The influence of social hierarchy on primate health
Abstract
Dominance hierarchies occur in numerous social species, and rank within them can greatly influence the quality of life of an animal. In this review, I consider how rank can also influence physiology and health. I first consider whether it is high- or low-ranking animals that are most stressed in a dominance hierarchy; this turns out to vary as a function of the social organization in different species and populations. I then review how the stressful characteristics of social rank have adverse adrenocortical, cardiovascular, reproductive, immunological, and neurobiological consequences. Finally, I consider how these findings apply to the human realm of health, disease, and socioeconomic status.
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Maintaining a high-status position within a fluid social structure requires heightened vigilance towards potential threats, particularly those that might challenge an individual's social standing.
“Maintaining a high-status position within such a fluid social structure requires heightened vigilance towards potential threats, particularly those that might challenge an individual’s social standing [70].”
From Socializing a group of male Asian elephants in a semi-captive facility in Lao PDR (2025) · cites this paper as [70]
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“Sapolsky (2005) summarized evidence suggesting that, across a variety of species, individuals lower in the status hierarchy exhibit more evidence of stress when the hierarchy is stable and less stress when the hierarchy is …”
BackgroundHistory of winning remodels thalamo-PFC circuit to reinforce social dominance
Zhou, T., Zhu, H. L., Fan, Z., Wang, F., Yang, C., Liang, H., Yang, Z., Zhang, L., Lin, L., Zhan, Y., et al. (2017) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.aak9726 · Cited by 351 · see citing works
Severe Life Stress and Oxidative Stress in the Brain: From Animal Models to Human Pathology
Schiavone, S., Jaquet, V., Trabace, L., & Krause, K. (2012) · Antioxidants and Redox Signaling · doi:10.1089/ars.2012.4720 · Cited by 350 · see citing works
Life at the Top: Rank and Stress in Wild Male Baboons
Gesquiere, L. R., Learn, N. H., Simao, M. C., Onyango, P. O., Alberts, S. C., & Jeanne Altmann, A. (2011) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1207120 · Cited by 343 · see citing works
Social stress, therapeutics and drug abuse: Preclinical models of escalated and depressed intake
MICZEK, K., YAP, J., & COVINGTONIII, H. (2008) · Pharmacology & Therapeutics · doi:10.1016/j.pharmthera.2008.07.006 · Cited by 338 · see citing works
“This immediate glucocorticoid response activates energy metabolism and an immune response that are instrumental in coping with these stressors, and in this sense the protective and restorative role of glucocorticoid activation is evident (Dallman et al., 1993; Sapolsky, 2005).”
Lewis, T. T., Everson-Rose, S., Powell, L., Matthews, K., Brown, C., Karavolos, K., Sutton-Tyrrell, K., Jacobs, E., & Wesley, D. (2006) · Psychosomatic Medicine · doi:10.1097/01.psy.0000221360.94700.16 · Cited by 299 · see citing works
The journal of developmental processes
Disorders, L., & Milton (2006) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 325 · see citing works
Phenotypic plasticity and experimental evolution
Garland, T., & Kelly, S. A. (2006) · Journal of Experimental Biology · doi:10.1242/jeb.02244 · Cited by 319 · see citing works
Beijers, R., Buitelaar, J. K., & de Weerth, C. (2014) · European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry · doi:10.1007/s00787-014-0566-3 · Cited by 321 · see citing works
“Stress has complex effects upon immunity that depend on time and severity of the stressors [73].”
BackgroundSocial status alters immune regulation and response to infection in macaques
Snyder-Mackler, N., Sanz, J., Kohn, J. N., Brinkworth, J. F., Morrow, S., Shaver, A. O., Grenier, J.-C., Pique-Regi, R., Johnson, Z. P., Wilson, M. E., et al. (2016) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.aah3580 · Cited by 318 · see citing works
Dhabhar, F. S. (2018) · Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.yfrne.2018.03.004 · Cited by 333 · see citing works
“Numerous definitions have been proposed for the concept of stress, each focusing on aspects of an internal or external challenge, disturbance, or stimulus; on stimulus perception by an organism; or on a physiological response to the stimulus [12; 13; 14].”
