Social rejection, Exclusion and Shunning among the Gombe Chimpanzees

In the chimpanzee societies there are strong, affectionate social bonding and many similarities can be compared in many aspects to the human society. Conflicts also emerge among the members of a community and they usually re-establish their social relations.

Some of the components of the ostracism phenomenon (“exclusion of a society or group” google definition) exists but it is not as sophisticated as in the human societies. Jane Goodall observed and discriminated three different behavioral contexts when social rejection or exclusion appears.

Competitive interaction between in-group members is a natural phenomenon since after social hierarchy has formed it has to be maintained or modified. Hostility to a target usually appears by only a few group members, especially males. It is common phenomenon which is usually solved by social grooming. Another possible solution is that the persecuted male moves to the side of the community, to a peripheral area of the community’s territory. Social rejection appears by the mother when the offspring becomes adolescent with the aim to encourage the offspring to become a member to the broader social group. Nonetheless the social bonding between mother and offspring remains close.
Social cohesion usually compensates which is highly adaptive since chimpanzees have to protect their territory from intruders or others troops so they need every group member.

The context when out-group members attempt to join the community is different. In this case a more generalized and coordinated reaction emerges. Goodall observed an older mother who tried to join a group with her offspring. There was a strong coordinated and aggressive response from adult males. In these situations, even attempts for reconcilement are ineffective, moreover often finished with death. Although the previously mentioned situation is rare.

A more natural event when an immigrant adolescent female (whom are more likely to leave than males) tries to affiliate a group. It can lead to a generalized hostility by the resident females. If a male acquires a such a female then he will protect her and cohesion mechanism will operate for social bonding even with the females. If the stranger female can’t integrate she will probably return to her initial group.
To maintain and strengthen social relations in the community and protect group resources these are also adaptive reactions.

Another rare case which can emerge generalized shunning response, is when a member behaves in an abnormal, unusual way. Goodall observed such a situation what happened due to a paralytic disease. The members were afraid of McGregor whom legs were paralyzed then no longer showed fear when the behavior became familiar. However, he wasn’t really involved to social grooming anymore. This response is also adaptive because it can prevent a contagious disease from spreading.

Social bonding is extremely strong among chimpanzee society and it often excel conflicts. The structure of it is very similar to the human societies. Although ostracism is not as refined as among humans, the adaptive response for deviant behavior (initial fear which reduces with the familiarity) and the exclusion of a stranger by the residents (where the acceptance is increasing with the length of stay) appears among human societies as well. It is really important to realize how similar it is to human societies. Resemblance can also emerge empathy.