Skip to main content

Precursors of Morality – Evidence for Moral Behaviors in Non-human Primates

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Book cover Empirically Informed Ethics: Morality between Facts and Norms

Part of the book series: Library of Ethics and Applied Philosophy ((LOET,volume 32))

Abstract

Is moral behavior unique to humans? Although moral behavior is primarily discussed in relation to humans, if a function of moral behavior is to promote social cohesion and harmony within a social group, there is no a priori reason not to expect a similar set of behaviors in other social species (Bonnie and de Waal 2004; Flack and de Waal 2000; Haidt 2003). Although this certainly does not mean that what we see in other species need be identical to humans’ behavior, there may be a suite of related behaviors that have evolved for the same purposes in other species. Of course, this idea is not new. In The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex (Darwin 1871/1981: 71–72), Darwin argued that sociality is innate, rather than created by humankind, and provided a framework for the development of morality in any species. The question is, then, from which precursor behaviors did morality evolve, and how can we study this in other species?

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

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover 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

Notes

  1. 1.

    Although these words imply foresight and intentionality, note that evolution neither plans for the future nor aims for an optimum. Those traits that provide the most benefit, in terms of reproductive output, in the current environment are said to be selected because they are more likely than alternate traits to be passed on to subsequent generations. Once the environment changes, the trait that is favored by selection will change as well.

  2. 2.

    Note that it is not clear whether the monkeys perceive rewards that differ as inequitable or unequal. Although the rewards in the experiment were objectively unequal, differences in rank, hunger level, etc. may render even equal rewards inequitable. While I only refer to inequity in the context of rewards that differ in objective value, I prefer the term inequity in this context as we do not know whether these other factors influence expectations.

References

  • Aureli, F., and C.M. Schaffner. 2002. Relationship assessment through emotional mediation. Behaviour 139: 393–420.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bartal, I.B.-A., J. Decety, and P. Mason. 2011. Empathy and pro-social behavior in rats. Science 334: 1427–1430.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Batson, C.D. 1991. The altruism question: toward a social psychological answer. Hillsdale: L Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bekoff, M. 2000. The Smile of a Dolphin: Remarkable Accounts of Animal Emotions. New York: Discovery Books/Random House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bethell, E., A. Whiten, G. Muhumaza, and J. Kakura. 2000. Active plant food division and sharing by wild chimpanzees. Primate Report 56: 67–70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boesch, C. 1994. Cooperative hunting in wild chimpanzees. Animal Behavior 48: 653–667.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bonnie, K., and F.B.M. de Waal. 2004. Primate social reciprocity and the origin of gratitude. In The Psychology of Gratitude, ed. R. Emmons and M. McCullough, 213–229. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Brosnan, S.F. 2006. Nonhuman species' reactions to inequity and their implications for fairness. Social Justice Research 19: 153–185.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brosnan, S.F. 2011. Property in Nonhuman Primates. New Directions in Child and Adolescent Behavior 132: 9–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brosnan, S.F., and R. Bshary. 2010. Cooperation and deception: from evolution to mechanisms. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society London B 365(1553): 2593–2598.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brosnan, S.F., and F.B.M. de Waal. 2002. A proximate perspective on reciprocal altruism. Human Nature 13(1): 129–152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brosnan, S.F., and F.B.M. de Waal. 2003. Monkeys reject unequal pay. Nature 425: 297–299.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brosnan, S.F., and F.B.M. de Waal. 2012. Fairness in animals: where to from here? Social Justice Research 25(3): 336–351. doi:10.1007/s11211-012-0165-8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brosnan, S.F., H.C. Schiff, and F.B.M. de Waal. 2005. Tolerance for inequity may increase with social closeness in chimpanzees. Proceedings of the Royal Society London Series B 1560: 253–258.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brosnan, S.F., C. Freeman, and F.B.M. de Waal. 2006. Partner's behavior, not reward distribution, determines success in an unequal cooperative task in capuchin monkeys. American Journal of Primatology 68: 713–724.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brosnan, S.F., J. Henrich, M.C. Mareno, S. Lambeth, S. Schapiro, and J.B. Silk. 2009a. Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) do note develop contingent reciprocity in an experimental task. Animal Cognition 12(4): 587–597.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brosnan, S.F., L. Salwiczek, and R. Bshary. 2010a. The interplay of cognition and cooperation. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Series B 365: 2699–2710.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brosnan, S.F., C. Talbot, M. Ahlgren, S.P. Lambeth, and S.J. Schapiro. 2010b. Mechanisms underlying the response to inequity in chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes. Animal Behavior 79: 1229–1237.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brosnan, S.F., D. Houser, K. Leimgruber, E. Xiao, T. Chen, and F.B.M. de Waal. 2010c. Competing Demands of Prosociality and Equity in Monkeys. Evolution and Human Behavior 31: 279–288.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burkart, J., E. Fehr, C. Efferson, and C.P. van Schaik. 2007. Other-regarding preferences in a non-human primate: Common marmosets provision food altruistically. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104(50): 19762–19766.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, Q., J.B. Panksepp, and G.P. Lahvis. 2009. Empathy is moderated by genetic background in mice. PLoS ONE 4(2): e4387.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Church, R.M. 1959. Emotional reactions of rats to the pain of others. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology 52: 132–134.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Colman, A.D., K.E. Liebold, and J.J. Boren. 1969. A method for studying altruism in monkeys. The Psychological Record 19: 401–405.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cronin, K.A., K.K.E. Schroeder, E.S. Rothwell, J.B. Silk, and C. Snowdon. 2009. Cooperatively breeding cottontop tamarins (Saguinus oedipus) do not donate rewards to their long-term mates. Journal of Comparative Psychology 123: 231–241.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cronin, K.A., K.K.E. Schroeder, and C. Snowdon. 2010. Prosocial behaviour emerges independent of reciprocity in cottontop tamarins. Proceedings of the Royal Society London B 277: 3845–3851.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Darwin, C. 1871/1981. The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, vol. I & II. Princeton: Princeton University Press (original: London: Murray).