BackgroundKoffarnus, M. N., Jarmolowicz, D. P., Mueller, E. T., & Bickel, W. K. (2012) · Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior · doi:10.1002/jeab.2 · Cited by 305 · see citing works
“For example, stress has been implicated as an underlying cause or exacerbating factor in a number of disorders with seemingly unique etiologies (Sapolsky, 2005).”
BackgroundMale dominance rank and reproductive success in chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii.
Wroblewski, E. E., Murray, C. M., Keele, B. F., Schumacher-Stankey, J. C., Hahn, B. H., & Pusey, A. E. (2009) · Animal Behaviour · doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.12.014 · Cited by 306 · see citing works
“High dominance rank carries costs such as stress, physiological and metabolic costs, and immunosuppression (Muller & Wrangham 2004; reviewed in Sapolsky 2005).”
The effects of social status on biological aging as measured by white‐blood‐cell telomere length
Cherkas, L. F., Aviv, A., Valdes, A. M., Hunkin, J., Gardner, J. P., Surdulescu, G. L., Kimura, M., & Spector, T. D. (2006) · Aging Cell · doi:10.1111/j.1474-9726.2006.00222.x · Cited by 306 · see citing works
“Socio-economic status influences health and mortality (WHO, 2002; Adams & White, 2004; Marmot, 2004, 2005; Sapolsky, 2005), but its impact on the aging process itself is unknown.”
BackgroundInfluentialSocial environment is associated with gene regulatory variation in the rhesus macaque immune system
Tung, J., Barreiro, L. B., Johnson, Z. P., Hansen, K. D., Michopoulos, V., Toufexis, D., Michelini, K., Wilson, M. E., & Gilad, Y. (2012) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1202734109 · Cited by 277 · see citing works
“However, the current results support the idea that changes in gene regulation help to explain links between the social environment and physiology, potentially supplying an important piece to the puzzle of how social effects “get under the skin” (3, 31).”
BackgroundResultLebrón‐Milad, K., & Milad, M. R. (2012) · Biology of Mood & Anxiety Disorders · doi:10.1186/2045-5380-2-3 · Cited by 298 · see citing works
“In male primates, dominance is associated with higher testosterone levels and a decrease in stress response, indicating that dominant males find dominance signals less stressful and are more primed to engage in a dominance challenge [127,128].”
BackgroundChildhood bullying involvement predicts low-grade systemic inflammation into adulthood
Copeland, W. E., Wolke, D., Lereya, S. T., Shanahan, L., Worthman, C., & Costello, E. J. (2014) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1323641111 · Cited by 291 · see citing works
“Our findings also are consistent with studies showing lower inflammation rates for individuals with higher SES (23) and studies with nonhuman primates showing health benefits for those higher in the social hierarchy (40).”
ResultMitochondrial function in the brain links anxiety with social subordination
Hollis, F., van der Kooij, M. A., Zanoletti, O., Lozano, L., Cantó, C., & Sandi, C. (2015) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1512653112 · Cited by 288 · see citing works
“Int J Neuropsychopharmacol 8(1):93–105.”
BackgroundSigns of Social Class: The Experience of Economic Inequality in Everyday Life
Kraus, M. W., Park, J. W., & Tan, J. J. X. (2017) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/1745691616673192 · Cited by 288 · see citing works
“…to fiddler crabs, individuals across species signal their broadly defined social status with nonverbal behaviors (Hall, Coats, & LeBeau, 2005; Sapolsky, 2005; Sergio et al., 2011), vocalizations (Dunbar & Burgoon, 2005; Gregory & Webster, 1996; Ko, Sadler, & Galinsky, 2015), and social…”
InfluentialPower: Past findings, present considerations, and future directions.
Galinsky, A. D., Rucker, D. D., & Magee, J. C. (2014) · American Psychological Association eBooks · doi:10.1037/14344-016 · Cited by 285 · see citing works
Focused grooming networks and stress alleviation in wild female baboons
Wittig, R. M., Crockford, C., Lehmann, J., Whitten, P. L., Seyfarth, R. M., & Cheney, D. L. (2008) · Hormones and Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2008.02.009 · Cited by 284 · see citing works
“However, during the previous period of stability in the same social group, there was no relation between female dominance rank and GC levels, a finding supported by other studies of female primates (Abbott et al., 2003; Sapolsky, 2005).”
