Cooperation versus Conflict
People often think that the animal world is full of conflict. However, conflict
and aggression actually play a smaller role in the wild than cooperation. In fact,
according to Conniff, both humans and other primates are social creatures,
and both groups normally try to avoid conflict. Chimpanzees, for example,
typically spend their days caring for their young and traveling together in small
groups. Conniff points out that chimps spend about 5 percent of the day being
aggressive, but 15 to 20 percent of the day grooming2
 each other. For humans
and other primates, conflict is rare and does not last long. For both species,
cooperation is a more effective way to succeed and survive.
The Value of Networking
Research also shows that people and other primates use similar social
networking strategies to get ahead in life. They create tight social bonds by
sharing resources, doing each other favors, building teams, and making friends.
Employees with ambitious career goals, for example, often rely on powerful
people in their office to help them get better jobs. In a similar way, chimps work
to strengthen relationships with other chimps.
Frans de Waal, a primatologist at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia,
claims that for chimps, “you can never reach a high position in their world if
you don’t have friends who help you.” In fact, research shows that chimps often
create bonds to strengthen their status, or importance, in the community. They
do favors for one another and share resources. They sometimes also use their
cunning3 to get ahead. “In chimps a common strategy is to break up alliances
that can be used against them,” de Waal explains. “They see a main rival sitting
with someone else and they try to break up [that meeting].”
6 U NI T 1
C
D
E
2Grooming is the activity of animals cleaning each other. 3Cunning is the ability to achieve things in a clever way, often by deceiving other people.
Aggressive behavior
may bring results,
but also leads to
isolation for the
aggressor.

The Importance of Hierarchies
Groups of coworkers and primate groups have similar social rules. In both
cases, the groups organize themselves into hierarchies, and individual members
know their roles. Individuals in both human and ape groups have a particular
position in relation to other group members. This decides their behavior in
the group. For example, young people may speak softly or avoid eye contact
when they talk to people with higher status. Similarly, Conniff explains that
when chimpanzees approach a powerful or senior member, they try to make
themselves look as small as they can.
The Limits of Aggression
Although cooperation is more common in groups, both humans and other
primates sometimes use conflict in order to gain status. Aggressive behaviors get
attention, and they show an individual’s power in the group. People sometimes
shout or intimidate others to make a point or win an argument. Apes show
aggression by pounding their chests, screeching, or hitting trees. However,
Conniff notes that conflict does not gain long-term success for either species.
When bosses criticize their employees, treat them unfairly, or make their
working lives difficult, employees become stressed, lose motivation, and quit
their jobs. When apes are aggressive, they chase other apes away. In both cases,
aggressive individuals can become isolated, and neither humans nor apes want
to be alone.
In his book, Conniff makes the case that interacting in a kind and polite way
is more beneficial for both humans and primates. “The truth is we are completely
dependent on other people emotionally as well as for our physical needs,”
Conniff concludes. “We function as part of a group rather than as individuals.”
Employees who cooperate in the office and primates who cooperate in the wild
find themselves happier, more effective, and more likely to survive.

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