Showing papers on "Dominance (ethology) published in 1997"

The Influence of Dominance Rank on the Reproductive Success of Female Chimpanzees

Abstract: Female chimpanzees often forage alone and do not display obvious linear dominance hierarchies; consequently, it has been suggested that dominance is not of great importance to them. However, with the use of data from a 35-year field study of chimpanzees, high-ranking females were shown to have significantly higher infant survival, faster maturing daughters, and more rapid production of young. Given the foraging behavior of chimpanzees, high rank probably influences reproductive success by helping females establish and maintain access to good foraging areas rather than by sparing them stress from aggression.

The gender gap: Differences in political attitudes and social dominance orientation

Abstract: Survey data over recent decades show men to differ from women on a number of political attitudes and on political party identification. We provide evidence that many such differences can be attributed to individual differences in Social Dominance Orientation (SDO)--preference for inequality among social groups--that are sex linked. Results from a US college student sample (N = 463) and a US 1992 voter sample (N = 478) replicate previous findings of more male support of conservative ideology, military programmes, and punitive policies and more female support of social programmes and equal rights. Consistent with our hypotheses, men were more social dominance oriented than women, and SDO accounted for much of the sex-linked variability in political attitudes, SDO was also a significant predictor of candidate choice in the US 1992 presidential election through its influence on policy attitudes and political ideology. Implications of these results for theories of gender and politics are discussed.

Divergent Systems of Agonistic Behaviour in Lemurid Primates

Abstract: Two semifree-ranging groups of ringtailed lemurs (Lemur catta) and two co-ranging groups of redfronted lemurs (Eulemur fulvus rufus) were studied across a two-year period to characterise and contrast the adult agonistic behaviour these primates exhibit within groups. Temporal analyses of behavioural data distinguished agonistic from non-agonistic behaviour and aggressive from submissive behaviour. The ringtailed lemurs employed a diverse repertoire of behavioural elements to communicate agonistic intent. More than 50% of these elements were signals and nearly 50% of signals were submissive. The agonistic repertoire of the redfronted lemurs, by contrast, was relatively unelaborated: less than 40% of agonistic behaviour in this species comprised signals and less than 20% of signals were submissive. These structural differences underlay marked species differences in agonistic interaction and relationship. All pairs of ringtailed lemurs maintained dominance relations resembling those seen in many anthropoid primates: subordinates consistently signalled submissively to dominant partners, often in the absence of aggression. Dominance relations among members of each sex were seasonally unstable and not always transitive (hierarchical) during periods of stability, however. Redfronted lemurs, by contrast, did not maintain dominance relations, failing to respond agonistically to most aggression received (52% of interactions) and responding with aggression on many other occasions (12%). Even applying relaxed criteria, few adult redfronted dyads (14%) showed consistent asymmetries in agonistic relations and several never exhibited any asymmetry. Lacking dominance, E. f rufus relied heavily on alternate behavioural mechanisms to moderate social conflict as frequent and intense as that seen in study groups of ringtailed lemurs. These included a great inclination not to respond agonistically to aggression, a distinctive behavioural proposal to limit or terminate dyadic conflict (Look away), post-conflict reconciliation, and relatively frequent third-party aggression. The existence of such divergent systems of agonistic behaviour in partially sympatric, closely related and generally similar prosimian primates offers important opportunities for comparative study of the ecology, development, and evolution of mammalian social systems. Future research may reveal ecophysiological factors that promote the use of dominance behaviour among like-sexed ringtailed lemurs and show how the relative absence of dominance relates to other major elements of redfronted lemur biology, including 'special relationships' of variable duration between adult males and females.

Agonistic Interactions and Matrifocal Dominance Rank of Wild Bonobos (Pan paniscus) at Wamba

Abstract: I studied dominance relations in a wild group of bonobos at Wamba, Democratic Republic of Congo. Although agonistic interactions between males occurred frequently, most of them consisted only of display, and physical attacks were infrequent. Dominance rank order seemed to exist among males, but its linearity is unclear. Dominant males rarely disturbed copulatory behavior by subordinate males. However, high-ranking males usually stayed in the central position of the mixed party and, so, would have more chance of access to estrous females. Among females, older individuals tended to be dominant over younger individuals. However, agonistic interactions between females occurred rather infrequently, and most consisted of displacement without any overt aggressive behavior. Dominance between males and females is unclear, but females tended to have priority of access to food. The close social status between males and females may be related to the prolonged estrus of females and their close aggregation during ranging. Existence of a male's mother in the group and her dominance status among females seemed to influence his dominance rank among males. Young adult males whose mothers were alive in the group tended to have high status. In some cases, change in dominance between high-ranking males was preceded by a corresponding change in dominance between their mothers. As the dominance status of females is similar to that of males, mothers may be able to support their sons to achieve high status, stay in the center of the mixed party, and so have greater access to females, which may maximize the number of descendants of the mothers.