ResultHeterogeneity in pathogen transmission: mechanisms and methodology
VanderWaal, K., & Ezenwa, V. (2016) · Functional Ecology · doi:10.1111/1365-2435.12645 · Cited by 234 · see citing works
“Therefore, variation across individuals in their exposure and response to stress likely promotes heterogeneity in V. Behaviour, particularly social behaviour, is an important driver of variability in responses to stress in both humans and animals (Sapolsky 2004, 2005).”
BackgroundRethinking Interdisciplinarity across the Social Sciences and Neurosciences
Callard, F. J., & Fitzgerald, D. (2015) · Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks · doi:10.1057/9781137407962 · Cited by 275 · see citing works
Wells, J. C. K. (2009) · American Journal of Human Biology · doi:10.1002/ajhb.20994 · Cited by 269 · see citing works
“Sapolsky RM. 2005.”
The mouse that roared: neural mechanisms of social hierarchy
Wang, F., Kessels, H. W. H. G., & Hu, H. (2014) · Trends in Neurosciences · doi:10.1016/j.tins.2014.07.005 · Cited by 261 · see citing works
Chronic Social Instability Induces Anxiety and Defective Social Interactions Across Generations
Saavedra-Rodríguez, L., & Feig, L. A. (2012) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2012.06.035 · Cited by 270 · see citing works
“Whereas social defeat stress involves a strong distinction between dominant and subordinate individuals, this model of social instability interferes with hierarchical separations (20) and may resemble what humans can experience in a continuously changing social environment (1,9).”
Juster, R.-P., Bizik, G., Picard, M., Arsenault-Lapierre, G., Sindi, S., Trepanier, L., Marin, M.-F., Wan, N., Sekerovic, Z., Lord, C., et al. (2011) · Development and Psychopathology · doi:10.1017/s0954579411000289 · Cited by 268 · see citing works
“Based on groundbreaking studies of maternal handling in rodents (Meaney, Aitken, van Berkel, Bhatnagar, & Sapolsky, 1988), exemplary parenting in rhesus monkeys (Suomi, Delizio, & Harlow, 1976), and social dominance hierarchies in free-ranging baboons (Sapolsky, 2005), Hertzman further argues that biological embedding…”
BackgroundChapter 1 Maternal Effects in Fish Populations
Green, B. S. (2008) · Advances in marine biology · doi:10.1016/s0065-2881(08)00001-1 · Cited by 266 · see citing works
Yeager, D. S., Johnson, R., Spitzer, B. J., Trzesniewski, K. H., Powers, J., & Dweck, C. S. (2014) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0036335 · Cited by 389 · see citing works
“…to cope with them (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984), and past research has found that stress is greatest when ambiguity and uncertainty about social status are high, such as when social hierarchies are uprooted (for a review of the primate and human literature, see Sapolsky, 2005; also see Gould, 2003).”
BackgroundGlucocorticoid stress hormones and the effect of predation risk on elk reproduction
Creel, S., Winnie, J. A., & Christianson, D. (2009) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.0902235106 · Cited by 256 · see citing works
“Chronic elevation of GCs can have many pathological consequences (19, 21, 22), including shifts in metabolic pathways that mobilize energy in the short term, but reduce metabolic efficiency.”
BackgroundKappeler, P. M., Cremer, S., & Nunn, C. L. (2015) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2014.0116 · Cited by 259 · see citing works
Prevention and treatment of drug addiction by environmental enrichment
Solinas, M., Thiriet, N., Chauvet, C., & Jaber, M. (2010) · Progress in Neurobiology · doi:10.1016/j.pneurobio.2010.08.002 · Cited by 256 · see citing works
Leadership is associated with lower levels of stress
Sherman, G. D., Lee, J., Cuddy, A. J. C., Renshon, J., Oveis, C., Gross, J. J., & Lerner, J. S. (2012) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1207042109 · Cited by 246 · see citing works
“This relationship is especially apparent when the hierarchy is uncontested and harassment of subordinates is frequent (8, 9).”
BackgroundParasite infection and host group size: a meta-analytical review
Patterson, J. E. H., & Ruckstuhl, K. E. (2013) · Parasitology · doi:10.1017/s0031182012002259 · Cited by 241 · see citing works
“Additionally, larger, less stable groups have been shown to experience increased social stress related to crowding and/or less rigid dominance hierarchies (Sapolsky, 2005).”