    Google Scholar 

  • Darwin, C. 1872/1998. The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, 3rd ed. London: HarperCollins.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Waal, F.B.M. 1978. Exploitative and familiarity-dependent support strategies in a colony of semi-free living chimpanzees. Behaviour 66: 268–312.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Waal, F.B.M. 1992. Coalitions as part of reciprocal relations in the Arnhem chimpanzee colony. In Coalitions and Alliances in Humans and Other Animals, ed. A.H. Harcourt and F.B.M. de Waal, 233–258. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Waal, F.B.M. 1997. The chimpanzee's service economy: Food for grooming. Evolution and Human Behavior 18: 375–386.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Waal, F.B.M. 2006. Primates and Philosophers. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Waal, F.B.M., and F. Aureli. 1996. Consolation, reconciliation, and a possible cognitive difference between macaque and chimpanzee. In Reaching in to Thought: The minds of the great apes, ed. A.E. Russon, K.A. Bard, and S.T. Parker, 80–110. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Waal, F.B.M., and L.M. Luttrell. 1988. Mechanisms of social reciprocity in three primate species: Symmetrical relationship characteristics or cognition? Ethology and Sociobiology 9: 101–118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Waal, F.B.M., and A. van Roosmalen. 1979. Reconciliation and consolation among chimpanzees. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 5: 55–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Waal, F.B.M., K. Leimgruber, and A. Greenberg. 2008. Giving is self-rewarding for monkeys. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105: 13685–13689.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duffy, K.G., R.W. Wrangham, and J.B. Silk. 2007. Male chimpanzees exchange political support for mating opportunities. Current Biology 17(15): R586.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dugatkin, L.A. 1997. Cooperation Among Animals: An Evolutionary Perspective. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feistner, A.T.C., and W.C. McGrew. 1989. Food-sharing in primates: A critical review. In Perspectives in Primate Biology, vol. 3, ed. P.K. Seth and S. Seth, 21–36. New Delhi: Today & Tomorrow's Printers and Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feistner, A.T.C., and E.C. Price. 1991. Food offering in new world primates: two species added. Folia Primatologica 57: 165–168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flack, J., and F.B.M. de Waal. 2000. ‘Any animal whatever’: Darwinian building blocks of morality in monkeys and apes. Journal of Consciousness Studies 7(1–2): 1–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Flack, J., F.B.M. de Waal, and D.C. Krakauer. 2005. Social structure, robustness, and policing cost in a cognitively sophisticated species. American Naturalist 165: E126–E139.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flack, J., M. Girvan, F.B.M. de Waal, and D.C. Krakauer. 2006. Policing stabilizes construction of social niches in primates. Nature 439: 426–429.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fletcher, G.E. 2008. Attending to the outcome of others: Disadvantageous inequity aversion in male capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella). American Journal of Primatology 70: 901–905.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gomes, C.M., and C. Boesch. 2009. Wild chimpanzees exchange meat for sex on a long-term basis. PLoS ONE 4(4): e5116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gomes, C.M., R. Mundry, and C. Boesch. 2008. Long-term reciprocation of grooming in wild West African chimpanzees. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 276: 699–706.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guth, W., R. Schmittberger, and B. Schwartze. 1982. An experimental analysis of ultimatum bargaining. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 3: 367–388.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haidt, J. 2003. The Moral Emotions. In The Handobook of Affective Sciences, ed. R.J. Davidson, K.R. Scherer, and H.H. Goldsmith, 852–870. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hare, B., A.P. Melis, V. Woods, S. Hastings, and R. Wrangham. 2007. Tolerance allows bonobos to outperform chimpanzees on a cooperative task. Current Biology 17: 619–623.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hart, B.L., and L.A. Hart. 1992. Reciprocal allogrooming in impala, Aepyceros melampus. Animal Behavior 44: 1073–1083.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heinrich, B. 1999. Mind of the Raven. New York: Harper Collins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hockings, K.J., T. Humle, J.R. Anderson, D. Biro, C. Sousa, G. Ohashi, and T. Matsukawa. 2007. Chimpanzees share forbidden fruit. PLoS ONE 2(9): e886.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horner, V., J.D. Carter, M. Suchak, and F.B.M. de Waal. 2011. Spontaneous prosocial choice by chimpanzees. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 108(33): 13847–13851. doi:10.1073/pnas.1111088108.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hume, D. 1739–1740/1978/2003. A treatise of human nature. Introd. and ed. L.A. Selby-Bigge and P.H. Nidditch. Oxford/Mineola: Oxford University Press/Dover Publications (2003 edn.).

