Great Apes Hug and Kiss to Ease Tension, Study Finds

Great apes may have a way to ease tension that predates language itself: physical touch. Researchers studying chimpanzees and bonobos in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia observed that the primates frequently engage in touching, hugging, and kissing before stressful events.

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They come together before stressful events, they comfort each other, they touch each other, they hug each other.

This behavior, which Professor Zanna Clay calls a "morale call," appears to help the animals relax and build a sense of unity. "It's like saying 'us' rather than 'me,'" she explained. The study, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, used peanuts to simulate feeding conflicts and observed the apes' interactions in the five minutes leading up to their arrival.

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It's like saying 'us' rather than 'me.'

Scientists recorded instances of comforting physical contact, finding that individuals who touched and hugged each other had easier access to food and ate more peacefully. Some groups even exhibited "trust-building trains," where multiple apes hugged each other sequentially. This suggests that the use of touch to establish trust and cooperation could be at least seven million years old, potentially originating before humans, chimpanzees, and bonobos shared a common ancestor.

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Comparing our two closest relatives, bonobos and chimpanzees, offers fascinating insights into the evolutionary origins of social behavior and how they (and we) manage tension, competition, and cooperation.