Testing the function of reconciliation and third-party affiliation for aggressors in hamadryas baboons (Papio hamadryas hamadryas).
In social groups, agonistic conflicts can have different negative consequences. Several post-conflict interactions have been suggested as post-conflict management behaviors to mitigate those negative effects. In this study, we investigated the function of two post-conflict behaviors--reconciliation and aggressor-initiated third-party affiliation--on the aggressor's levels of post-conflict anxiety and aggression in a large colony of hamadryas baboons. We also examined variation in the aggressor's levels of post-conflict anxiety as a function of relationship quality between the opponents as predicted by the Integrated Hypothesis. We found that after conflicts hamadryas baboon aggressors showed increased rates of anxiety-related behaviors and that they were also more likely to be involved in renewed aggressive interactions. Although both reconciliation and aggressor-initiated third-party affiliation reduced the probability of receiving post-conflict aggression, only reconciliation reduced the rates of anxiety-related behaviors, suggesting that the aggressors' post-conflict anxiety might be owing mainly to the damage that the conflict causes to their relationship with the victim. Furthermore, aggressor's rates of post-conflict anxiety were higher after conflicts with individuals with whom they had a high-quality relationship, supporting the idea that levels of post-conflict anxiety mediate the occurrence of reconciliation depending on the quality of the relationship with former opponent as predicted by the Integrated Hypothesis.
Romero
Teresa
T
Living Links, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, USA. mromer2@emory.edu
Colmenares
Fernando
F
Aureli
Filippo
F
D000374:Aggression; D000378:Agonistic Behavior; D000818:Animals; D001007:Anxiety; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D048529:Papio hamadryas / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012919:Social Behavior