Nice Chimps Finish Last

Researchers studying chimpanzees in Tanzania’s Gombe National Park have discovered that, as with humans, the meanest chimps enjoy the most success in life.

Primate specialists from the University Edinburgh and Duke observed 28 male chimpanzees in the park and found that the greediest, most irascible bullies among them were the most likely to rise in the ranks of social hierarchy and, more importantly, were more likely to reproduce than their more pleasant peers.

The findings raise questions. For one, primatologists have known for some time that chimpanzees exhibit empathy, which is also associated with reproductive success. That seems to contradict the recent research, but it could be an indication that animal behavior, as with humans, is more complicated than we think.

Another question: if being an annoying asshole is rewarded, why don’t all chimps act like jerks? “It’s an evolutionary puzzle,” says Joseph Feldblum, Duke evolutionary anthropologist and study co-author.

It could be that different personality traits are beneficial at different stages in a chimp’s life. Aggressive greedy behavior might be a winning strategy for young males, but a liability when they’re older. “Think of the personality traits that lead some people to peak in high school versus later in life,” says co-author Alexander Weiss. “It’s a trade-off.”

But the team tested this idea, using nearly four decades of data dating back to Jane Goodall’s work at Gombe. They found the same unsavory personalities correlate with high rank and reproductive success from cradle to grave. Perhaps, then, the jerks are primarily males and the females are the pleasant ones (who keep empathy and other niceties afloat in the gene pool). 

The research is published in the journal PeerJ Life & Environment.

Photo credit: Ian C. Gilby / Arizona State University