Hostname: page-component-77f85d65b8-g98kq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-04-11T21:22:45.897Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Core affective mechanisms maintaining group cohesion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 November 2025

Karlijn van Heijst Open the ORCID record for Karlijn van Heijst [Opens in a new window]  and
Mariska E. Kret Open the ORCID record for Mariska E. Kret [Opens in a new window]
Karlijn van Heijst*
Affiliation:
Cognitive Psychology Unit, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands k.van.heijst@fsw.leidenuniv.nl Comparative Psychology & Affective Neuroscience Lab, Cognitive Psychology Department, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
Mariska E. Kret
Affiliation:
Cognitive Psychology Unit, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands k.van.heijst@fsw.leidenuniv.nl Comparative Psychology & Affective Neuroscience Lab, Cognitive Psychology Department, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands m.e.kret@fsw.leidenuniv.nl
*
*Corresponding author.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

As the third solution to group dispersion, Dunbar proposes primates use several higher order cognitive skills to especially manage ‘weak ties’ in a nuanced and fast-tracked way, therewith avoiding unnecessary conflicts. We here argue that subconscious, automatic processes including attention allocation and behavioral or neurophysiological state matching can serve a similar function in maintaining group cohesion.

Information

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 48 , 2025 , e185
Check for updates
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Bertini, M., Giulia, A., Chiara, B., Giada, C., & Palagi, E. (2022). Playful interactions and facial mimicry in infant bonobos (Pan paniscus). Ethology Ecology & Evolution, 34(3), 344–359. https://doi.org/10.1080/03949370.2021.1988723 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diana, F., & Kret, M. E. (2025). First predict, then bond: Rethinking the function of mimicry from prediction to affiliation in human and non-human animals. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 168, 105950. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2024.105950 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fumihiro, K., & Tomonaga, M. (2010). Attention to emotional scenes including whole-body expressions in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 124, 287–294. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019146 Google Scholar
Kret, M. E., Jaasma, L., Bionda, T., & Wijnen, J. G. (2016). Bonobos (Pan paniscus) show an attentional bias toward conspecifics’ emotions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(14), 3761–3766. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1522060113 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kret, M. E., Tomonaga, M., & Matsuzawa, T. (2014). Chimpanzees and humans mimic pupil-size of Conspecifics. PLOS ONE, 9(8), e104886. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0104886 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kret, M., Muramatsu, A., & Matsuzawa, T. (2018). Emotion processing across and within species: A comparison between humans (Homo sapiens) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 132. https://doi.org/10.1037/com0000108 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laméris, D. W., van Berlo, E., Sterck, E. H. M., Bionda, T., & Kret, M. E. (2020). Low relationship quality predicts scratch contagion during tense situations in orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus). American Journal of Primatology, 82(7), e23138. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.23138 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mancini, G., Ferrari, P. F., & Palagi, E. (2013). In play we trust. Rapid facial mimicry predicts the duration of playful interactions in geladas. PLOS ONE, 8(6), e66481-. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0066481 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miller, M. L., Gallup, A. C., Vogel, A. R., Vicario, S. M., & Clark, A. B. (2012). Evidence for contagious behaviors in budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus): An observational study of yawning and stretching. Behavioural Processes, 89(3), 264–270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2011.12.012 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nakayama, K. (2004). Observing conspecifics scratching induces a contagion of scratching in japanese monkeys (Macaca fuscata). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 118(1), 20–24. https://doi.org/10.1037/0735-7036.118.1.20 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Norscia, I., Coco, E., Robino, C., Chierto, E., & Cordoni, G. (2021). Yawn contagion in domestic pigs (Sus scrofa). Scientific Reports, 11(1), 1851. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-80545-1 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Palagi, E., Marchi, E., Cavicchio, P., & Bandoli, F. (2019). Sharing playful mood: Rapid facial mimicry in Suricata suricatta. Animal Cognition, 22(5), 719–732. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-019-01269-y CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pritsch, C., Telkemeyer, S., Mühlenbeck, C., & Liebal, K. (2017). Perception of facial expressions reveals selective affect-biased attention in humans and orangutans. Scientific Reports, 7(1), 7782. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-07563-4 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Scopa, C., & Palagi, E. (2016). Mimic me while playing! Social tolerance and rapid facial mimicry in macaques (Macaca tonkeana and Macaca fuscata). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 130(2), 153–161. https://doi.org/10.1037/com0000028 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Valdivieso-Cortadella, S., Bernardi-Gómez, C., Aureli, F., Llorente, M., & Amici, F. (2023). Yawning and scratching contagion in wild spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi). Scientific Reports, 13(1), 8367. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-35693-5 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Valente, D., Torti, V., De Gregorio, C., Gamba, M., Carugati, F., Miaretsoa, L., Pavoni, F., Raimondi, T., Ratsimbazafy, J., Giacoma, C., & Norscia, I. (2022). First evidence of contagious yawning in a wild lemur. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 77(1), 11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-022-03284-5 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Berlo, E., Bionda, T., & Kret, M. E. (2023). Attention toward emotions is modulated by familiarity with the expressor: A comparison between bonobos and humans. Emotion, 23(7), 1904–1917. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000882 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
van Berlo, E., Díaz-Loyo, A. P., Juárez-Mora, O. E., Kret, M. E., & Massen, J. J. M. (2020). Experimental evidence for yawn contagion in orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus). Scientific Reports, 10(1), 22251. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-79160-x CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
van Berlo, E., Roth, T. S., Kim, Y., & Kret, M. E. (2024). Selective and prolonged attention to emotional scenes in humans and bonobos. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 291(2028), 20240433. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2024.0433 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Whitehouse, J., Micheletta, J., Kaminski, J., & Waller, B. M. (2016). Macaques attend to scratching in others. Animal Behaviour, 122, 169–175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.10.020 CrossRefGoogle Scholar