A low hierarchical rank can have different implications within different species or animal cultures
The frequency of harrasment by superiors and the lack of opportunities for social support have been shown to be the best predictors of elevated glucocorticoid levels among low ranking members of hierarchical groups. So rank means different things in different species. It turns out that rank can also mean different things in different social groups within the same species. Primatologists these days talk about primate âculture,â and this is not an anthropomorphic term. For example, chimps in one part of the rain forest can have a very different culture from the folks four valleys overâdifferent frequencies of social behaviors, use of similar vocalizations but with different meanings (in other words, something approaching the concept of a âdialectâ), different types of tool use. And intergroup differences influence the rank-stress relationship.
One example is found among female rhesus monkeys, where subordinates normally take a lot of grief and have elevated basal glucocorticoid levelsâexcept in one social group that was studied, which, for some reason, had high rates of reconciliatory behaviors among animals after fights. The same is found in a baboon troop that just happened to be a relatively benign place to be a low-ranking individual. Another example concerns subordinates male baboons who, because hierarchically subordinate animals have higher resting levels of glucocorticoids and an ineffecient stress-response, normally do have elevated glucocorticoid levelsâexcept during a severe drought. Ordinarilly, hierarchically subordinate animals tend to be over-stressed due to uncontrollable and unpredictable mistreatment from superiors, but the dominant males were so busy looking for food during the drought that they didnât have the time or energy to hassle everyone else (implying, ironically, that for a subordinate animal, an environmental stressor can be a blessing, insofar as it saves you from a more severe social stressor).
References
- Sapolsky, Robert. (2004). Why Zebras Donât Get Ulcers Chapter 17. The View from the Bottom (p. 503). New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company.
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