Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Dominance, Power, and Politics in Nonhuman and Human Primates

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Mind the Gap

Abstract

Dominance is a common, although not universal, characteristic of social relationships in nonhuman primates. One individual is dominant to another when it consistently wins the agonistic interactions between them. Attainment of high dominance rank can bring reproductive payoffs, mostly because it confers priority of access to monopolizable food sources (for females) or to mating opportunities (for males). For females in particular, a wide variation exists in the frequency of intense aggression, the directionality of aggression within dyads, the tolerance of high-ranking individuals, and other aspects of “dominance style.” This variation reflects variation in ecology and is also influenced by phylogenetic history. Variation also exists in male dominance style, although it has not received as much attention. Dominance is one component of power, which also encompasses other sources of asymmetry in relationships that affect the relative ability of individuals to carry out their goals against the interests of others. Leverage is an important source of power in many nonhuman primates; an animal has leverage over another when it controls a resource or service that cannot be appropriated by force, such as agonistic support. Individuals behave politically when they try to increase or maintain their power relative to that of others by manipulating social relationships, both their own and those of others. The concept of power applies universally to gregarious primates, although asymmetries do not occur between adults of all species, but we should only ascribe politics to species in which the actors have knowledge about the relationships between others in their groups. Some parts of the literatures in political science and political anthropology not only provide useful frameworks for a comparative investigation of power and politics in nonhuman primates, but also highlight qualitative differences between humans and other primates, especially regarding the importance of ideologies and political rhetoric.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Adams RN (1977) Power in human societies: a synthesis. In: Fogelson RD, Adams RN (eds) The anthropology of power: ethnographic studies from Asia, Oceania and the New World. Academic, New York, NY, pp 387–410

    Google Scholar 

  • Alberts SC, Altmann J (1995) Balancing costs and opportunities: dispersal in male baboons. Am Nat 145:279–306

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alberts SC, Buchan JC, Altmann J (2006) Sexual selection in wild baboons: from mating opportunities to paternity success. Anim Behav 72:1177–1196

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Altmann J, Alberts SC (2005) Growth rates in a wild primate population: ecological influences and maternal effects. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 57:490–501

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Archer J (2006) Testosterone and human aggression: an evaluation of the challenge hypothesis. Neurosci Behav Rev 30:319–345

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bacharach SB, Lawler EJ (1980) Power and politics in organizations. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA

    Google Scholar 

  • Beehner JC, Bergman TJ (2009) The ‘bleeding heart baboon’: does chest patch color signal male quality in geladas? Am J Phys Anthropol 138(Suppl. 48):37

    Google Scholar 

  • Beehner JC, Bergman TJ, Cheney DL, Seyfarth RM, Whitten PL (2006) Testosterone predicts future dominance rank and mating activity among male chacma baboons. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 59:469–479

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bergman TJ, Beehner JC, Cheney DL, Seyfarth RM (2003) Hierarchical classification by rank and kinship in baboons. Science 302:1234–1236

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bergman TJ, Beehner JC, Cheney DL, Seyfarth RM, Whitten PL (2006) Interactions in male baboons: the importance of both males’ testosterone. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 59:480–489

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bergman TJ, Phillips-Conroy JE, Jolly CJ (2008) Behavioral variation and reproductive success of male baboons (Papio anubis x Papio hamadryas) in a hybrid social group. Am J Primatol 70:136–147

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Berman CM, Ionica CS, Li J (2004) Dominance style among Macaca thibetana on Mt. Huangshan, China. Int J Primatol 25:1283–1312

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernstein IS (1976) Dominance, aggression and reproduction in primate societies. J Theor Biol 60:459–472

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Boehm C (1997) Egalitarian behavior and the evolution of political intelligence. In: Byrne R, Whiten A (eds) Machiavellian intelligence II: extensions and evaluations. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 341–364

