Sex in chimpanzees and bonobos resolves stress and conflict and sex prior to feeding

Good news! The joy of sex!

"... The team found that both bonobos and chimpanzees used sex in similar ways to ease tension and reaffirm social bonds before feeding.

Bonobos also often had sex more after fights to repair social relations.  

Chimpanzees, however, may be more likely to use other behaviours, like body kissing, after a disagreement.

Age did not influence post-fight sexual behaviour in either species. However, older apes were more likely to initiate sex before feeding, suggesting it may be a learned behaviour passed down over time.

Researchers also noted that female bonobos and male chimpanzees were more likely to initiate sex prior to feeding, but in both species, sex occurred in both hetero and homosexual combinations. ..."

From the abstract:

"Sexual behaviour during tense social situations is extensively documented in various animals. Bonobos, our closest living relatives alongside chimpanzees, habitually perform genital contacts during social tension, which is thought to enhance cooperation and conflict management.

While chimpanzees also engage in genital contacts during these contexts, the two sister species have yet to be compared systematically, which may have led to inaccurate assumptions. To address this, we directly compared genital and non-genital affiliation among sanctuary-living bonobos and chimpanzees during two socially tense contexts—post-conflict and pre-feeding.

Following conflicts, we observed triadic affiliation between bystander–victim pairs and reconciliation between aggressor–victim pairs. Additionally, we experimentally induced a pre-feeding context to examine affiliative contact between group members. During post-conflict contexts, bonobos used genital contacts more than chimpanzees. However, both species used genital contacts comparably during pre-feeding affiliation, although female bonobos and male chimpanzees were most likely to initiate them. In addition, we found group-level variation indicating an influence of demographic factors. Our results indicate that chimpanzees and bonobos overlap significantly in their use of genital contacts during periods of social tension. Given similar evidence in humans, our results support the notion that this was a trait probably also present in our last common ancestor."

Sex in chimps and bonobos resolves stress and conflict

Bonobos and chimps give insight into early human sexual behaviour "Using sex to manage social tension dates back over six million years to humans’ common ape ancestor, according to a new study."

Bonobos and chimpanzees overlap in sexual behaviour patterns during social tension (open access)

Bonobos in a German zoo.