Female Dominance Relationships and Food Competition in the Sympatric Thomas Langur and Long-Tailed Macaque

Abstract: Aggressive interactions can serve to secure resources. These interactions determine female dominance relationships, which have been related to the monopolizability of food patches. Patches of medium size, relative to group size, cause within-group contest competition which is hypothesized to produce linear, nepotistic and formalized dominance relationships. Small dispersed or very large and abundant patches lead to reduced within-group contest competition which should lead to egalitarian and individualistic dominance relationships without a formal hierarchy. This relation was investigated in two sympatric primate species at Ketambe, Northern Sumatra: the Thomas langur (Presbytis thomasi) and the long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis). The female dominance relationships of the two species differed as predicted. Both species engaged in competitive interactions for food. The Thomas langurs competed in small patches, but not in large patches. These large patches could be considered abundant. About two-thirds of their food patches incited contest competition. Long-tailed macaques were aggressive in fruit patches, irrespective of size. Most food patches incited contest competition. Contest competition was probably more important for macaque females than for langur females. Outside food patches macaque females were more aggressive than langurs, whereas inside food patches aggression rates were similar.

Social relationships among ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) in two free-ranging troops at Berenty Reserve, Madagascar

Abstract: We observed two free-ranging troops of ring-tailed lemurs at the Berenty Reserve, Madagascar. Kinship affinities in these troops are known only for mothers and their offspring ≤4 years of age. We attempted to quantify social relationships. Almost all agonistic interactions were dyadic, and triadic agonistic interactions, such as alliances, were very rare. Dominance hierarchies in both sexes in the two troops were not linear. As in cercopithecine monkeys, mothers were dominant over their adult daughters. However, the daughters were not ranked immediately below their mothers. Close proximity and social grooming occurred more frequently between closely related females, such as mother–daughter and sister–sister dyads, than between unrelated females. Frequent-proximity relations also occurred between adult males that had emigrated from another troop and entered the present troop together, even though they did not rank closely to one another. Subordinates were likely to groom and to greet dominants more frequently than vice versa. During group encounters, particular females were involved in agonistic interactions with animals of other troops, regardless of dominance rank. Adult males, regardless of their dominance rank, but not adult females, constantly tried to drive solitary males away.

Who's the boss? Differential accessibility of dominance ideation in parent–child relationships.

Abstract: The accessibility of dominance ideation (as opposed to other types of ideation) was measured among parents with high or low perceived power as caregivers. Parents made comparative judgments of self versus child under concurrent memory load or no-load conditions. As predicted, dominance comparisons were found to be highly accessible for low-power parents; that is, attentional load served to increase response latencies in all conditions except those in which low-power parents made dominance judgments. Under cognitive load, low-power parents (unlike high-power parents) rated child as more dominant than self; under no load, however, they rated self as more dominant than child. Decision reversals in the absence of cognitive load were interpreted as defensive corrections. Findings are discussed with respect to the elevated use of coercive control tactics by low-power parents.

Agonistic interventions in wild mountain gorilla groups

Abstract: Data on a large sample of interventions that individuals in two mountain gorilla (Gorilla gorilla beringei) groups made in agonistic interactions between others corroborate and extend earlier analyses in several ways. Related females supported each other as often as those in some female-bonded primates and maintained alliances while they resided together. Most unrelated females rarely supported each other, but some developed alliances. Females mostly supported other females with whom they had affinitive relationships against those they often engaged in dyadic aggression. They showed reciprocity in support, and often intervened against individuals who, in turn, often intervened against them. But even female coalitions that outnumbered their opponents by more than two-to-one had limited effectiveness, largely because males intervened in many female contests to control aggression. By rendering coalitions ineffective, males contribute to a combination of factors (e.g. low potential to gain from cooperation in contest feeding competition) that limit the benefits of female philopatry. Male curtailment of female aggression may influence female mate choice. Co-resident mature males in the study groups competed to control female aggression. High-ranking males curtailed aggression to females by subordinates, although two males formed an alliance against two others in their group. Immature animals mostly received defensive support against larger individuals and did not receive support from adults that could lead to a nepotistic dominance system.