BackgroundKleist, N. J., Guralnick, R., Cruz, A., Lowry, C. A., & Francis, C. D. (2018) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1709200115 · Cited by 241 · see citing works
“, 90–105 dB (23); 130 dB (24)] only at very close proximity to noise sources.”
BackgroundThe Social Ladder: A Rank-Based Perspective on Social Class
Kraus, M. W., Tan, J. J. X., & Tannenbaum, M. B. (2013) · Psychological Inquiry · doi:10.1080/1047840x.2013.778803 · Cited by 235 · see citing works
“, activation of the sympathetic nervous system and the release of pro-inflammatory hormones) that, if experienced over time, can be detrimental to the health and longevity of lower-class individuals (Miller et al., 2009; Sapolsky, 2005).”
BackgroundInfluentialThe Neurobiology of Social Distance
Bzdok, D., & Dunbar, R. (2020) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2020.05.016 · Cited by 234 · see citing works
“Nonetheless, dysregulated diurnal cortisol levels are further linked to various mental disorders including major depression, substance abuse, and post-dramatic stress disorder [152], in addition to stress-mediated effects on the immune, cardiovascular, and metabolic systems [159,160].”
Broadening the FocusThe Need to Address the Social Determinants of Health
Braveman, P., Egerter, S. A., & Mockenhaupt, R. E. (2010) · American Journal of Preventive Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2010.10.002 · Cited by 234 · see citing works
Stress, Overeating, and Obesity: Insights from Human Studies and Preclinical Models
Razzoli, M., Pearson, C., Crow, S., & Bartolomucci, A. (2017) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2017.01.026 · Cited by 228 · see citing works
The testosterone–cortisol ratio: A hormonal marker for proneness to social aggression
Terburg, D., Morgan, B., & van Honk, J. (2009) · International Journal of Law and Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.ijlp.2009.04.008 · Cited by 266 · see citing works
“Through interaction of dominant and subordinate individuals, social hierarchies are established and, as stated earlier, social hierarchy and levels of testosterone and cortisol interact (Sapolsky, 2005).”
BackgroundUsing the tube test to measure social hierarchy in mice
Fan, Z., Zhu, H. L., Zhou, T., Wang, S., Wu, Y., & Hu, H. (2019) · Nature Protocols · doi:10.1038/s41596-018-0116-4 · Cited by 227 · see citing works
Branchi, I., D’Andrea, I., Fiore, M., Di Fausto, V., Aloe, L., & Alleva, E. (2006) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2006.01.005 · Cited by 227 · see citing works
Friesen, J. P., Kay, A. C., Eibach, R. P., & Galinsky, A. D. (2014) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0035620 · Cited by 229 · see citing works
“…ubiquitous feature of social organization in both human and non-human societies; they develop quickly and spontaneously, among individuals and between groups (Eagly & Karau, 1991; Halevy, Chou, & Galinsky, 2011; Sadler & Woody, 2003; Sapolsky, 2005; Sidanius & Pratto, 1999; Weissbrod et al., 2013).”
BackgroundPerspectives on Power in Organizations
Anderson, C. P., & Brion, S. (2014) · Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior · doi:10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-031413-091259 · Cited by 230 · see citing works
Social stressors and coping mechanisms in wild female baboons (Papio hamadryas ursinus)
Crockford, C., Wittig, R. M., Whitten, P. L., Seyfarth, R. M., & Cheney, D. L. (2008) · Hormones and Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2007.10.007 · Cited by 225 · see citing works
“An emerging body of research suggests that a variety of factors, including level of social support the degree of control and predictability that individuals are able to exert over their daily lives, can all influence animals' stress responses independent of any specific event (Weiss, 1968; Abbott…”
InfluentialUnderstanding Social Hierarchies: The Neural and Psychological Foundations of Status Perception
Koski, J. E., Xie, H., & Olson, I. R. (2015) · Social Neuroscience · doi:10.1080/17470919.2015.1013223 · Cited by 184 · see citing works
“Thus, an important function of the hierarchy may be to define social roles (Halevy et al., 2011) and allocate limited resources (Sapolsky, 2005).”
