Bonobo maternal style, status-seeking and infant behavior: a preliminary study

Eric Michael Johnson

The present study investigated maternal personality style in bonobos and its effect on maternal status-seeking and infant behavior in two mother-infant dyads at separate facilities. It is organized into three parts: A) a preliminary assessment of captive bonobos, B) a systematic study of maternal style, status-seeking and infant behavior and C) a proposal for future studies involving neurobiological correlates of maternal style. In captive settings bonobo mothers show a lower intention to actively promote distance with their infants than do chimpanzee mothers (De Lathouwers and Van Elsacker 2004:420) and bonobo infants spend more time in proximity to their mothers than do chimpanzee infants and show greater affiliative behavior (De Lathouwers and Van Elsacker 2006). Inter-individual differences were not considered in these studies and this is the first investigation of intraspecies variation of maternal style in bonobos. The study had three hypotheses. First, assuming a species-typical maternal style that deviates only under external pressures, no significant differences in maternal styles should be observed between mothers with similar backgrounds, comparative conditions and infants of the same age. Second, if maternal style differs, it is expected that a protective maternal style will positively correlate with a lower frequency of status-seeking through social grooming among conspecifics. Third, a protective maternal style is expected to be positively correlated with offspring independence and exploratory behavior. Results indicated significant differences between maternal styles across two bonobo mothers, and the more protective maternal style was linked with a lower frequency of social grooming. A protective maternal style did not result in significantly more infant independence and exploratory behavior. However, a protective maternal style did result in a significantly reduced intention by the infant to make contact and promote proximity with the mother that is consistent with a reduced level of infant anxiety. These results are consistent with the predictions of attachment theory. Finally, this result is discussed in terms of the relationship between maternal style and infant sociality hypothesizing a neurobiological mechanism to be explored through further research.

Bonobo maternal style, status-seeking and infant behavior: a preliminary study

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