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Boesch C, Kohou G, Néné H, Vigilant L (2006) Male competition and paternity in wild chimpanzeez of the Taï forest. Am J Phys Anthropol 130:103–115

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Boinski S, Sughrue K, Selvaggi L, Quatrone R, Henry M, Cropp S (2002) An expanded test of the ecological model of primate social evolution: competitive regimes and female bonding in three species of squirrel monkeys (Saimiri oerstedii, S. boliviensis, and S. sciureus). Behaviour 139:227–261

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brosnan SF, Schiff HC, de Waal FBM (2005) Tolerance for inequity may increase with social closeness in chimpanzees. Proc Roy Soc Lond B 272:253–258

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chapais B (1991) Primates and the origins of aggression, politics, and power among humans. In: Loy JD, Peters CB (eds) Understanding behavior: what primate studies tell us about human behavior. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 190–218

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapais B (1992) The role of alliances in social inheritance of rank among female primates. In: Harcourt AH, de Waal FBM (eds) Coalitions and alliances in humans and other animals. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 29–59

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapais B (2001) Primate nepotism: what is the explanatory value of kin selection? Int J Primatol 22:203–229

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheney DL (1992) Intragroup cohesion and intergroup hostility: the relation between grooming distribution and intergroup competition among female primates. Behav Ecol 3:334–345

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheney DL, Seyfarth RM (1990) How monkeys see the world: inside the mind of another species. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL

    Google Scholar 

  • Cheney DL, Seyfarth RM (2007) Baboon metaphysics: the evolution of a social mind. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL

    Google Scholar 

  • Clutton-Brock TH, Parker GA (1995) Punishment in animal societies. Nature 373:209–216

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cords M (2000) The agonistic and affiliative relationships of adult females in a blue monkey group. In: Whitehead PF, Jolly CJ (eds) Old world monkeys. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 453–479

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Côté S (2000) Dominance hierarchies in female mountain goats: stability, aggressiveness and determinants of rank. Behaviour 137:1541–1566

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Das M (2000) Conflict management via third parties: post-conflict affiliation of the aggressor. In: Aureli F, de Waal FBM (eds) Natural conflict resolution. University of California Press, Berkeley, pp 263–280

    Google Scholar 

  • Datta SB (1983a) Relative power and acquisition of rank. In: Hinde RA (ed) Primate social relationships: an integrated approach. Blackwell, London, pp 93–102

    Google Scholar 

  • Datta SB (1983b) Relative power and the maintenance of dominance. In: Hinde RA (ed) Primate social relationships: an integrated approach. Blackwell, London, pp 103–112

    Google Scholar 

  • de Waal FBM (1982) Chimpanzee politics: power and sex among apes. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD

    Google Scholar 

  • de Waal FBM (1986) The integration of dominance and social bonding in primates. Q Rev Biol 61:459–479

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • de Waal FBM (1989) Dominance ‘style’ and primate social organization. In: Standen V, Foley RA (eds) Comparative socioecology: the behavioral ecology of humans and other mammals. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 243–263

    Google Scholar 

  • de Waal FBM (2000) The first kiss: foundations of conflict resolution in animals. In: Aureli F, de Waal FBM (eds) Natural conflict resolution. University of California Press, Berkeley, pp 15–33

    Google Scholar 

  • de Waal FBM (2008) Putting the altruism back into altruism: the evolution of empathy. Annu Rev Psychol 59:279–300

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • de Waal FBM, Luttrell L (1988) Mechanisms of social reciprocity in three primate species: symmetrical relationship characteristics or cognition? Ethol Sociobiol 9:101–118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Di Fiore A (2003) Molecular genetic approaches to the study of primate behavior, social organization, and reproduction. Yrbk Phys Anthropol 46:62–99

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dubreuil B (2008) Strong reciprocity and the emergence of large-scale societies. Philos Soc Sci 38:192–210

