NCJ Number
140727
Journal
Aggressive Behavior Volume: 18 Issue: 3 Dated: (1992) Pages: 231-240
Date Published
1992
Length
10 pages
Annotation
A sample of 11 green monkeys was divided into two heterosexual and one all-male social groups and placed in enclosures with similar volume but different levels of environmental complexity; patterns of aggressive and affiliative interactions were studied over a period of 21 weeks.
Abstract
The two heterosexual groups had their environmental complexity reduced in terms of number of compartments for a 5-week period in the middle of the study. Rates of contact aggression were low throughout the study period. In the group with housing complexity reduced to one compartment, rates of noncontact aggression and affiliative behavior rose and remained high after complexity was restored. Rates of affiliative behavior increased while noncontact aggression fell in the group whose complexity was reduced to two compartments. The all-male monkey group displayed low rates of affiliative behavior throughout the study. Despite this group's poor prognosis for socialization, it is still intact more than 3 years after formation. On the spectrum of compartment availability, which ranged from one to four, two compartments fostered affiliative behavior while four decreased the likelihood of aggression over time. Even short- term changes in housing scenarios may have had long-lasting effects on the monkeys' patterns of aggression and affiliation. 1 table, 3 figures, and 26 references