Testing the function of reconciliation and third‐party affiliation for aggressors in hamadryas baboons (Papio hamadryas hamadryas)

In social groups, agonistic conflicts can have different negative consequences. Several post‐conflict interactions have been suggested as post‐conflict management behaviors to mitigate those negative effects. In this study, we investigated the function of two post‐conflict behaviors—reconciliation and aggressor‐initiated third‐party affiliation—on the aggressor's levels of post‐conflict anxiety and aggression in a large colony of hamadryas baboons. We also examined variation in the aggressor's levels of post‐conflict anxiety as a function of relationship quality between the opponents as predicted by the Integrated Hypothesis. We found that after conflicts hamadryas baboon aggressors showed increased rates of anxiety‐related behaviors and that they were also more likely to be involved in renewed aggressive interactions. Although both reconciliation and aggressor‐initiated third‐party affiliation reduced the probability of receiving post‐conflict aggression, only reconciliation reduced the rates of anxiety‐related behaviors, suggesting that the aggressors' post‐conflict anxiety might be owing mainly to the damage that the conflict causes to their relationship with the victim. Furthermore, aggressor's rates of post‐conflict anxiety were higher after conflicts with individuals with whom they had a high‐quality relationship, supporting the idea that levels of post‐conflict anxiety mediate the occurrence of reconciliation depending on the quality of the relationship with former opponent as predicted by the Integrated Hypothesis. Am. J. Primatol. 71:60–69, 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.