Grooming, competition and social rank among female primates: a meta-analysis

Seyfarth (1977, Journal of Theoretical Biology, 65, 671-698) proposed a model of social grooming among female monkeys that has had an enormous influence in the primatological literature. To test this model, I reviewed published data on primate grooming behaviour, using meta-analytical techniques. An analysis of grooming behaviour in 27 different social groups belonging to 14 different species revealed that a significant role in the distribution of grooming was played by attraction to high-ranking animals, attraction to kin and competition for grooming partners. These results confirm the majority of the predictions of the model. The need for more observational data on grooming (and other affiliative interactions) in New World monkeys, and experimental data on the relations between the exchange of grooming and the formation of agonistic alliances, is emphasized., (C) 2001 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.