    Google Scholar 

  • Jaeggi, A.V., J.M.G. Stevenson, and C.P. Van Schaik. 2010b. Tolerant food sharing and reciprocity precluded by despotism among bonobos but not chimpanzees. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 143: 41–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jensen, K., B. Hare, J. Call, and M. Tomasello. 2006. What's in it for me? Self-regard precludes altruism and spite in chimpanzees. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 273: 1013–1021.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koski, S., and E.H.M. Sterck. 2007. Triadic postconflict affiliation in captive chimpanzees: does consolation console? Animal Behaviour 73: 133–142.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kummer, H., and M. Cords. 1990. Cues of ownership in long-tailed macaques, Macaca fascicularis. Animal Behavior 42: 529–549.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lakshminarayanan, V., and L.R. Santos. 2008. Capuchin monkeys are sensitive to others' welfare. Current Biology 18: R999–R1000.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Langford, D.J., S.E. Crager, Z. Shehzad, S.B. Smith, S.G. Sotocinal, J.S. Levenstadt, M.L. Chanda, D.J. Levitin, and J.S. Mogil. 2006. Social modulation of pain as evidence for empathy in mice. Science 312(5782): 1967–1970.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • LoBue, V., T. Nishida, C. Chiong, J.S. DeLoache, and J. Haidt. 2009. When getting something good is bad: Even three-year-olds react to inequality. Social Development 20: 154–170.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Machida, S. 2006. Threat calls in alliance formation by members of a captive group of Japanese macaques. Primates 31(2): 205–211.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Masserman, J., M.S. Wechkin, and W. Terris. 1964. Altruistic behavior in rhesus monkeys. The American Journal of Psychiatry 121: 584–585.

