Chimpanzees have an innate sense of justice

For a long time it was believed that justice - this is one of the unique innate qualities possessed only by people. However, it turned out that it has in chimpanzees, considered the closest relatives of man.

A group of researchers taught primate play "Ultimatum", where necessary, to one of the players who won, share it with a partner. That, in turn, if not satisfied with the decision of his friend, the right to refuse the carve-up, and then both players are left with nothing. For comparison, researchers conducted a test for children from two to seven years.

The experiment showed that monkeys better than children to recognize injustice, honestly shared the prize in more than 50% of cases. "We used this game because it is the gold standard for determining the human sense of justice. People usually generously share with a partner, offering him half the reward. The same thing we have established in the experiments with chimpanzees, "- said the study's author, Dr. Darby Proctor from Georgia State University in Atlanta (USA).

According to experts in the field of animal behavior Frans de Waal, previously thought that the animals are not able to play the "ultimatum" as primates will always do the most selfish way. "We found that chimpanzees not only have a sense of justice, but also very similar in this respect to the man," - said the scientist at Emory University in Atlanta, USA.

via factroom.ru