A new study shows that animals can be jealous just like humans

Our reaction to any kind of perceived injustice can be very strong, but are these feelings of jealousy unique to humans? This question is at the center of a US study recently published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. This study may provide an answer to a question that has long worried all pet owners, whether animals can be jealous like humans.

For decades, the scientific community has wondered whether humans are the only creatures with a deep aversion to injustice. Many studies argue that this is not the case, based on the behavior of certain animals, such as crows or capuchins, which seem to show instinctive jealousy when they feel injustice, especially when sharing food.

A new study investigates whether animals are jealous like humans

However, the research group from University of California, Berkeley challenges this conventional wisdom. The researchers analyzed data from 23 studies covering 18 animal species and more than 60,000 observations. Applying a new method of analysis, they deeply explored the concept of this aversion to injustice.

Their research shows that animal behavior seems to be related more to unmet expectations than to an actual sense of injustice. “Based on these data, we cannot claim that animals feel jealous. If there is an effect, it is very weak and can manifest itself in very specific settings. But this is not at all like what we see in people from the point of view of our deep-rooted sense of justice,” explains the paper’s first author, Oded Ritov, as quoted in the press release.

This is because animal behavior is often analyzed through the prism of our own human perception, as evidenced by the famous experiment of primatologist Frans de Waal. In it, two capuchin monkeys were placed side by side in glass cages. In turn, they gave the token to the human researcher in exchange for a reward. But for the same action, one received a simple piece of cucumber, and the other was offered a large sweet grape. Faced with this “injustice”, the destitute monkey loses his temper: he quits cucumber away, knocks on the walls of his cage and refuses to continue the exercise.

Frans de Waal considered this to be proof that aversion to injustice is characteristic not only of humans. The authors of this study, however, argue that the capuchin’s reaction is more related to frustration at not receiving a desired reward than to feelings of jealousy towards another monkey. “We believe that refusals are a form of social protest. But protesting animals get no less than anyone else. Rather, it looks as if they are protesting against the fact that a person does not treat them as well as he could,” explains Oded Ritov.

These discoveries do not diminish the cognitive abilities of animals, but encourage us to reconsider human interpretations of their behavior. Understanding these differences can deepen our understanding of the values ​​that shape our society while enriching our understanding of the animal world.

This article was published via AFP Relaxnews.

(Feature and featured image: Cats Coming/Pexels)