Influence of relationship quality and severity of aggression on post-conflict affiliation in Hamadryas Baboons (Papio hamadryas hamadryas).

Abstract

This paper explores the influence of relationship quality and level of aggression on post-conflict affiliation in 16 captive hamadryas baboons (Papio hamadryas hamadryas) at the Singapore Zoo. Focal sampling was used to record baseline affiliation rates and relationship quality between dyads, and 3 levels of aggression were categorized based on intensity. Amount of post-conflict affiliation was measured using post-conflict (PC) and matched-control (MC) samples. In line with previous studies, the results demonstrate that relationship quality is highly correlated to reconciliation but not third party consolation (TPC), and level of aggression did not significantly influence reconciliation and TPC. Changes could be made to traditional methods which may improve the reliability of results in future studies on primates.