Doctoral Dissertation Research: Exploring the evolutionary origins of prestige in wild primates

与其他动物相比，人类的领导力被认为是独一无二的，因为它往往植根于声望而不是统治地位。也就是说，有声望的人类领袖不是用身体恐吓来胁迫他人，而是通过钦佩来吸引追随者。我们最亲近的亲属提供了至关重要的比较，以了解人类进化史上向威望为基础的领导层过渡是如何发生的。在一些物种中，个体维持着由攻击性定义的等级制度，但也表现出相对广泛的合作，这被认为是建立人类威望的基础。这一博士论文研究项目调查了野生非人类灵长类动物在保持其他动物的基于优势的领导力的同时，是否表现出基于威望的领导力的一些特征。作为该项目的一部分，研究人员为小学提供领导力研讨会，强调合作领导的价值和女孩领导力的机会，同时支持科学参与和以学生为中心的STEM学习。研究人员将密集的实地研究与来自野生非人类灵长类动物群落的长期激素和行为数据相结合，以进行全面的非侵入性探索这些灵长类动物的领导力。为了做到这一点，他们开发了一种新的统计方法来评估压力生理学的纵向稳定性是否表明个人气质的变化。接下来，他们检查了一贯的适度压力反应和非反应性气质是否也能预测非人类灵长类动物的宽容、亲社会行为策略。最后，他们探讨了行为策略如何促进基于支配地位与声望的领导途径，特别是询问亲社会性是否通过独立于传统支配地位的社会吸引力而产生好处。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Human leadership is thought to be unique compared to other animals in that it is often rooted in prestige rather than dominance. That is, instead of coercing others using physical intimidation, prestigious human leaders attract followers through admiration. Our closest living relatives provide crucial comparisons for understanding how the transition to prestige-based leadership happened in human evolutionary history. In some species, individuals maintain hierarchies that are defined by aggression but also show relatively extensive cooperation, which has been proposed to underlie human prestige. This doctoral dissertation research project investigates whether wild nonhuman primates exhibit some features of prestige-based leadership while at the same time keeping the dominance-based leadership seen in other animals. As part of this project, the investigators offer a leadership workshop for primary schools that emphasizes the value of cooperative leadership and opportunities for girls’ leadership while supporting scientific engagement and student-centered STEM learning.The investigators integrate an intensive field study with long-term hormonal and behavioral data from the community of wild nonhuman primates to be studied to conduct a comprehensive non-invasive exploration of leadership in these primates. To do so, they develop a novel statistical method to assess whether longitudinal stability of stress physiology is indicative of individual variation in temperament. Next, they examine whether consistently moderate stress responses and non-reactive temperaments that distinguish prestigious human leaders also predict tolerant, prosocial behavioral strategies in nonhuman primates. Finally, they probe how behavioral strategies contribute to leadership pathways rooted in dominance versus prestige, specifically asking whether prosociality incurs benefits via social attractiveness independently of conventional dominance rank.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.