The social nature of primates (1991)

de Waal, F. B. M.

Abstract

A discussion of the social nature of primates in relationship to psychological well-being. Physiological, immunological, and neurological measures collected on isolation-reared (and hence psychologically deviant) nonhuman primates might not be representative, and therefore might be suboptimal for the development of models applied to the human species. Social housing would avoid that possibility. ... Social deprivation should not be considered any more normal than, say, water or food deprivation.