Project description
Studying how the macaque monkeys cooperate
What influences people and animals to cooperate and select specific partners during cooperative interactions? The answer may lie within proximate mechanisms, which facilitate cooperation. The EU-funded CooPMacaque project will investigate four proxies: personality, prosociality, dominance rank relationships, and the interplay of hormones. The aim is to understand how cooperation evolved. The research will involve 100 monkeys belonging to 5 macaque species (Macaca mulatta, M. fuscata, M. fasicularis, M. Sylvanus and M. Silenus) that will be tested in their social groups in a semi-free-ranging environment. Specifically, the project will examine how similarities in personality and dominance rank relationships influence partner choice. It will investigate whether prosocial motivations of individuals initiate and enhance cooperative interaction as well as explore the impact of the interplay of peripheral oxytocin, testosterone and cortisol on cooperation.
Objective
A myriad of species including humans are social. Maintenance of sociality is based on cooperative interactions among individuals. Regardless of theories and empirical explanations, experimental evidence scarcity has rendered addressing the evolution of cooperation challenging. Ergo, little is known about what influences humans and other animals to cooperate and select specific partners during cooperative interactions. Proximate mechanisms facilitating cooperation can provide crucial information on its evolution and maintenance. In this project, I will focus on the following proxies - personality, prosociality, dominance rank-relationships, and the interplay of hormones - to understand how cooperation evolved, using ~100 individuals belonging to 5 macaque species (Macaca mulatta, M. fuscata, M. fasicularis, M. sylvanus, and M. silenus). I will examine - how similarities in personality and dominance-rank relationships influence partner choice; whether prosocial motivations of individuals initiate and enhance cooperative interaction; and the effect of the interplay of peripheral oxytocin, testosterone, and cortisol on cooperation. The innovative and new perspectives of the project include– a. avoiding anonymous/forced dyad testing - testing of macaques based on their intrinsic motivations to cooperate, thus, prioritising areas of ecological relevance such as partner choice; b. testing macaques in their social groups; c. testing in semi free-ranging environment. Hence, I will use an integrative, interdisciplinary, and comparative approach in the project. My existing expertise in social cognition and subsequent training during the fellowship will undoubtedly result in pioneering research output and scientific advancement in the area of cooperation dynamics. This project is the first attempt to study cooperation from an unexplored angle and will provide us with significant information on why cooperation evolved and how it is being maintained in social systems.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
You need to log in or register to use this function
We are sorry... an unexpected error occurred during execution.
You need to be authenticated. Your session might have expired.
Thank you for your feedback. You will soon receive an email to confirm the submission. If you have selected to be notified about the reporting status, you will also be contacted when the reporting status will change.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
-
H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
See all projects funded under this programme -
H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
See all projects funded under this programme
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)
See all projects funded under this funding scheme
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2019
See all projects funded under this callCoordinator
Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
3584 CS Utrecht
Netherlands
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.