Social Dominance Relationships in Male Vervet Monkeys

Abstract

This article discusses dominance relationships in groups of male vervet monkeys and the potential relevance of selected findings from vervet studies to research on human political behavior. In considering the vervets, we first focus on the empirical data de scribing dominant and non-dominant animals, including both behavioral and bio chemical points of distinction, and then turn to the species-typical constraints associated with such dominance relationships. Methodological and theoretical points of departure for human studies are noted, and an illustrative study of humans is briefly summarized.