Fission‐Fusion Dynamics
2008/08/01 by Filippo Aureli, Colleen M. Schaffner, Colleen M. Schaffner +30 · 1,071 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Neuroscience · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Animal Behavior and Reproduction #Artificial intelligence #Cognition #Cognitive psychology #Cognitive science #Computer science #Dynamics (music) #Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation #Fission #Fusion #Linguistics #Neuroscience #Nuclear physics #Perspective (graphical) #Physics #Primate Behavior and Ecology #Psychology #Social dynamics
paper · doi:10.1086/586708
published in Current Anthropology 49(4), 627-654 (University of Chicago Press)
openalex publication_date 2008/08/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/03
Abstract
Renewed interest in fission‐fusion dynamics is due to the recognition that such dynamics may create unique challenges for social interaction and distinctive selective pressures acting on underlying communicative and cognitive abilities. New frameworks for integrating current knowledge on fission‐fusion dynamics emerge from a fundamental rethinking of the term “fission‐fusion” away from its current general use as a label for a particular modal type of social system (i.e., “fission‐fusion societies”). Specifically, because the degree of spatial and temporal cohesion of group members varies both within and across taxa, any social system can be described in terms of the extent to which it expresses fission‐fusion dynamics. This perspective has implications for socioecology, communication, cognitive demands, and human social evolution.
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