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Science 28 July 2000:
Vol. 289. no. 5479, pp. 586 - 590
DOI: 10.1126/science.289.5479.586
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Review

Primates--A Natural Heritage of Conflict Resolution

Frans B. M. de Waal

The traditional notion of aggression as an antisocial instinct is being replaced by a framework that considers it a tool of competition and negotiation. When survival depends on mutual assistance, the expression of aggression is constrained by the need to maintain beneficial relationships. Moreover, evolution has produced ways of countering its disruptive consequences. For example, chimpanzees kiss and embrace after fights, and other nonhuman primates engage in similar "reconciliations." Theoretical developments in this field carry implications for human aggression research. From families to high schools, aggressive conflict is subject to the same constraints known of cooperative animal societies. It is only when social relationships are valued that one can expect the full complement of natural checks and balances.

Living Links, Center for the Advanced Study of Human and Ape Evolution, Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center, and Psychology Department, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA. E-mail: dewaal{at}emory.edu

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