scholarly journals The effects of familiarity and social hierarchy on group membership decisions in a social fish

2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 301-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lyndon A. Jordan ◽  
Marian Y. L. Wong ◽  
Sigal S. Balshine
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Decision Process ◽  
Group Membership ◽  
Social Rank ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Social Hierarchy ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
The Social ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Complex Decision

Members of animal groups face a trade-off between the benefits of remaining with a familiar group and the potential benefits of dispersing into a new group. Here, we examined the group membership decisions of Neolamprologus pulcher , a group-living cichlid. We found that subordinate helpers showed a preference for joining familiar groups, but when choosing between two unfamiliar groups, helpers did not preferentially join groups that maximized their social rank. Rather, helpers preferred groups containing larger, more dominant individuals, despite receiving significantly more aggression within these groups, possibly owing to increased protection from predation in such groups. These results suggest a complex decision process in N. pulcher when choosing among groups, dependent not only on familiarity but also on the social and life-history consequences of joining new groups.

scholarly journals Reproduction Within a Hierarchical Society from a Female’s Perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 753-764 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kay E Holekamp ◽  
Eli D Strauss
Keyword(s):  
Social Rank ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Social Hierarchy ◽  
Spotted Hyena ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Related Variation ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Status ◽  
Reproductive Phases ◽  
Access To Food

Abstract The reproductive biology of many female mammals is affected by their social environment and their interactions with conspecifics. In mammalian societies structured by linear dominance hierarchies, such as that of the spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta), a female’s social rank can have profound effects on both her reproductive success and her longevity. In this species, social rank determines priority of access to food, which is the resource limiting reproduction. Due largely to rank-related variation in access to food, reproduction from the perspective of a female spotted hyena can only be understood in the context of her position in the social hierarchy. In this review, we examine the effects of rank on the various phases of reproduction, from mating to weaning. Summed over many individual reproductive lifespans, the effect of rank at these different reproductive phases leads to dramatic rank-related variation in fitness among females and their lineages. Finally, we ask why females reproduce socially despite these apparent costs of group living to low-ranking females. Gregariousness enhances the fitness of females regardless of their positions in the social hierarchy, and females attempting to survive and reproduce without clanmates lose all their offspring. The positive effects of gregariousness appear to result from having female allies, both kin and non-kin, who cooperate to advertise and defend a shared territory, acquire, and defend food resources, maintain the status quo, and occasionally also to rise in social rank.

scholarly journals Social dominance mediates behavioral adaptation to chronic stress in a sex-specific manner

eLife ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stoyo Karamihalev ◽  
Elena Brivio ◽  
Cornelia Flachskamm ◽  
Rainer Stoffel ◽  
Mathias V Schmidt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Stress ◽  
Social Dominance ◽  
Behavioral Outcomes ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Social Hierarchy ◽  
Behavioral Adaptation ◽  
The Social ◽  
Specific Manner ◽  
Behavioral Monitoring ◽  
Influence Behavior

Sex differences and social context independently contribute to the development of stress-related disorders. However, less is known about how their interplay might influence behavior and physiology. Here we focused on social hierarchy status, a major component of the social environment in mice, and whether it influences behavioral adaptation to chronic stress in a sex-specific manner. We used a high-throughput automated behavioral monitoring system to assess social dominance in same-sex, group-living mice. We found that position in the social hierarchy at baseline was a significant predictor of multiple behavioral outcomes following exposure to chronic stress. Crucially, this association carried opposite consequences for the two sexes. This work demonstrates the importance of recognizing the interplay between sex and social factors and enhances our understating of how individual differences shape the stress response.

scholarly journals Determinants Of Dominance, Resting Place And Neighbour Preferences In Wrzosówka Polska Ewes Kept Indoors

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 365-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcin T. Górecki ◽  
Natalia Dziwińska
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Social Behaviour ◽  
Aggressive Behaviour ◽  
Social Rank ◽  
Social Hierarchy ◽  
Social Position ◽  
Physical Contact ◽  
Use Of Space ◽  
The Social

Abstract The aim of this study was to recognize features determining social hierarchy in Wrzosówka Polska ewes kept indoors as well as to investigate their resting place and companionship preferences. Observations (156 hours in total) were carried out in a group of 22 ewes. The social rank of sheep was determined by their age, body weight and length of horns. Social position was positively correlated with aggressive behaviour performed and negatively with aggressive behaviour received. Use of space while resting was influenced by ewe social behaviour; aggressive individuals lied more often in attractive places, namely against walls and fodder troughs compared to other animals. In general, the ewes rested by having physical contact with animals of similar rank and aggressiveness. Kinship appeared not to be important in neighbour preference. As can be concluded, social interactions influenced the use of space and neighbourhood in ewes

scholarly journals Increased Conformity to Social Hierarchy Under Public Eyes

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daeeun Kim ◽  
JuYoung Kim ◽  
Hackjin Kim
Keyword(s):  
Social Status ◽  
Social Dominance ◽  
Social Rank ◽  
Social Dominance Orientation ◽  
Social Hierarchy ◽  
Negative Evaluation ◽  
Fear Of Negative Evaluation ◽  
The Public ◽  
Individual Preferences ◽  
The Social

