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Dogs understand the crucial work of getting and staying connected with others in their community. In my book fit As Fido, the chapter “Be Man’s best Friend” showcases the science behind socializing. In research studies, socializing has been linked with:
Better mood
Healthier eating habits
Less heart disease
Improved long-term memory
Longer life
With today’s state-of-the-art world, though, people seem to have lost the art of socializing with their neighbors. We’re lost our front porches where neighbors used to gather to share snippets of their days and replaced them with a lot more secluded back yard decks. Ear buds connect us with our favorite music or audio books, while discouraging others from starting conversations as we wait on elevators or in lines at the store. new research, however, suggests we may be hard-wired to recognize the value of socializing.
Our closest relatives in the animal kingdom are the primates―monkeys, chimps, and apes. among the primates, we’re a lot of like the bonobos who share a lot more than 98 percent of our genetic code. While we may think we’re very different from a bonobo, our genes say that we’re remarkably alike. Researchers from duke university have been studying bonobos and they’ve uncovered some interesting information about how bonobos rank the value of social connections. Their research was just published in the journal PLOS One. By enjoying videotaped experiments, researchers found that bonobos go out of their way to connect with and help bonobos they don’t know:
When a bonobo was given food and there was another bonobo it didn’t know confided nearby without food, the first bonobo would release the stranger and share its food
If another stranger joined the group, that stranger was also allowed to share the food
Interestingly, the bonobo with the food wouldn’t share food if he wasn’t permitted to have social interaction with the stranger
The researchers concluded, “We show that bonobos will forego their own food for the benefit of interacting with a stranger.” Bonobos are ready to trade food for a chance to connect with a someone new.
So if you wonder if you have what it takes to get out there, get involved, and get social. Don’t be shy ―socializing is in your genes. just ask a bonobo.