# Social induction and the developmental trajectory of participation in intergroup conflict by vervet monkeys

## TL;DR

The study explores how young vervet monkeys learn to participate in conflicts between groups, influenced by their mothers and social connections.

## Contribution

The study introduces social induction as a potential mechanism for the development of intergroup conflict participation in non-human primates.

## Key findings

- Non-adult vervet monkeys adjust their conflict participation based on age and situational risk.
- Maternal participation and grooming centrality influence juvenile involvement in intergroup conflict.
- Grooming patterns during conflict suggest social induction, with higher-ranking females and participants receiving more grooming.

## Abstract

We assess the proposition that intergroup conflict (IGC) in non-human primates offers a useful comparison for studies of human IGC and its links to parochial altruism and prosociality. That is, for non-linguistic animals, social network integration and maternal influence promote juvenile engagement in IGC and can serve as the initial grounding for sociocultural processes that drive human cooperation. Using longitudinal data from three cohorts of non-adult vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus), we show that non-adults are sensitive to personal (age) and situational risk (participant numbers). The frequency and intensity of participation, although modulated by rank and temperament, both mirrors maternal participation and reflects non-adult centrality in the grooming network. The possibility of social induction is corroborated by the distribution of grooming during IGC, with non-adults being more likely to be groomed if they were female, higher-ranking and participants themselves. Mothers were more likely to groom younger offspring participants of either sex, whereas other adults targeted higher-ranking female participants. Although we caution against a facile alignment of these outcomes to human culturally mediated induction, there is merit in considering how the embodied act of participation and the resultant social give-and-take might serve as the basis for a unified comparative investigation of prosociality.