Monkeys reward friends and relatives

WASHINGTON – For capuchin monkeys, it seems, it's better to both give and receive, than just to receive. At least, that's what researchers at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center at Emory University in Atlanta have found.

Monkeys were given a choice of receiving a food reward, or receiving a food reward and also having another monkey receive food.

When paired with relative or "friend" the monkeys primarily went for the double reward, known as the "prosocial" choice, researchers led by Frans de Waal report in Tuesday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"The fact the capuchins predominantly selected the prosocial option must mean seeing another monkey receive food is satisfying or rewarding for them," said de Waal.

But the monkeys weren't so generous with strangers, choosing the so-called "selfish" option instead.

"We believe prosocial behavior is empathy based. Empathy increases in both humans and animals with social closeness, and in our study, closer partners made more prosocial choices. They seem to care for the welfare of those they know," de Waal said in a statement.

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What I find interesting about this study is that my ex- would often get herself a snack and not offer anything to her mate or even her children. Of course, she wasn't a capuchin monkey...she was a baboon.