Why would people conform more to others with higher social positions? People may place higher confidence in the opinions of those who rank higher in the social hierarchy, or they may wish to make better impressions on people of higher social status. We investigated how individual preferences for novel stimuli are influenced by the preferences of others in the social hierarchy and whether anonymity affects such preference changes. After manipulation of their social rank, participants were asked to indicate how much they liked or disliked a series of images. Then, they were shown the rating given to each image by a partner (either inferior or superior in social rank) and were given a chance to adjust their ratings. The participants were more likely to change their preferences to match those of a superior partner in the public vs. private condition. The tendency to conform to the views of the superior partner was stronger among those with higher social dominance orientation (SDO) and those with greater fear of negative evaluation (FNE) by others. Altogether, the findings suggest that the motivation to make better impressions on people of higher social status can be the major driver of conformity to others with higher social positions.

scholarly journals Effect of relative social rank within a social hierarchy on neural activation in response to familiar or unfamiliar social signals

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Won Lee ◽  
Hollie N. Dowd ◽  
Cyrus Nikain ◽  
Madeleine F. Dwortz ◽  
Eilene D. Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Status ◽  
Social Rank ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Social Cues ◽  
Neural Activation ◽  
Social Signals ◽  
Subordinate Male ◽  
Male Urine ◽  
The Social

AbstractCompetent social functioning of group-living species relies on the ability of individuals to detect and utilize conspecific social cues to guide behavior. Previous studies have identified numerous brain regions involved in processing these external cues, collectively referred to as the Social Decision-Making Network. However, how the brain encodes social information with respect to an individual’s social status has not been thoroughly examined. In mice, cues about an individual’s identity, including social status, are conveyed through urinary proteins. In this study, we assessed the neural cFos immunoreactivity in dominant and subordinate male mice exposed to familiar and unfamiliar dominant and subordinate male urine. The posteroventral medial amygdala was the only brain region that responded exclusively to dominant compared to subordinate male urine. In all other brain regions, including the VMH, PMv, and vlPAG, activity is modulated by a combination of odor familiarity and the social status of both the urine donor and the subject receiving the cue. We show that dominant subjects exhibit robust differential activity across different types of cues compared to subordinate subjects, suggesting that individuals perceive social cues differently depending on social experience. These data inform further investigation of neurobiological mechanisms underlying social-status related brain differences and behavior.

An evolutionary theory of schizophrenia: Cortical connectivity, metarepresentation, and the social brain

2004 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 831-855 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Kenneth Burns
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognition ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Alternative Theory ◽  
Primate Research ◽  
Social Brain ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Face ◽  
Psychological Evidence

Schizophrenia is a worldwide, prevalent disorder with a multifactorial but highly genetic aetiology. A constant prevalence rate in the face of reduced fecundity has caused some to argue that an evolutionary advantage exists in unaffected relatives. Here, I critique this adaptationist approach, and review – and find wanting – Crow's “speciation” hypothesis. In keeping with available biological and psychological evidence, I propose an alternative theory of the origins of this disorder. Schizophrenia is a disorder of the social brain, and it exists as a costly trade-off in the evolution of complex social cognition. Paleoanthropological and comparative primate research suggests that hominids evolved complex cortical interconnectivity (in particular, frontotemporal and frontoparietal circuits) to regulate social cognition and the intellectual demands of group living. I suggest that the ontogenetic mechanism underlying this cerebral adaptation was sequential hypermorphosis and that it rendered the hominid brain vulnerable to genetic and environmental insults. I argue that changes in genes regulating the timing of neurodevelopment occurred prior to the migration of Homo sapiens out of Africa 100,000–150,000 years ago, giving rise to the schizotypal spectrum. While some individuals within this spectrum may have exhibited unusual creativity and iconoclasm, this phenotype was not necessarily adaptive in reproductive terms. However, because the disorder shared a common genetic basis with the evolving circuitry of the social brain, it persisted. Thus schizophrenia emerged as a costly trade-off in the evolution of complex social cognition.

scholarly journals The Cultural Transmission of Prestige and Dominance Social Rank Cues: an Experimental Simulation

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ángel V. Jiménez ◽  
Alex Mesoudi
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Transmission ◽  
Social Rank ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Social Hierarchy ◽  
Experimental Simulation ◽  
Social Hierarchies ◽  
Transmission Chain ◽  
The Social ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
Benefits And Costs

