2024/04/10 by Jake S. Brooker, Christine E. Webb, Frans Β. Μ. de Waal +1 · 1 voice
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Neuroscience · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Biology #Bonobo #Cognition #Cognitive psychology #Developmental psychology #Ecology #Emotional contagion #Empathy #Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation #Expression (computer science) #Human-Animal Interaction Studies #Neuroscience #Pan paniscus #Primate Behavior and Ecology #Psychology #Social psychology #Troglodytes #Zoology
paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/brv.13080
openalex publication_date 2024/04/10 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
Empathy is a complex, multi-dimensional capacity that facilitates the sharing and understanding of others' emotions. As our closest living relatives, bonobos (Pan paniscus) and chimpanzees (P. troglodytes) provide an opportunity to explore the origins of hominin social cognition, including empathy. Despite certain assumptions that bonobos and chimpanzees may differ empathically, these species appear to overlap considerably in certain socio-emotional responses related to empathy. However, few studies have systematically tested for species variation in Pan empathic or socio-emotional tendencies. To address this, we synthesise the growing literature on Pan empathy to inform our understanding of the selection pressures that may underlie the evolution of hominin empathy, and its expression in our last common ancestor. As bonobos and chimpanzees show overlaps in their expression of complex socio-emotional phenomena such as empathy, we propose that group comparisons may be as or more meaningful than species comparisons when it comes to understanding the evolutionary pressures for such behaviour. Furthermore, key differences, such as how humans and Pan communicate, appear to distinguish how we experience empathy compared to our closest living relatives.