Touching, hugging and even kissing before stressful situations may be an ancient way of building trust, according to new research highlighted by the BBC.
Image used for illustrative purposes/Michael Kelso/Unsplash
Scientists studying our closest living relatives found that chimpanzees and bonobos use reassuring physical contact before competition over food, suggesting these social behaviours evolved millions of years ago.
The study, led by researchers from Durham University, observed chimpanzees and bonobos at great ape sanctuaries in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia. To recreate a natural feeding scenario, the apes were presented with peanuts while researchers closely monitored their interactions in the five minutes before the food arrived.
Rather than immediately preparing for competition, many of the apes sought out one another for comforting contact. They were seen embracing, touching, kissing and, in the case of some chimpanzees, even placing their fingers inside each other’s mouths – a remarkable display of trust.
Professor Zanna Clay described the behaviour as a way of strengthening social bonds before a tense situation.
“Before stressful events, they come together, they reassure each other, they touch each other, they hug each other,” she explained, likening it to a football team gathering in a pre-match huddle. The behaviour shifts the focus from the individual to the group, reinforcing cooperation over competition.
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The researchers found that apes engaging in these reassuring gestures were more likely to feed peacefully alongside one another. Groups that were generally more tolerant also displayed higher levels of social touch, including what scientists called “reassurance trains”, where several apes embraced one after another.
According to lead researcher Dr Jake Brooker, comparing chimpanzees and bonobos provides valuable insight into the evolutionary origins of social behaviour.
He noted that touch is one of the oldest forms of communication and almost certainly predates spoken language. The findings suggest that using physical contact to build trust and cooperation may date back at least seven million years, before humans, chimpanzees and bonobos diverged from a common ancestor.
The research offers a fascinating perspective on familiar human behaviours, from a reassuring pat on the shoulder to a team huddle before a major event. These simple gestures may be rooted in an ancient social toolkit shared with our closest primate relatives.
The findings were published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.
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