Monkeys have a sense of justice similar to that of humans.
The equality is found to be a need for the life of the complex groups.
A survey for the first time to study the economic behavior of capuchin monkeys found that nonhuman primates respond negatively to an unfair distribution of reward, even with no further work if they feel unfairly treated. Thus the sense of justice emerges as an innate ability in our species, alien to the culture, that has evolved from our primate ancestors manifested as a need for the life of the complex groups. By Vanessa Marsh.
sense of justice is a necessity for complex group life and is an innate ability in our species that has evolved from our primate ancestors, according to the results of an investigation conducted to determine the meaning of justice in groups of capuchin monkeys. The research, which has been developed by Sarah Brosnan and Frans de Waal of the Yerkes National Primate Research Center in Atlanta, affiliated with Emory University, was determined that non-human primates respond negatively to an unfair distribution of reward, a common reaction in humans attributed to a universal sense of justice in the culture of our species.
The researchers worked with capuchin monkeys, who were trained to perform odd jobs in exchange for a food reward. When alone, these primates are satisfied with any gift, but they act differently when treatment is collective. When in groups, primates that receive less food than others reject the reward if they find that a colleague of his kind get more food for work or less, even to no further work if they feel unfairly treated , which is the primary manifestation of the exercise of strike.
Sarah Brosnan, one of the researchers who participated in the experiment, told the BBC: "The most interesting is the suggestion that human cooperation is more effective if there is a sense of justice."
"Sometimes, unaware of the reward, sometimes accepted it and then throw it away," he added.
The scientists were not surprised that the monkeys showed a sense of justice, but their attention when they rejected a compensation had been accepted.
That if Brosnan said: "never reacted against the monkey that had received more, nor the blame."
Anchorage instincts
This behavior was considered so far typically human and as a result of the evolution of our civilization, as humans, even from childhood, often reject a reward or compensation not corresponds to what we consider appropriate or fair. For this reason, the discovery gives cause for reflection about the nature sense of justice in our species and the so-called profit motive, because, as Harvard scientists suggest, the sense of justice may be based more on an innate moral faculty (but not exclusive to our species), which reflects logical product of a cultural tradition.
For the authors of this research, the first of its kind, has been revealed the existence of an instinctive sensitivity towards equality in nonhuman primates, clearly contrary to the inequality which means that the rejection injustice is more rooted in the instincts of our species in our culture. As explain the authors of this research, which publishes the journal Nature, the discovery of this sense of justice in primates contradicts traditional economic theory according to which individuals seek above all to meet their particular necessities.
Theoretical review
However, for these primates social and sociable, the profit motive of a cucumber is less important than the psychological rejection that inspires an unfair reward for work, which reveals an attitude completely irrational to economists. Reflecting this research is that to decide whether or not they enter an economic exchange, primates evaluate not only the attractiveness of the reward, but also that they receive compared to their peers about the work .
This study showed that when individuals act in their natural state without cultural conditioning, look to the same extent that the satisfaction of their needs cooperation with peers and relationships of equality.
This observation force to review current theories based on competition among individuals to meet, to integrate other motivations in economic behavior of our species.
Extracted from: http://www.tendencias21.net/Los-primates-tienen-un-sentido-de-la-justicia-similar-al-de-los-humanos_a219.html