    Google Scholar 

  • Melis, A.P., B. Hare, and M. Tomasello. 2008. Do chimpanzees reciprocate received favours? Animal Behavior 76: 951–962.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Melis, A.P., F. Warneken, K. Jensen, A.C. Schneider, J. Call, and M. Tomasello. 2010. Chimpanzees help conspecifics obtain food and non-food items. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 278: 1405–1413.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milinski, M., D. Pfluger, D. Kulling, and R. Kettler. 1990. Do sticklebacks cooperate repeatedly in reciprocal pairs? Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 27: 17–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitani, J.C. 2006. Reciprocal exchange in chimpanzees and other primates. In Cooperation in Primates and Humans: Evolution and Mechanisms, ed. P. Kapeller and C.P. van Schaik, 101–113. Berlin: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nakamura, M., and N. Itoh. 2001. Sharing of wild fruits among male chimpanzees: two cases from Mahale, Tanzania. Pan African News 8: 67–70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nishida, T., and K. Hosaka. 1996. Coalition strategies among adult male chimpanzees of the Mahale Mountains, Tanzania. In Great Ape Societies, ed. W.C. McGrew, L.F. Marchant, and T. Nishida, 114–134. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Nishida, T., T. Hasegawa, H. Hayaki, Y. Takahata, and S. Uehara. 1992. Meat-sharing as a coalition strategy by an alpha male chimpanzee? In Topics in Primatology: Human Origins, vol. 1, ed. T. Nishida, W.C. McGrew, P. Marler, M. Pickford, and F.B.M. de Waal, 159–174. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Palagi, E., D. Antonacci, and I. Norscia. 2008. Peacemaking on treetops: first evidence of reconciliation from a wild prosimian (Propithecus verreauxi). Animal Behavior 76: 737–747.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perry, S. 1997. Male–female social relationships in wild white-faced capuchin monkeys, Cebus capucinus. Behaviour 134: 477–510.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Range, F., L. Horn, Z. Viranyi, and L. Huber. 2008. The absence of reward induces inequity aversion in dogs. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 106(1): 340–345.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Romero, T., and F. Aureli. 2008. Reciprocity of support in coaties (Nasua nasua). Journal of Comparative Psychology 122(1): 19–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Russell, Y.I., J. Call, and R.I.M. Dunbar. 2008. Image scoring in great apes. Behavioural Processes 78: 108–111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rutte, C., and M. Taborsky. 2007. Generalized reciprocity in rats. PLoS Biology 5(7): e196.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sapolsky, R., and L. Share. 2004. A pacific culture among wild baboons: Its emergence and transmission. PLoS Biology 2(4): e106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schino, G. 1998. Reconciliation in domestic goats. Behaviour 135(3): 343–356.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schino, G., and F. Aureli. 2008. Grooming reciprocation among female primates: a meta-analysis. Biology Letters 4: 9–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schino, G., and F. Aureli. 2010. Primate reciprocity and its cognitive requirements. Evolutionary Anthropology 19: 130–135.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sigg, H., and J. Falett. 1985. Experiments on the respect of possession and property inhamadryas baboons (Papio hamadryas). Animal Behavior 33: 978–984.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Silk, J.B. 1979. Feeding, foraging and food sharing behavior of immature chimpanzees. Folia primatologica 31: 123–142.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Silk, J.B., S.F. Brosnan, J. Vonk, J. Henrich, D.J. Povinelli, A.S. Richardson, et al. 2005. Chimpanzees are indifferent to the welfare of unrelated group members. Nature 437: 1357–1359.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Slocombe, K.E., and N.E. Newton-Fisher. 2005. Fruit sharing between wild adult chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii): a socially significant event? American Journal of Primatology 65(4): 385–391.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stevens, J.R. 2010. Donor payoffs and other-regarding preferences in cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus). Animal Cognition 13: 663–670.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Subiaul, F., J. Vonk, S. Okamoto-Barth, and J. Barth. 2008. Do chimpanzees learn reputation by observation? Evidence from direct and indirect experience with generous and selfish strangers. Animal Cognition 11: 611–623.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tangney, J.P., J. Stuewig, and D.J. Mashek. 2007. Moral emotions and moral behavior. Annual Review of Psychology 58: 345–372.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Wolkenten, M., S.F. Brosnan, and F.B.M. de Waal. 2007. Inequity responses in monkeys modified by effort. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104(47): 18854–18859.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vonk, J., S.F. Brosnan, J.B. Silk, J. Henrich, A.S. Richardson, S. Lambeth, S.J. Schapiro, and D.J. Povinelli. 2008. Chimpanzees do not take advantage of very low cost opportunities to deliver food to unrelated group members. Animal Behaviour 75: 1757–1770.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wahaj, S.A., K.R. Guse, and K.E. Holekamp. 2001. Reconciliation in spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta). Ethology 107: 1057–1074.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walster [Hatfield], E., G.W. Walster, and E. Berscheid. 1978. Equity: Theory and research. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Warneken, F., and M. Tomasello. 2006. Altruistic helping in human infants and young chimpanzees. Science 311: 1301–1303.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warneken, F., B. Hare, A.P. Melis, D. Hanus, and M. Tomasello. 2007. Spontaneous altruism by chimpanzees and young children. PLoS Biology 5(7): e184.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watanabe, K. 2001. A review of 50 years of research on the Japanese monkeys of Koshima: status and dominance. In Primate Origins of Human Cognition and Behavior, ed. T. Matsuzawa, 405–417. Tokyo: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Watts, D.P. 2002. Reciprocity and interchange in the social relationships of wild male chimpanzees. Behaviour 139: 343–370.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilkinson, G.S. 1984. Reciprocal food sharing in the vampire bat. Nature 308: 181–184.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wobber, V., R. Wrangham, and B. Hare. 2010. Bonobos exhibit delayed development of social behavior and cognition relative to chimpanzees. Current Biology 20(3): 226–230.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yamamoto, S., and M. Tanaka. 2009a. Do chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) spontaneously take turns in a reciprocal cooperation task? Journal of Comparative Psychology 123(3): 242–249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yamamoto, S., and M. Tanaka. 2009b. How did altruism and reciprocity evolve in humans? Journal of Interaction Studies 10(2): 150–182.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Funding to the author was provided by a National Science Foundation Human and Social Dynamics Grant (SES 0729244) and an NSF CAREER Award (SES 0847351).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sarah F. Brosnan .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Brosnan, S.F. (2014). Precursors of Morality – Evidence for Moral Behaviors in Non-human Primates. In: Christen, M., van Schaik, C., Fischer, J., Huppenbauer, M., Tanner, C. (eds) Empirically Informed Ethics: Morality between Facts and Norms. Library of Ethics and Applied Philosophy, vol 32. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-01369-5_5

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics