Open AccessEvidence of joint commitment in great apes' natural joint actions
Author(s) -
Raphaela Heesen,
Klaus Zuberbühler,
Adrian Bangerter,
Katia Iglesias,
Federico Rossano,
Aude Pajot,
JeanPascal Guéry,
Émilie Genty
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
royal society open science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.84
H-Index - 51
ISSN - 2054-5703
DOI - 10.1098/rsos.211121
Subject(s) - joint (building) , psychology , joint attention , social psychology , non human , action (physics) , cognitive psychology , developmental psychology , epistemology , architectural engineering , engineering , philosophy , physics , quantum mechanics , autism
Human joint action seems special, as it is grounded in joint commitment—a sense of mutual obligation participants feel towards each other. Comparative research with humans and non-human great apes has typically investigated joint commitment by experimentally interrupting joint actions to study subjects’ resumption strategies. However, such experimental interruptions are human-induced, and thus the question remains of how great apes naturally handle interruptions. Here, we focus on naturally occurring interruptions of joint actions, grooming and play, in bonobos and chimpanzees. Similar to humans, both species frequently resumed interrupted joint actions (and the previous behaviours, like grooming the same body part region or playing the same play type) with their previous partners and at the previous location. Yet, the probability of resumption attempts was unaffected by social bonds or rank. Our data suggest that great apes experience something akin to joint commitment, for which we discuss possible evolutionary origins.