scholarly journals Oxytocin has ‘Tend-and-Defend’ Functionality in Group Conflict Across Social Vertebrates

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zegni Triki ◽  
Katie Daughters ◽  
Carsten De Dreu
Keyword(s):  
Aggressive Behaviour ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Intergroup Conflict ◽  
Group Conflict ◽  
Personal Interest ◽  
Vertebrate Species ◽  
Group Interests

Across vertebrate species, intergroup conflict confronts individuals with a tension between group interests best served by participation in conflict and personal interest best served by not participating. Here, we identify the neurohormone oxytocin as pivotal to the neurobiological regulation of this tension in distinctly different group-living vertebrates, including fish, birds, rodents, non-human primates, and humans. In the context of intergroup conflict, a review of emerging work on pro-sociality suggests that oxytocin and its fish and birds homologs, isotocin and mesotocin, respectively, can elicit participation in group conflict and aggression. This is because it amplifies (i) concern for the interests of genetically related or culturally similar ‘in- group’ others, and (ii) willingness to defend against outside intruders and enemy conspecifics. Across a range of social vertebrates, oxytocin can induce aggressive behaviour to ‘tend-and- defend’ the in-group during intergroup contests.

scholarly journals The dawn of social bonds: what is the role of shared experiences in non-human animals?

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. 20200201
Author(s):  
Laura Busia ◽  
Matteo Griggio
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationship ◽  
Social Bonds ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Vertebrate Species ◽  
Human Species ◽  
Evolutionary Mechanisms ◽  
Shared Experiences ◽  
High Predation ◽  
Shed Light

Group-living animals can develop social bonds. Social bonds can be considered a type of social relationship characterized by frequent and consistent affiliative (non-reproductive) interactions. Social bonds with conspecifics bring many advantages, also in terms of direct fitness. A characteristic of social bonds is that they need time to develop. Several studies on humans have emphasized the fact that sharing experiences can affect the strength of social bonds. A similar trend can be spotted in non-human species. For example, a recent experiment showed that if chimpanzees watched a video together with a conspecific, they spent more time in proximity compared to conspecifics with whom they did not actively watch a video. Another experiment on fish showed that individuals who experienced a situation of high predation risk together, showed preference for each other compared to those who did not. As the link between shared experiences and social bonds is not explicitly recognized in non-human animals, the main goal of this work is to propose the exploration of this novel research path. This exploration would contribute to shed light on the evolutionary mechanisms of social bond (or friendship) development and maintenance between individuals in different vertebrate species, from fish to non-human primates.

scholarly journals Within-group behavioural consequences of between-group conflict: a prospective review

2016 ◽  
Vol 283 (1843) ◽  
pp. 20161567 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew N. Radford ◽  
Bonaventura Majolo ◽  
Filippo Aureli
Keyword(s):  
Group Living ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
Group Conflict ◽  
Group Behaviour ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Outcome Group ◽  
Living Species ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Experimental Approaches

Conflict is rife in group-living species and exerts a powerful selective force. Group members face a variety of threats from extra-group conspecifics, from individuals looking for reproductive opportunities to rival groups seeking resources. Theory predicts that such between-group conflict should influence within-group behaviour. However, compared with the extensive literature on the consequences of within-group conflict, relatively little research has considered the behavioural impacts of between-group conflict. We give an overview of why between-group conflict is expected to influence subsequent behaviour among group members. We then use what is known about the consequences of within-group conflict to generate testable predictions about how between-group conflict might affect within-group behaviour in the aftermath. We consider the types of behaviour that could change and how the role of different group members in the conflict can exert an influence. Furthermore, we discuss how conflict characteristics and outcome, group size, social structure and within-group relationship quality might modulate post-conflict behavioural changes. Finally, we propose the need for consistent definitions, a broader range of examined behaviours and taxa, individual-focused data collection, complementary observational and experimental approaches, and a consideration of lasting effects if we are to understand fully the significant influence of between-group conflict on social behaviour.

Anger, legacies of violence, and group conflict: An experiment in post-riot Acre, Israel

2016 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 402-423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Zeitzoff
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Economics ◽  
Intergroup Relations ◽  
Representative Sample ◽  
Neutral Condition ◽  
Intergroup Conflict ◽  
Group Conflict ◽  
Qualitative Information ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
High Aggression ◽  
Field Setting

Extant research hypothesizes that anger over past intergroup conflict serves as a catalyst for future conflict. However, few studies have experimentally tested this hypothesis on a representative sample in a high-stakes, field setting. I use a behavioral economics experiment to measure how anger over past conflict influences intergroup relations. Subjects were sampled proportional to population and ethnicity in Acre, Israel, a mixed city of Jews and Palestinian Citizens of Israel that experienced ethnic riots in 2008. The experiment randomly assigned subjects to an anger treatment about the riots or a neutral condition. Subjects then allocated income between themselves and three partners: one from their ingroup, one from their outgroup, and one whose identity was unclear. I find that priming anger over the riots did not increase discrimination. Rather, it reduced altruism to all groups, and this result was strongest for “high aggression” types. Qualitative information suggests that blame for the riots falls on both ingroup and outgroup members.

Reasons to strike first

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Buckner ◽  
Luke Glowacki
Keyword(s):  
Intergroup Conflict ◽  
Small Scale

Abstract De Dreu and Gross predict that attackers will have more difficulty winning conflicts than defenders. As their analysis is presumed to capture the dynamics of decentralized conflict, we consider how their framework compares with ethnographic evidence from small-scale societies, as well as chimpanzee patterns of intergroup conflict. In these contexts, attackers have significantly more success in conflict than predicted by De Dreu and Gross's model. We discuss the possible reasons for this disparity.

Using the research on intergroup conflict in nonhuman animals to help inform patterns of human intergroup conflict

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda R. Ridley ◽  
Melanie O. Mirville
Keyword(s):  
Large Body ◽  
Nonhuman Animal ◽  
Intergroup Conflict ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Animal Groups ◽  
Interesting Article ◽  
Nonhuman Animals

Abstract There is a large body of research on conflict in nonhuman animal groups that measures the costs and benefits of intergroup conflict, and we suggest that much of this evidence is missing from De Dreu and Gross's interesting article. It is a shame this work has been missed, because it provides evidence for interesting ideas put forward in the article.

Identity as a Function of Willpower (ego-depletion) and Intergroup Conflict

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Winnifred R. Louis ◽  
Joanne R. Smith ◽  
Kathleen D. Vohs
Keyword(s):  
Ego Depletion ◽  
Intergroup Conflict
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