{"id":493548,"date":"2026-04-29T10:41:35","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T08:41:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/news\/niente-scherzi-nelle-societa-autoritarie-il-dispotismo-inibisce-il-gioco-sociale-nei-primati\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T12:11:48","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T10:11:48","slug":"theres-no-room-for-joking-in-authoritarian-societies","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/news\/theres-no-room-for-joking-in-authoritarian-societies\/","title":{"rendered":"There’s no room for joking in authoritarian societies: despotism suppresses social play in primates"},"content":{"rendered":"

In more hierarchical and authoritarian societies, play among adults tends to disappear. This is the main finding of an international study coordinated by the University of Pisa, which shows that <\/span>the level of social despotism is the key factor in determining the presence or absence of play among adult primates<\/span><\/b>, regardless of their evolutionary history.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The research, published in <\/span>Biology Letters<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/a>, analysed <\/span>37 primate species, including chimpanzees, bonobos, macaques, lemurs and monkeys<\/span><\/b>. In <\/span>more tolerant species, adult play is very common (in over 90% of cases), whereas in more authoritarian ones it is rare or absent<\/span><\/b>. By contrast, physical characteristics such as body weight or sex differences do not influence this behaviour.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat clearly emerges is that <\/span>it is not so much \u2018who you are\u2019 in evolutionary terms that makes the difference, but \u2018how you live\u2019 from a social perspective<\/span><\/b>,\u201d explains <\/span>Elisabetta Palagi<\/span><\/b>, Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Pisa and coordinator of the study. \u201cEven animals that are very similar can behave differently depending on how tolerant their social groups are. In more rigid and authoritarian societies, <\/span>play among adults tends to disappear, along with the social benefits it brings<\/span><\/b>, such as reduced conflict, stronger social bonds and increased cooperation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>To classify primate societies<\/span><\/b>, we assessed <\/span>three key dimensions<\/span><\/b> of social relationships,\u201d adds <\/span>Martina Francesconi<\/span><\/b>, PhD candidate in the Department of Biology at the University of Pisa. \u201cThese include <\/span>grooming<\/span><\/b> \u2014 that is, mutual cleaning of the fur, which acts as a key social bonding mechanism \u2014 <\/span>conflict management<\/span><\/b>, meaning reconciliation and consolation dynamics after a clash, and <\/span>the rigidity of dominance hierarchies<\/span><\/b>.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe results show <\/span>striking parallels with human societies<\/span><\/b>, as demonstrated by anthropological studies used for comparison,\u201d Palagi concludes. \u201cIn hunter-gatherer populations, play and humour among adults are associated with cooperation and non-coercive forms of social regulation, whereas in more authoritarian systems these expressions tend to be limited, with potential effects on creativity and mutual trust.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The study, one of the most comprehensive comparative analyses on this topic, was coordinated by the Ethology Unit of the Department of Biology at the University of Pisa, under the leadership of Elisabetta Palagi, with a significant contribution from PhD candidate Martina Francesconi. It also involved the <\/span>University of Turin<\/span><\/b>, the <\/span>University of Tennessee (USA)<\/span><\/b> and the <\/span>University of Lethbridge (Canada)<\/span><\/b>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The team reviewed scientific literature from 1965 to 2024, analysing the data using advanced statistical models. The research was developed within workshops and research groups dedicated to the study of the evolution of play and was supported by the <\/span>PRIN 2022 project <\/span><\/b>\u201cLOL! The evolutionary roots of human laughter\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/b>, funded by the European Union \u2013 Next Generation EU<\/span><\/b>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A study by the University of Pisa, published in Biology Letters, shows that social tolerance, more than evolutionary history, determines the presence of play among adults<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":493481,"menu_order":3,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"tag-notizie-persone":[],"tags_news":[281],"categorie":[159],"class_list":["post-493548","news","type-news","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tags_news-department-of-biology","categorie-unipinews-en"],"yoast_head":"\nThere's no room for joking in authoritarian societies: despotism suppresses social play in primates ~ UNIPI<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/news\/theres-no-room-for-joking-in-authoritarian-societies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta 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