Abstract Informal social hierarchies within small human groups are argued to be based on prestige, dominance, or a combination of the two (Henrich & Gil-White, 2001). Prestige-based hierarchies entail the ordering of individuals by the admiration and respect they receive from others due to their competence within valued domains. This type of hierarchy provides benefits for subordinates such as social learning opportunities and both private and public goods. In contrast, dominance-based hierarchies entail the ordering of individuals by their capacity to win fights, and coerce or intimidate others. This type of hierarchy produces costs in subordinates due to its aggressive and intimidating nature. Given the benefits and costs associated with these types of social hierarchies for subordinates, we hypothesised that prestige and dominance cues are better recalled and transmitted than social rank cues that do not elicit high prestige or dominance associations (i.e. medium social rank cues). Assuming that for the majority of the population who are not already at the top of the social hierarchy it is more important to avoid the costs of dominance-based hierarchies than to obtain the benefits of prestige-based hierarchies, we further hypothesised that dominance cues are better transmitted than prestige cues. We conducted a recall-based transmission chain experiment with 30 chains of four generations each (N = 120). Participants read and recalled descriptions of prestigious, dominant, and medium social rank footballers, and their recall was passed to the next participant within their chain. As predicted, we found that both prestige cues and dominance cues were better transmitted than medium social rank cues. However, we did not find support for our prediction of the better transmission of dominance cues than prestige cues. We discuss whether the results might be explained by a specific social-rank content transmission bias or by a more general emotional content transmission bias.

scholarly journals Effect of relative social rank within a social hierarchy on neural activation in response to familiar or unfamiliar social signals

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Won Lee ◽  
Hollie N. Dowd ◽  
Cyrus Nikain ◽  
Madeleine F. Dwortz ◽  
Eilene D. Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Status ◽  
Social Rank ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Social Cues ◽  
Neural Activation ◽  
Social Signals ◽  
Subordinate Male ◽  
Male Urine ◽  
The Social

AbstractCompetent social functioning of group-living species relies on the ability of individuals to detect and utilize conspecific social cues to guide behavior. Previous studies have identified numerous brain regions involved in processing these external cues, collectively referred to as the Social Decision-Making Network. However, how the brain encodes social information with respect to an individual’s social status has not been thoroughly examined. In mice, cues about an individual’s identity, including social status, are conveyed through urinary proteins. In this study, we assessed the neural cFos immunoreactivity in dominant and subordinate male mice exposed to familiar and unfamiliar dominant and subordinate male urine. The posteroventral medial amygdala was the only brain region that responded exclusively to dominant compared to subordinate male urine. In all other brain regions, including the VMH, PMv, and vlPAG, activity is modulated by a combination of odor familiarity and the social status of both the urine donor and the subject receiving the cue. We show that dominant subjects exhibit robust differential activity across different types of cues compared to subordinate subjects, suggesting that individuals perceive social cues differently depending on social experience. These data inform further investigation of neurobiological mechanisms underlying social-status related brain differences and behavior.

scholarly journals The fitness consequences of kin-biased dispersal in a cooperatively breeding bird

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 20150336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lea Pollack ◽  
Dustin R. Rubenstein
Keyword(s):  
Social Rank ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Breeding Bird ◽  
Direct Benefits ◽  
Fitness Consequences ◽  
Cooperatively Breeding ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Indirect Fitness ◽  
Living Species

Cooperative alliances among kin may not only lead to indirect fitness benefits for group-living species, but can also provide direct benefits through access to mates or higher social rank. However, the immigrant sex in most species loses any potential benefits of living with kin unless immigrants disperse together or recruit relatives into the group in subsequent years. To look for evidence of small subgroups of related immigrants within social groups (kin substructure), we used microsatellites to assess relatedness between immigrant females of the cooperatively breeding superb starling, Lamprotornis superbus. We determined how timing of immigration led to kin subgroup formation and if being part of one influenced female fitness. Although mean relatedness in groups was higher for males than females, 26% of immigrant females were part of a kin subgroup with a sister. These immigrant sibships formed through kin recruitment across years more often than through coalitions immigrating together in the same year. Furthermore, females were more likely to breed when part of a kin subgroup than when alone, suggesting that female siblings form alliances that may positively influence their fitness. Ultimately, kin substructure should be considered when determining the role of relatedness in the evolution of animal societies.

“YOU EITHER LOVE IT IMMEDIATELY, OR YOU HATE IT” REFLECTIONS AND EXPERIENCES OF ESTONIAN EMPLOYEES WITH MICROCHIP IMPLANTS

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andra Siibak ◽  
Marleen Otsus
Keyword(s):  
Decision Process ◽  
Diffusion Of Innovations ◽  
Diffusion Of Innovations Theory ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Individual Interviews ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
The World ◽  
Potential Problems ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Technological Affordances

Although employers around the world (e.g. USA, Mexico, Sweden, Belgium, Estonia) have started to implant employees with microchips (Esfola, 2018; Petersen 2019), there is still not enough empirical insights about the opportunities and risks microchipped employees associate with the technology. Semi-structured individual interviews with microchipped employees (n=14) from six different organizations in Estonia were carried out in autumn 2019 so as to contribute new knowledge in this realm and to explore the reasoning of employees with implantables for accepting microchip implants from their employers and the potential benefits and problems they associate with the technology. Relying on the diffusion of innovations theory (DOI) by Everett Rogers (1962 [2003]) the current presentation aims to trace the five steps of the innovation-decision process our interviewed employees underwent when adopting to microchip implants. Preliminary findings indicate that micro-chipped employees are technology enthusiasts who are eager to embrace various technological affordances and have a lot of faith and trust both in the organization they work for. In fact, they were totally unconcerned about the potential problems microchips could pose and wholeheartedly believed in the value of trade-off between convenience and privacy.

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