Social facilitation, affiliation, and dominance in the social life of spotted hyenas.

Abstract: Spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) are social carnivores, living in multifemale, multimale ‘‘clans.’ ’ ‘ s 2 With female philopatry and male dispersal, separate female and male dominance hierarchies, and female matrilines that constitute the fundamental social core of the clan, the social organization of spotted hyenas approximates that of many common old world monkeys in the broad outline of their ~ociali ty.~.~ Membership in the clan enables hyenas to hunt prey as large as zebra and is essential to defense of kills against lions and of hunting territories against other groups of hyenas. Spotted hyenas also display some rather unique characteristics. Adult females and their juvenile, or subadult, offspring dominate adult immigrant males in virtually all social interactions.“ In addition, hyenas often spend their days alone at solitary dens, typically reassembling in the late afternoon and socializing at the communal den before forming smaller hunting parties. For many hyenas there is a daily transition from a solitary existence to the intense, highly differentiated social interactions of life within the clan.’ All social carnivores display a delicate balance between cooperation and competition. In spotted hyenas, competition may simply be evinced by speed-of-eating at a kill. That is, with a group of hyenas feeding at a dead wildebeest and reducing it to a small pile of horns and hooves in less than 30 minutes, the individual that can eat most rapidly will have an advantage over colleagues that eat more slowly. Overt aggression and the formation of dominance hierarchies also play a role in access to resources, and dominance rank is directly related to ultimate reproductive success? The present paper focuses on the integration of cooperation and competition, and correlated behavioral mechanisms of aggression, dominance, and affiliation, within the social life of the spotted hyena. Towards that end, we focus on three themes that have emerged from our studies of these animals: (1) the emergence of individually differentiated systems underlying cooperation and competition from a more general tendency of hyenas to do-what-other-hyenas-are-doing; (2) the role of ‘ ‘meeting

Assessment, Management, and Prognosis of Canine Dominance-Related Aggression

Abstract: Aggression directed at owners continues to be the most common reason for which dogs are presented to behavioral practices. Diagnosis of this problem is discussed, along with evidence that aggression may be pathologic in some cases. Management of aggression emphasizes safety for owners and realistic expectations for control of the aggression. Other topics discussed include aggression toward children and updates on the neurobiologic and pharmacotherapeutic aspects of dominance-related aggression.

Does Behaviour After Weaning Affect the Dominance Status of Adult Male Mice (Mus Domesticus)

Abstract: To investigate whether behaviour in the litter predicted later dominance status, male mice were observed whilst within their litters from three weeks old, and when paired with an unrelated male as an adult. We found that males that were dominant in their litter were not more likely to become dominant as an adult. The best predictor of adult dominance status was the relative scent marking rate when with littermates, males that marked more than their adult partner were more likely to become dominant. The high scent mark rate of dominant males may be the cause not the consequence of dominance, they scent mark at a higher rate before becoming dominant. It was also shown that there are strong family resemblances for scent mark rate, body weight and most urogenital gland weights. This indicates that scent mark rate and urogenital gland weights may be determined genetically, or partly determined by parental effects. As found in previous work the preputial gland was heavier in dominant males than subordinates. Furthermore, dominant males were lighter than subordinates at the end of the experiment indicating that there may be a cost to maintaining dominance.

Mothers in a Wild Group of Moor Macaques (Macaca maurus) Are More Attractive to Other Group Members When Holding Their Infants

Abstract: Social interactions between mothers that were holding their infants and other group members were studied in a wild group of moor macaques (Macaca maurus). Affiliative approaches to infants (AAI) by group members that were accompanied with particular behaviours, such as mouthing and touching or affiliative grunts, were observed frequently. Females approached mothers with infants more frequently than did males in all age classes. Female reproductive status, parity and dominance relationships between interactants had little effect on the frequency of approaches. Mothers received more grooming and performed less grooming when they were holding their infants than when they were not. A high level of social tolerance in macaque species with relaxed dominance styles might allow the free expression of AAI. Dominance styles among females and AAI could be linked via a positive feedback relationship since AAI might play a role in relaxing the dominance style among females.