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duffy KG, Wrangham RW, Silk JB (2007) Male chimpanzees exchange political support for mating opportunities. Curr Biol 17:R586–R587

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dunbar RIM (1988) Primate social systems. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Engelhardt A, Heistermann M, Hodges JK, Nürnberg P, Niemitz C (2006) Determinants of male reproductive success in wild long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) – male monopolization, female mate choice or post-copulatory mechanisms? Behav Ecol Sociobiol 59:740–752

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Engh AL, Beehner JC, Bergman TJ, Whitten PL, Hoffmeier RR, Seyfarth RM, Cheney DL (2006) Female hierarchy instability, male immigration and infanticide increase glucocorticoid levels in female chacma baboons. Anim Behav 71:1227–1237

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flack JC, de Waal FBM (2004) Dominance style, social power, and conflict management. In: Thierry B, Singh M, Kaumanns W (eds) Macaque societies: a model for the study of social organization. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 157–181

    Google Scholar 

  • Fukuyama F (1998) Women and the evolution of world politics. Foreign Aff 77:24–40

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gurven M, Winking J (2008) Collective action in action: prosocial behavior in and out of the laboratory. Am Anthropol 110:179–190

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harcourt AH (1987) Dominance and fertility among female primates. J Zool 213:471–487

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harcourt AH (1992) Coalitions and alliances: are primates more complex than non-primates? In: Harcourt AH, de Waal FBM (eds) Coalitions and alliances in humans and other animals. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 445–471

    Google Scholar 

  • Hare B, Call J, Tomasello M (2006) Chimpanzees deceive a human competitor by hiding. Cognition 101:495–514

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Heinsohn R, Packer C (1995) Complex cooperative strategies in group-territorial African lions. Science 269:1260–1262

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hemelrijk CK (1996) Dominance interactions, spatial dynamics and emergent reciprocity in a virtual world. In: Maes P, Mataric MJ, Meyer J-A, Pollack J, Wilson SW (eds) Proceedings of the fourth international conference on simulation of adaptive behavior, vol 4. MIT, Cambridge, MA, pp 545–552

    Google Scholar 

  • Hemelrijk CK (1999a) Effects of cohesiveness on intersexual dominance relationships and spatial structure among group-living virtual entities. In: Floreano D, Nicoud J-D, Mondada F (eds) Advances in artificial life. Fifth european conference on artificial life, vol 1674. Springer Verlag, Berlin, pp 524–534

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Hemelrijk CK (1999b) An individual oriented model of the emergence of despotic and egalitarian societies. Proc Roy Soc Lond B 266:361–369

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hemelrijk CK (2000a) Sexual attraction and inter-sexual dominance. In: Moss S, Davidsson P (eds) Multi agent based simulation. Second international workshop on multi-agent based simulation. Springer, Berlin, pp 167–180

    Google Scholar 

  • Hemelrijk CK (2000b) Towards the integration of social dominance and spatial structure. Anim Behav 59:1035–1048

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hemelrijk CK (2002) Despotic societies, sexual attraction, and the emergence of male ‘tolerance’: an agent based model. Behaviour 139:729–747

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hemelrijk CK, Wantia J, Dätwyler M (2003) Female co-dominance in a virtual world: ecological, cognitive, social, and sexual causes. Behaviour 140:1247–1273

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henrich J, McElreath R, Barr A, Ensminger J, Barrett C, Bolyanatz A, Cardenas JC, Gurven M, Gwako E, Henrich N, Lesorogol C, Marlowe F, Tracer D, Ziker J (2006) Costly punishment across human societies. Science 312:1767–1770

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hill K, Kaplan H (1988) Tradeoffs in male and female reproductive strategies among the Ache. Part 1. In: Betzig L, Borgerhoff Mulder M, Turke P (eds) Human reproductive behavior: a Darwinian perspective. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 277–289

