In primates the capacity to inhibit behaviour when making decisions correlates better with the demands of social contexts than the demands of foraging contexts

The Evolution of Self-Control. Robin I.M. Dunbar, Susanne Shultz. bioRxiv, Oct 26 2020. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.26.354852

Rolf Degen's take: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf/status/1320961122913144833

Abstract: The capacity to inhibit prepotent actions (self-control) plays a potentially important role in many aspects of the behaviour of birds and mammals. A number of studies, for example, have used it as an index of foraging skills. Inhibition is, however, also crucial for maintaining the temporal and spatial coherence of bonded social groups. Using comparative data, we show that in primates the capacity to inhibit behaviour when making decisions correlates better with the demands of social contexts than the demands of foraging contexts. We argue that the capacity to inhibit prepotent action has been crucial for the evolution of bonded social systems in primates and some other mammals.