Effects of Serotonin Depletion on the Play of Juvenile Rats

Abstract: Rough-and-tumble play presents opportunities for young mammals to test social skills in an affiliative context. Because serotonin (5HT) depletion can induce nonaffiliative or openly hostile behavior in adult rats’ and primates,’ we conducted an experiment to examine if serotonin depletion would also increase the agonistic nature of play behavior in juvenile rats. At both 16 and 23 days of age, 26 rats received serotonin lesions via central (third ventricle) injections of 7.5 p,l of 75 p,g of 5,7 dihydroxytryptamine (a serotonin neurotoxin) mixed in 0.9% saline solution with 0.1% ascorbic acid. A control group of 26 rats received sham lesions and injections of vehicle. All rats received desiprimine (25 mgkg i.p.) 30 minutes before surgery and nomifensine (25 mgkg i.p.) 20 minutes before surgery to spare noradrenergic and dopaminergic neurons from damage. Ten days after the second lesion treatment, rats were matched into one of three types of play pairs: (1) sham + sham (Sham), (2) sham + 5HT lesioned (Mixed), or (3) 5HT lesioned + 5HT lesioned (5HT-lesioned). Play behaviors for each partner were recorded during daily 5-minute play sessions (pins and dorsal contacts), which spanned 8 days. The partner who pinned most during the first three play sessions was deemed the “dominant” partner for that pair. Analyses of individual data revealed that dominant 5HT-lesioned rats made more dorsal contacts, whereas nondominant 5HT-lesioned rats made fewer dorsal contacts than did sham-lesioned controls (F (7,336) = 3.09, p < 0.005; FIG. 1). Furthermore, dominant rats continued to pin more than did nondominant rats following the first 3 days of play (F (1,48) = 10.87, p < 0.005); however, this effect diminished over time (F (7,336) = 6.42, p c 0.001) and interacted with the 5HT lesion, such that 5HT-lesioned dominant rats pinned more during the last 3 days of play, whereas 5HT-lesioned nondominant rats consistently pinned less than did the Sham-lesioned controls (F (4,192) = 2.59, p < 0.05; FIG. 2). These patterns of results were further supported by pairwise analyses, which examined behavioral asymmetries within each play pair. Specifically, 5HT-lesioned pairs showed the most dorsal contact asymmetry (mean 2 SEM = 0.27 2 0.05), whereas Mixed pairs showed less (0.18 +0.04) and Sham pairs showed the least (-0.03 2 0.02; F (2,23) = 4.61, p < 0.025). Furthermore, 5HT-lesioned and Mixed

An African-Centered, Black Feminist Approach to Understanding Attitudes That Counter Social Dominance:

Abstract: We used an African-centered model of male-female equality, Black feminist theory, racial identity theory, and findings from the rape myth acceptance literature to explore male dominant and White ra...

The Influence of English and Its Dominance in Cyprus: Reality or Unfounded Fears?

Abstract: Abstract: Language contact and lexical borrowing are universal linguistic phenomena. There is no language that is entirely free from borrowed words because no single nation has ever been completely isolated. Contact with other nations inevitably leads to borrowing, it occurs naturally and, in most cases, without the speakers’ awareness. The linguistic influence of various languages on the Greek language and the Greek Cypriot dialect has been examined by several scholars. The first study that investigated the lexical influence of English on Modern Greek is that of who reported that English loans are fewer in number than French loans but acknowledged the steady increase of English loans in the late fifties. investigated the influence of the English language on the Greek Cypriot dialect. The study (a) reported about four hundred English loanwords, (b) classified these loanwords into various categories and spheres of influence, and (c) compared the spheres of influence of English with those of other languages that came into contact with the dialect in earlier years. The present study examines the spread and growing influence of English in Cyprus. Specifically, it (a) reports further loans that entered recently into the dialect, (b) incorporates the new loans into the existing corpus of English loans and (c) examines the ever growing influence of English and compares it with that on other languages. Furthermore, in addition to presenting some aspects of the current sociolinguistic scene of the Cypriot situation, this paper will attempt to assess the fears expressed (in the press and elsewhere) for the ‘dominance’ of English and the creation of an ‘Anglo-Cypriot’ idioma that, according to some, slowly replaces the Greek dialect spoken on the island.

Dominance and Nurturance in the Narratives Told by Clients in Psychotherapy

Abstract: The personal narrative or relationship episode has recently been described by Luborsky, Barber, and Diguer (1992) as a “basic data unit in psychotherapy sessions” (p. 287). To determine if the inte...