Older Barbary macaques show limited capacity for self-regulation to avoid hazardous social interactions

According to the Strength-and-Vulnerability-Integration (SAVI) model, older people are more motivated to avoid negative affect and high arousal than younger people. To explore the biological roots of this effect, we investigate communicative interactions and social information processing in Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus) living at ‘La Forêt des Singes’ in Rocamadour, France. The study combines an analysis of the production of (N = 8185 signals, 84 signallers) and responses to communicative signals (N = 3672 events, 84 receivers) with a field experiment (N = 166 trials, 45 subjects). Here we show that older monkeys are not more likely to specifically ignore negative social information or to employ avoidance strategies in stressful situations, although they are overall less sociable. We suggest that the monkeys have only a limited capacity for self-regulation within social interactions and rather rely on general avoidance strategies to decrease the risk of potentially hazardous social interactions.