., Thompson, M. E., & Zuberbuhler, K. (2007). Female-led infanticide in wild chimpanzees. Current Biology, 17, R355–R356. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2007.03.020.
Trivers, R. (1972). Parental investment and sexual selection. In B. Campbell (Ed.), Sexual Selection and the Descent of Man (pp. 136–179). Chicago: Aldine.
Watts, D. P. (1998). Coalitionary mate guarding by male chimpanzees at Ngogo, Kibale National Park, Uganda. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 44, 43–55. doi:10.1007/s002650050513.
Watts, D. P. (2004). Intracommunity coalitionary killing of an adult male chimpanzee at Ngogo, Kibale National Park, Uganda. International Journal of Primatology, 25, 507–521. doi:10.1023/B:IJOP.0000023573.56625.59.
Williams, J. M., Liu, H., & Pusey, A. E. (2002). Costs and benefits of grouping for female chimpanzees at Gombe. In C. Boesch, G. Hohmann, & L. F. Marchant (Eds.), Behavioral Diversity in Chimpanzees and Bonobos (pp. 192–203). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Wrangham, R. W. (1986). Ecology and social relationships in two species of chimpanzee. In D. I. Rubenstein, & R. W. Wrangahm (Eds.), Ecology and Social Evolution: Birds and Mammals (pp. 352–378). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Wrangham, R. (1999). Evolution of coalitionary killing. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology, 42, 1–30. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1096-8644(1999)110:29+<1::AID-AJPA2>3.0.CO;2-E.
Wrangham, R. W. (2000). Why are male chimpanzees more gregarious than mothers? A scramble competition hypothesis. In P. M. Kappeler (Ed.), Primate Males (pp. 248–258). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Wrangham, R. W., Clark, A. P., & Isabirye-Basuta, G. (1992). Female social relationships and social organization of Kibale Forest chimpanzees. In T. Nishida, W. C. McGrew, P. Marler, M. Pickford, & F. B. M. de Waal (Eds.), Topics in Primatology, Vol. 1: Human Origins (pp. 81–98). Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press.
Wrangham, R. W., & Smuts, B. B. (1980). Sex differences in the behavioral ecology of chimpanzees in the Gombe National Park, Tanzania. Journal of Reproduction and Fertility, (Supplement 28), 13–31.
Acknowledgments
We thank the head teachers, teachers, and children for their participation and Richard Wrangham for nurturing our interest in the relationship between chimpanzee and human behaviour. We also thank Timothy Antonellis, Joanne Cox, Henry Markovits, and Sarah Kirkman for help with coding.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Benenson, J.F., Hodgson, L., Heath, S. et al. Human Sexual Differences in the Use of Social Ostracism as a Competitive Tactic. Int J Primatol 29, 1019–1035 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-008-9283-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-008-9283-4