Monkeys May be Spiteful, Just Like Humans, When Seeing Something Unfair

It turns out that monkeys, like humans, will take time and effort to punish others who get more than their fair share. The new findings reveal that these animals can act actually spiteful.

"One hallmark of the human species is the fact that we're willing to make a special effort to punish those who violet social norms," said Laurie Santos, one of the researchers, in a news release. "We punish those who take resources unfairly and those who intend to do mean things to others. Many researchers have wondered whether this motivation is unique to our species."

In this case, the scientists looked at capuchin monkeys. More specifically, they gave them the option to collapse a table that's holding a partner monkey's food. The researchers found that while chimpanzees will collapse their partner's table only after personal affronts like theft, capuchins punish more often.

In fact, the scientists found that capuchins will punish a partner monkey even if the only affront is having more food. The capuchins also punished those who stole food.

"Our study provides the first evidence of a non-human primate choosing to punish others simply because they have more," said Kristin Leimgruber, one of the researchers, in a news release. "This sort of 'if I can't have it, no one can' response is consistent with psychological spite, a behavior previously believed unique to humans."

The findings are published in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior.

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