Keep Calm and Cuddle on: Social Touch as a Stress Buffer
Morrison, I. (2016) · Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology · doi:10.1007/s40750-016-0052-x · Cited by 256 · see citing works
Supply and demand determine the market value of food providers in wild vervet monkeys
Fruteau, C., Voelkl, B., van Damme, E. E. C., & Noë, R. (2009) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.0812280106 · Cited by 221 · see citing works
“However, the stress hypothesis also predicts that high-ranking handlers, who cause more stress (50), would have to groom longer than low-ranking ones.”
BackgroundChronic stress triggers social aversion via glucocorticoid receptor in dopaminoceptive neurons
Barik, J., Marti, F., Morel, C., Fernandez, S. P., Lanteri, C., Godeheu, G., Tassin, J.-P., Mombereau, C., Faure, P., & Tronche, F. (2013) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1226767 · Cited by 214 · see citing works
Perigenual anterior cingulate morphology covaries with perceived social standing
Gianaros, P. J., Horenstein, J. A., Cohen, S., Matthews, K. A., Brown, S. M., Flory, J. D., Critchley, H. D., Manuck, S. B., & Hariri, A. R. (2007) · Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience · doi:10.1093/scan/nsm013 · Cited by 214 · see citing works
“…to fully characterize an individual’s perception of her or his relative standing or ranking in a social hierarchy, formally termed subjective social status (Cohen et al., 1997; Kaplan and Manuck, 1999; Wilkinson, 1999; Adler et al., 2000; McEwen, 2000a; Steptoe and Marmot, 2002; Sapolsky, 2005b).”
BackgroundInfluentialSocial stress, immune functions and disease in rodents
Bartolomucci, A. (2007) · Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.yfrne.2007.02.001 · Cited by 209 · see citing works
Adaptive evolution of young gene duplicates in mammalsPreprint
Han, M., Demuth, J. P., McGrath, C., Casola, C., & Hahn, M. W. (2009) · Genome Research · doi:10.1101/gr.085951.108 · Cited by 204 · see citing works
Larrieu, T., Cherix, A., Duque, A., Rodrigues, J., Lei, H., Gruetter, R., & Sandi, C. (2017) · Current Biology · doi:10.1016/j.cub.2017.06.027 · Cited by 202 · see citing works
“Our identification of dominant mice as the ones that show vulnerability to CSDS might appear counterintuitive at first glance given the broad literature indicating that subordinate individuals tend to have reduced fitness [24, 25].”
BackgroundUnravelling the neurophysiological basis of aggression in a fish model
Filby, A. L., Paull, G. C., Hickmore, T. F., & Tyler, C. R. (2010) · BMC Genomics · doi:10.1186/1471-2164-11-498 · Cited by 197 · see citing works
“In this respect, aggression is viewed as an adaptation that can have key effects on the lifelong success of individuals and that conveys evolutionary fitness [2].”
Background
- Authors
- Sapolsky, R. M.
- Affiliations
- Institute of Primate Research (KE)
- Corresponding author
- Sapolsky, Robert M.
- ORCID
- Sapolsky, Robert M.
- Venue
- Science
- Published
- 2005-04-29
- Volume
- 308
- Issue
- 5722
- Pages
- 648-652
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9203
- OpenAlex
- W2165558339
- Cited by
- 2,113
- References
- 50
- Citations by year
- 2026: 82 · 2025: 102 · 2024: 78 · 2023: 145 · 2022: 140 · 2021: 102 · 2020: 98 · 2019: 172 · 2018: 120 · 2017: 106 · 2016: 146 · 2015: 111 · 2014: 112 · 2013: 127 · 2012: 102
- FWCI
- 6.52
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Primate Behavior and Ecology
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
- Keywords
- dominance hierarchy, social rank, primate health, stress, adrenocortical stress response, cardiovascular effects, reproductive effects, immunological effects, neurobiology, socioeconomic status, human health, social organization
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Anxiety, Behavior, Animal, Cardiovascular Physiological Phenomena, Catecholamines, Dominance-Subordination, Health Status, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Immune System, Nervous System Physiological Phenomena, Primates, Reproduction, Social Behavior, Social Class, Social Dominance, Stress, Physiological
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