Although most of the literature on shared experiences and social bonds concern humans, we cannot exclude the presence of similar mechanisms in non-human vertebrates

The dawn of social bonds: what is the role of shared experiences in non-human animals? Laura Busia and Matteo Griggio. Biology Letters, Vol 16, issue 7, July 15 2020. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2020.0201

Abstract: Group-living animals can develop social bonds. Social bonds can be considered a type of social relationship characterized by frequent and consistent affiliative (non-reproductive) interactions. Social bonds with conspecifics bring many advantages, also in terms of direct fitness. A characteristic of social bonds is that they need time to develop. Several studies on humans have emphasized the fact that sharing experiences can affect the strength of social bonds. A similar trend can be spotted in non-human species. For example, a recent experiment showed that if chimpanzees watched a video together with a conspecific, they spent more time in proximity compared to conspecifics with whom they did not actively watch a video. Another experiment on fish showed that individuals who experienced a situation of high predation risk together, showed preference for each other compared to those who did not. As the link between shared experiences and social bonds is not explicitly recognized in non-human animals, the main goal of this work is to propose the exploration of this novel research path. This exploration would contribute to shed light on the evolutionary mechanisms of social bond (or friendship) development and maintenance between individuals in different vertebrate species, from fish to non-human primates.

5. Conclusion

Although most of the literature on shared experiences and social bonds concern humans, we cannot exclude the presence of similar mechanisms in non-human species. Indeed, recent studies on guppies [20] and chimpanzees [59] found clear results with potentially encouraging interpretations. We think this may be a promising research path to follow with non-human animals as study subjects. Indeed, it may contribute to understand whether the psychological mechanisms behind human social behaviour are also subtly present in other organisms. A better understanding of how social bonds develop can give insight into both social cognition and on the ecological and social contexts under which sociality is promoted in different vertebrate species.