Abstract
Interactions and communication between individuals occur in a complex social environment in which
senders and receivers are able to adjust their behaviour according to the context. Watching fights between
others acts on a bystander’s motivation to engage in a fight and may make it behave more aggressively
during subsequent disputes. This phenomenon is known as aggressive priming. The aim of our study was
to investigate if this priming response follows a step function, i.e. appears only above a threshold level of
aggression witnessed by a bystander. We found that bystanders behaved more aggressively in subsequent
interactions when pre-exposed to an aggressive conspecific that was engaged in a fight whatever the level
of aggression this fight reached. However, bystanders’ behaviour after pre-exposure was not correlated to
the previously witnessed level of aggressiveness. These results suggest that individuals alter their behaviour
in an aggressive social environment and indicate that priming effect follows a step function where
aggression is triggered by an aggressive context. We discuss our results and the effect of pre-exposure on
agonistic interactions in a communication network perspective.
senders and receivers are able to adjust their behaviour according to the context. Watching fights between
others acts on a bystander’s motivation to engage in a fight and may make it behave more aggressively
during subsequent disputes. This phenomenon is known as aggressive priming. The aim of our study was
to investigate if this priming response follows a step function, i.e. appears only above a threshold level of
aggression witnessed by a bystander. We found that bystanders behaved more aggressively in subsequent
interactions when pre-exposed to an aggressive conspecific that was engaged in a fight whatever the level
of aggression this fight reached. However, bystanders’ behaviour after pre-exposure was not correlated to
the previously witnessed level of aggressiveness. These results suggest that individuals alter their behaviour
in an aggressive social environment and indicate that priming effect follows a step function where
aggression is triggered by an aggressive context. We discuss our results and the effect of pre-exposure on
agonistic interactions in a communication network perspective.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publication date | 2008 |
| Number of pages | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 2008 |
| Event | European Conference on Behavioural Biology - Dijon, France Duration: 18 Jul 2008 → 20 Jul 2008 |
Conference
| Conference | European Conference on Behavioural Biology |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | France |
| City | Dijon |
| Period | 18/07/2008 → 20/07/2008 |