    Google Scholar 

  • Hinde RA (1976) Interactions, relationships, and social structure. Man 11:1–17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hrdy SB (1977) The langurs of Abu: female and male strategies of reproduction. Harvard University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Isbell LA (1991) Contest and scramble competition: patterns of female aggression and ranging behavior among female primates. Behav Ecol 2:143–155

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jensen K, Call J, Tomasello M (2007a) Chimpanzees are vengeful, but not spiteful. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 104:13046–13050

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jensen K, Call J, Tomasello M (2007b) Chimpanzees are rational maximizers in an ultimatum game. Science 318:107–109

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kano T (1992) The last ape. Pygmy chimpanzee behavior and ecology. Stanford University Press, Palo Alto, CA

    Google Scholar 

  • Kawai M (1958) On the rank system in a natural group of Japanese monkeys, I and II. Primates 1:111–148

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koenig A (2002) Competition for resources and its behavioral consequences among female primates. Int J Primatol 23:759–783

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koenig A, Beise J, Chalise MK, Ganzhorn JU (1998) When females should contest for food – testing hypotheses about resource density, distribution, size, and quality with hanuman langurs (Presbytis entellus). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 42:225–237

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kurtz DV (2001) Political anthropology: paradigms and power. Westview Press, Boulder, CO

    Google Scholar 

  • Langergraber KE, Mitani JC, Vigilant L (2007) The limited impact of kinship on cooperation in wild chimpanzees. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 104:7786–7790

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Leighton DR (1987) Gibbons: territoriality and monogamy. In: Smuts BB, Cheney DL, Seyfarth RM, Wrangham RW, Struhsaker TT (eds) Primate societies. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, pp 135–145

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewellen TC (2003) Political anthropology: an introduction. Praeger, Westport, CT

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis RJ (2002) Beyond dominance: the importance of leverage. Q Rev Biol 77:149–164

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lu A, Koenig A, Borries C (2008) Formal submission, tolerance, and socioecological models: a test with female hanuman langurs. Anim Behav 76:415–428

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maner JK, Miller SL, Schmidt NB, Eckel LA (2008) Submitting to defeat: social anxiety, dominance threat, and decrements in testosterone. Psychol Sci 19:764–768

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Marler P (1976) Social organization, communication, and graded signals: the chimpanzee and the gorilla. In: Bateson PPG, Hinde RA (eds) Growing points in ethology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 239–280

    Google Scholar 

  • Matsumara S (1999) The evolution of ‘egalitarian’ and ‘despotic’ social systems among macaques. Primates 40:23–31

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matsumara S, Kobayashi T (1998) A game theory model for dominance relations among group living animals. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 42:77–84

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mehta P, Josephs R (2006) Testosterone change after losing predicts the decision to compete again. Horm Behav 50:684–692

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Melis AP, Hare B, Tomasello M (2006) Chimpanzees recruit the best collaborators. Science 311:1297–1300

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ménard N (2004) Do ecological factors explain variation in social organization? In: Thierry B, Singh M, Kaumanns W (eds) Macaque societies: a model for the study of social organization. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 237–262

    Google Scholar 

  • Mendres KA, de Waal FBM (2000) Capuchins do cooperate: the advantages of an intuitive task. Anim Behav 60:523–529

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mitani JC (2006) Demographic influences on the behavior of chimpanzees. Primates 47:6–13

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mitani JC, Watts DP (2001) Why do chimpanzees hunt and share meat? Anim Behav 61:915–924

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell C, Boinski S, van Schaik CP (1991) Competitive regimes and female bonding in two species of squirrel monkeys (Saimiri oerstedi and S. sciureus). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 28:55–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nishida T (1983) Alpha status and agonistic alliance in wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii). Primates 24:318–336

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nishida T, Hosaka K (1996) Coalition strategies among adult male chimpanzees of the Mahale mountains, Tanzania. In: McGrew WC, Marchant LF, Nishida T (eds) Great ape societies. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 114–134

