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Group-mindedness as evolved solution to deal with group-living

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 November 2025

Carsten K. W. De Dreu Open the ORCID record for Carsten K. W. De Dreu [Opens in a new window] ,
Esther Herrmann Open the ORCID record for Esther Herrmann [Opens in a new window] ,
Friederike Range ,
Martin Surbeck  and
Roman Wittig
Carsten K. W. De Dreu*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Behavioural and Social Science, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands c.k.w.de.dreu@rug.nl Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology, German Primate Center; Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Gottingen, Germany
Esther Herrmann
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, Sport, and Health Sciences, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK esther.herrmann@port.ac.uk
Friederike Range
Affiliation:
Domestication Lab, Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, Department of Interdisciplinary Life Sciences University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Austria friederike.range@vetmeduni.ac.at
Martin Surbeck
Affiliation:
Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA msurbeck@fas.harvard.edu Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
Roman Wittig
Affiliation:
Ape Social Mind Lab, Institut des Sciences Cognitives, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Bron, France roman.wittig@isc.cnrs.fr Taï Chimpanzee Project, IRL ChiMP4CI, Centre Suisse de Recherche Scientifique, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
*
*Corresponding author.
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Abstract

Challenges of group-living include foundational problems of cooperation and coordination that extend beyond anthropoid primates and may potentially be managed through evolved group-mindedness rather than expanded neocortical size and enhanced capacities for executive functions.

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Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 48 , 2025 , e167
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press

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