“Today for you, tomorrow for me” could be the motto of reciprocity, a pattern of behavior that is very present in humans. Researchers at Emory University have concluded that monkeys can also gain benefits froma reciprocal exchange of favors without the need to keep an accurate record of past favors. The findings have been published inPNAS.
“The prosocial is defined as a motivation to help others regardless of the benefits that may be obtained in return,” explains Malini Suchak, co-author of the study. In their experiments, the researchers tested whether direct reciprocity could encourage generosity among brown capuchin monkeys. And they found thatone monkey was willing to do another a favor regardless of what his partner had done in the past. Furthermore, “the monkeys became even more prosocial if they could alternate and help each other,” Suchak adds. Suchak and his colleague Frans de Waal suggest that thesynchronizing the same actions in alternation creates a more positive attitude, such as when people row together or work towards a common goal.
According to de Waal, “like human beings,capuchin monkeys may have understood the benefits of reciprocity and are using it to maximize their benefits“Another interesting finding is that the capuchin monkeys were prosocial with both a known monkey from their own group and a monkey from a different social group.? Humans are not unique in their ability to cooperate with foreigners,” conclude the researchers. authors.
Capuchin monkeys are ideal subjects for this type of study, given the numerous existing observations on their prosocial and cooperative behavior, their sensitivity to the efforts of other monkeys in coordination experiments, and their spontaneous prosocial behavior in the prosocial choice test, in compared to, for example, chimpanzees, who appear to be more sensitive to methodological variables.