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Noë R (1990) A veto game played by baboons: a challenge to the Prisoner’s Dilemma as a paradigm for reciprocity and cooperation. Anim Behav 39:78–90

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Noë R (1992) Alliance formation among male baboons: shopping for profitable partners. In: Harcourt AH, de Waal FBM (eds) Coalitions and alliances in humans and other animals. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 285–321

    Google Scholar 

  • Noë R, Hammerstein P (1994) Biological markets: supply and demand determine the effect of partner choice in cooperation, mutualism, and mating. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 35:1–11

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Packer C, Pusey AE (1979) Female aggression and male membership in troops of Japanese macaques and olive baboons. Folia Primatol 31:212–218

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Packer C, Scheel D, Pusey AE (1990) Why lions form groups: food is not enough. Am Nat 136:1–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pereira ME (1988) Agonistic interactions of juvenile savanna baboons I. Fundamental features. Ethology 79:195–217

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pereira ME, Kappeler PM (1997) Divergent systems of agonistic behaviour in lemurid primates. Behaviour 134:225–274

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pereira ME, Kaufman R, Kappeler PM, Overdorff D (1990) Female dominance does not characterize all of the lemuridae. Folia Primatol 55:96–103

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Perry S, Manson JH (2008) Manipulative monkeys: the capuchins of Lomas Barbudal. Harvard University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Perry S, Barrett HC, Manson JH (2004) White-faced capuchin monkeys show triadic awareness. Anim Behav 67:165–170

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Plotkin H (2003) The imagined world made real: towards a natural science of culture. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, NJ

    Google Scholar 

  • Preuschoft S, Paul A (2000) Dominance, egalitarianism, and stalemate: an experimental approach to male-male competition in Barbary macaques. In: Kappeler PM, van Schaik CP (eds) Primate males: causes and consequences of variation in group composition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 205–216

    Google Scholar 

  • Preuschoft S, van Schaik CP (2000) Dominance and communication: conflict management in various social settings. In: Aureli F, de Waal FBM (eds) Natural conflict resolution. University of California Press, Berkeley, pp 77–105

    Google Scholar 

  • Preuschoft S, Paul A, Kuester J (1998) Dominance style of female and male Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus). Behaviour 135:731–755

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pruetz J (2009) The socioecology of adult female patas monkeys and vervets in Kenya. Pearson Prentice Hall, Upple Saddle River, NJ

    Google Scholar 

  • Pusey AE (1990) Behavioural changes at adolescence in chimpanzees. Behaviour 115:203–246

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Range F, Noë R (2004) Can simple rules account for the pattern of triadic interactions in juvenile and adult female sooty mangabeys? Anim Behav 69:445–452

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schino G, Tiddi B, Polizzi di Sorrentino E (2006) Simultaneous classification by rank and kinship in Japanese macaques. Anim Behav 71:1069–1074

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schubert G (1991) Primate politics. In: Schubert G, Masters RD (eds) Primate politics. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale, IL, pp 37–56

    Google Scholar 

  • Setchell JM, Charpentier M, Wickings EJ (2005) Mate guarding and paternity in mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx): factors influencing alpha male monopoly. Anim Behav 70:1105–1120

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Setchell JM, Smith T, Wickings EJ, Knapp LA (2008) Social correlates of testosterone and ornamentation in male mandrills. Horm Behav 54:365–372

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Seyfarth RM (1977) A model of social grooming among adult female monkeys. J Theor Biol 65:671–698

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Silk JB (1999) Male bonnet macaques use information about third-party rank relationships to recruit allies. Anim Behav 58:45–51

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Silk JB (2002) Practice random acts of aggression and senseless acts of intimidation: the logic of status contests in social groups. Evol Anthropol 11:221–225

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Silk JB, Alberts SC, Altmann J (2003) Social bonds of female baboons enhance infant survival. Science 302:1231–1234

