Abstract
Social complexity results from engaging in different classes of social behaviour. The presence of different classes of social behaviour is reflected in multidimensional concepts of social asymmetry, found in both human and nonhuman primates. Based on an overview of such concepts, we propose that three classes of social behaviour are involved in having access to scarce and desired resources: next to aggressive and affiliative behaviour, also action indicating behaviour (i.e., inspire another individual to follow one’s example or intentions) may lead to resource access. Studies with nonhuman primate and human children show that the contribution of aggression and affiliation to resource access has been widely documented and that there is initial support for action indicating behaviour. In addition, the studies show similarities and differences in conceptualization and approach that may inspire future research. Future research should address the (in)dependency of the behavioural dimensions, their relative importance, individual differences in combined expression and the type of resources accessed. Only a multi-dimensional view on behaviour leading to resource access will highlight the benefits of social complexity.
Highlights
Primates, both human and nonhuman, are characterized by complex social behaviours encompassing different classes of social behaviour
We focus on comparing research on human children and nonhuman primates for three reasons: first, human and primate social behaviours may be similar when they are conserved and can be traced back to common ancestral behaviours; second, much detail of and variation in both primate and human children’s social behaviours is known, allowing a comparison; and third, the relationship between social behaviours and resource access has been topic of recent research on both human children and primates, providing theoretical and empirical frameworks that can be compared
In primatology aggression and affiliation are usually studied in isolation, except the special case of studies concerning reconciliation, whereas in developmental psychology often both types of behaviours and their relative importance are examined
Summary
Both human and nonhuman, are characterized by complex social behaviours encompassing different classes of social behaviour. We explore how social complexity may be beneficial in accessing resources In both human and nonhuman primates, unequal resource access is a pervasive feature of groups (Sapolsky, 2005). Different types of resources can be distinguished, including material (e.g., food, treats, shelter, territory, toys, and money) and social (e.g., alliance, knowledge, tolerance, and affection) resources (Charlesworth, 1996; Keltner et al, 2003; Hawley, 2007; Pellegrini et al, 2011). Group members usually differ in Resource Access in (Non)human Primates their ability and motivation to prevail in resource competition (Charlesworth, 1996) and individuals may access resources by using different social strategies, based on different classes of social behaviour (Hawley, 1999; Overduin-de Vries et al, 2020)
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