Abstract
Post-conflict affiliations initiated by bystanders (bystander affiliation) toward aggressors or victims have been suggested to represent the function of conflict management in some social living species. However, the function of bystander affiliations toward aggressors and victims has not been examined in marine mammals. In the present study, we investigated the function of bystander affiliations to aggressors and victims in bottlenose dolphins: self-protection, the substitute of reconciliation, social facilitation and tension relief of opponents. These bystander affiliations did not reduce post-conflict attacks by former opponents against group members. Bystander affiliation to aggressors tended to be performed by a bystander who had an affiliative relationship with the aggressor but not with the victim. Bystander affiliation to victims also tended to be initiated by a bystander who had an affiliative relationship with the victim but not the aggressor and was close to former opponents at the end of aggressions. Affiliation among group members who stayed near former opponents during aggressions did not increase after aggressions compared to that under control conditions. Renewed aggressions between former opponents decreased after bystander affiliations in our previous study. Bystanders who showed social closeness to former opponents may initiate bystander affiliation toward their affiliative former opponents because they may feel emotion, such as anxiety and excitement, of former opponents. Bystander affiliation toward aggressors and victims may function as tension relief between former opponents. Bystanders of bottlenose dolphins, who may have a relaxed dominant style, might initiate post-conflict affiliation to affiliative individuals unaffected by the dominance relationships among them, unlike despotic species.
Highlights
Post-conflict affiliations initiated by bystanders toward aggressors or victims have been suggested to represent the function of conflict management in some social living species
If self-protection function is correct in our bottlenose dolphins, attacks by former opponents toward group members should increase after the original aggression, and bystander affiliations should reduce such attacks
To investigate whether attacks by former opponents to group members increase after the original aggression, the probability of attacks by former opponents to group members was compared between unaffiliated post-conflict (PC) and matched-control (MC) subjects using generalized linear mixed model (GLMM)
Summary
Post-conflict affiliations initiated by bystanders (bystander affiliation) toward aggressors or victims have been suggested to represent the function of conflict management in some social living species. We investigated the function of bystander affiliations to aggressors and victims in bottlenose dolphins: self-protection, the substitute of reconciliation, social facilitation and tension relief of opponents. These bystander affiliations did not reduce post-conflict attacks by former opponents against group members. If self-protection function is correct in our bottlenose dolphins, attacks by former opponents toward group members should increase after the original aggression, and bystander affiliations should reduce such attacks. These affiliations may repair the relationship between former opponents[14,15,16] If this function is correct, bystanders should initiate affiliation toward the enemy of their affiliative partner before reconciliation occurred, and bystander affiliation should have the same function as reconciliation, including reducing renewed aggressions and post-conflict stress. If physical closeness with former opponents promotes affiliation immediately after aggression, affiliation among group members who stay near former opponents increases after aggressions
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