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Soltis J (2004) Mating systems. In: Thierry B, Singh M, Kaumanns W (eds) Macaque societies: a model for the study of social organization. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 135–151

    Google Scholar 

  • Sterck EHM, Steenbeek R (1997) Female dominance relationships and food competition in the sympatric Thomas langur and long-tailed macaque. Behaviour 134:739–774

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sterck EHM, Watts DP, van Schaik CP (1997) The evolution of female social relationships in nonhuman primates. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 41:291–309

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swartz MJ, Turner VW, Tuden A (1966) Political anthropology. Aldine, Chicago, IL

    Google Scholar 

  • Thierry B (2000) Covariation of conflict management patterns across macaque species. In: Aureli F, de Waal FBM (eds) Natural conflict resolution. University of California Press, Berkeley, pp 106–128

    Google Scholar 

  • Thierry B (2007) Unity in diversity: lessons from macaque societies. Evol Anthropol 16:224–238

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thierry B, Iwaniukn AN, Pellis SM (2000) The influence of phylogeny on the social behaviour of macaques (Primates: Cercopithecidae, genus Macaca). Ethology 106:713–728

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Noordwijk MA, van Schaik CP (1985) Male migration and rank acquisition in wild long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis). Anim Behav 33:849–861

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Noordwijk MA, van Schaik CP (1999) The effects of dominance rank and group size on female lifetime reproductive success in wild long-tailed macaques, Macaca fascicularis. Primates 40:105–130

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • van Noordwijk MA, van Schaik CP (2004) Sexual selection and the careers of primate males: paternity concentration, dominance-acquisition tactics and transfer decisions. In: Kappeler PM, van Schaik CP (eds) Sexual selection in primates: a comparative perspective. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 208–229

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • van Schaik CP (1989) The ecology of social relationships amongst female primates. In: Standen V, Foley RA (eds) Comparative socioecology: the behavioral ecology of humans and other mammals. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 195–218

    Google Scholar 

  • van Schaik CP, van Noordwijk MA (1986) The hidden costs of sociality: intra-group variation in feeding strategies in Sumatran long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis). Behaviour 99:296–315

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wakefield ML (2008) Grouping patterns and competition among female Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii at Ngogo, Kibale National Park, Uganda. Int J Primatol 29:907–929

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watts DP (1994) Agonistic relationships between female mountain gorillas. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 34:347–358

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watts DP (2002) Reciprocity and interchange in the social relationships of wild male chimpanzees. Behaviour 139:343–370

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watts DP, de Vries H (2009) Linearity and strength of male dominance hierarchies at Ngogo, Kibale National Park, Uganda. Am J Phys Anthropol 138(Suppl. 48):267

    Google Scholar 

  • Watts DP, Colmenares F, Arnold K (2000) Redirection, consolation, and male policing: how targets of aggression interact with bystanders. In: Aureli F, de Waal FBM (eds) Natural conflict resolution. University of California Press, Berkeley, pp 281–301

    Google Scholar 

  • Weber M ([1947] 1965) The theory of social and economic organization. In: Parsons T (ed), (trans: Henderson AM, Parsons T). The Free Press, New York, NY

    Google Scholar 

  • Westbrook R (1991) John Dewey and American democracy. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY

    Google Scholar 

  • White FJ (1996) Comparative socio-ecology of Pan paniscus. In: McGrew WC, Marchant LA, Nishida T (eds) Great ape societies. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 29–41

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA

    David P. Watts

Authors
  1. David P. Watts
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to David P. Watts .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Abt. Soziobiologie, Deutsches Primatenzentrum, Kellnerweg 4, Göttingen, 37077, Germany

    Peter M. Kappeler

  2. Dept. Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, 90095, U.S.A.

    Joan Silk

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Watts, D.P. (2010). Dominance, Power, and Politics in Nonhuman and Human Primates. In: Kappeler, P., Silk, J. (eds) Mind the Gap. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-02725-3_5

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation