What do toddlers and chimpanzees have in common? A deep, unshakable interest in other people’s business.
In a new study comparing social curiosity in young children and chimpanzees, researchers found that both species are irresistibly drawn to social interactions – even when it costs them a reward.
‘After years of observing both children and chimpanzees sometimes jumping up in the middle of research games to observe their peers, the research team was inspired to pursue a new social avenue in the blossoming field of curiosity research,’ says lead author, Dr Laura Simone Lewis from the University of California.
Published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, the study offers a rare glimpse into the evolutionary roots of social curiosity – the drive to understand what others are doing, thinking, and feeling. It’s the same impulse behind gossip columns, TikTok comment sections and, yes, reality television.
‘This means social curiosity emerges early in human development and is shared with one of our closest living cousins, the chimpanzees’, says Lewis. ‘Our strong interest in the lives of others – think gossip magazines and celebrity shows – seems to have deep evolutionary roots in our great ape lineage.’
The study involved three experiments conducted at the Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Uganda and at California locations, including the Oakland Zoo and the Lawrence Hall of Science.
Social engagement
In each experiment, chimpanzees and four- to six-year-old children were given the choice to watch videos inside specially built ‘curiosity boxes’. One video showed a social interaction, like playing or fighting, while the other showed an individual.
Both chimps and children consistently chose to watch the social scenes.
‘This kind of social curiosity is actually really important for learning about our environment, making decisions, and building relationships,’ says co-author Dr Esther Herrmann from the University of Portsmouth.
In the second experiment, the stakes were raised: participants had to choose between watching a social video or receiving a reward (jackfruit seeds for the chimps, marbles for the kids). Some – especially younger children and male chimpanzees – gave up the goodies to keep watching.
Positive versus negative social interaction
And when researchers compared preferences for positive or negative social videos in the third experiment, they found something interesting. Chimpanzees didn’t seem to mind either way, but human children developed stronger preferences with age – boys were increasingly interested in conflict, while girls leaned toward positive scenes.
The study is one of the first to measure social curiosity in both species using identical methods. The findings suggest that our nosy tendencies aren’t just cultural. They’re ancient.
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