Capuchin Monkeys Don’t Like Being Paid Less

Posted on October 9, 2012  Comments (7)

Quite a fun video. Frans de Waal shows us a task he gave Capuchin monkeys to see if they responded to a sense of fairness. See the rest of the talk.

Frans de Waal is a Dutch primatologist and ethologist. He is the Charles Howard Candler professor of Primate Behavior in the Emory University psychology department in Atlanta, Georgia. His research centers on primate social behavior, including conflict resolution, cooperation, inequity aversion, and food-sharing.

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7 Responses to “Capuchin Monkeys Don’t Like Being Paid Less”

  1. Jeff
    October 9th, 2012 @ 12:31 pm

    It really is remarkable how similar primates and humans are, when you get right down to it.

  2. Terry
    October 10th, 2012 @ 3:07 am

    Quite interesting! Seems like animals too understand the meaning of discrimination and not only understand they respond to it rather oppose it. This video took me by surprise and I could very well understand the capuchin monkeys anger by his body gestures.

  3. Alex
    October 11th, 2012 @ 4:00 am

    This video is super cool. There is lots we need to learn from this video about discrimination. When animals can protest against partiality, we are humans, where does our civilization go in these cases. Hats off to these Capuchin monkeys. They are not only objecting to it but also protesting by throwing back the food at the person.

  4. Peter
    October 25th, 2012 @ 2:21 am

    This video is a trend setter, will definitely go a long way in teaching humans about revolution. Watching the video it felt as if the Capuchin monkeys too understood the meaning of fair play. I won’t say this is surprising because God gave senses to animals too, its just that we humans are discovering it now.

  5. Grace
    November 1st, 2012 @ 6:44 am

    This experiment is just so cool. Well, what can I say even monkeys know what’s better and what they deserve.

  6. Megan
    November 4th, 2012 @ 4:46 pm

    For some reason i can’t stop laughing watching this video. there is no much difference between us and Capuchin Monkeys. the wanna get paid in full.

  7. Dogs and Wolves Share a Sense of Fair Pay » Curious Cat Science and Engineering Blog
    July 1st, 2017 @ 11:58 am

    […] This is a similar result as that found with Capuchin monkeys that don’t like being paid less than others. […]

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