Monkeys reject unequal pay

被引:687
作者
Brosnan, SF [1 ]
de Waal, FBM [1 ]
机构
[1] Emory Univ, Yerkes Natl Primate Res Ctr, Atlanta, GA 30329 USA
关键词
D O I
10.1038/nature01963
中图分类号
O [数理科学和化学]; P [天文学、地球科学]; Q [生物科学]; N [自然科学总论];
学科分类号
07 [理学]; 0710 [生物学]; 09 [农学];
摘要
During the evolution of cooperation it may have become critical for individuals to compare their own efforts and pay-offs with those of others. Negative reactions may occur when expectations are violated. One theory proposes that aversion to inequity can explain human cooperation within the bounds of the rational choice model(1), and may in fact be more inclusive than previous explanations(2-8). Although there exists substantial cultural variation in its particulars, this 'sense of fairness' is probably a human universal(9,10) that has been shown to prevail in a wide variety of circumstances(11-13). However, we are not the only cooperative animals(14), hence inequity aversion may not be uniquely human. Many highly cooperative nonhuman species seem guided by a set of expectations about the outcome of cooperation and the division of resources(15,16). Here we demonstrate that a nonhuman primate, the brown capuchin monkey (Cebus apella), responds negatively to unequal reward distribution in exchanges with a human experimenter. Monkeys refused to participate if they witnessed a conspecific obtain a more attractive reward for equal effort, an effect amplified if the partner received such a reward without any effort at all. These reactions support an early evolutionary origin of inequity aversion.
引用
收藏
页码:297 / 299
页数:3
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