Observational analysis reveals primates manage weak ties effectively, implying subconscious processes are key for group cohesion.
As the third solution to group dispersion, Dunbar proposes primates use several higher order cognitive skills to especially manage ‘weak ties’ in a nuanced and fast-tracked way, therewith avoiding unnecessary conflicts. We here argue that subconscious, automatic processes including attention allocation and behavioral or neurophysiological state matching can serve a similar function in maintaining group cohesion.
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Heijst et al. (2025) studied this question.
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