Nosey by nature: Chimpanzees and children share a strong curiosity about the lives of others

Researchers at the University of California find both species prioritise social interactions, even when foregoing rewards.

From University of Portsmouth 24/06/25 (first released 23/06/25)

Children and chimpanzees prefer watching social interactions over individuals alone

Some gave up treats just to watch social videos

Our curiosity about others may have deep evolutionary roots

Ever find yourself people-watching in a cafe, or tuning into reality TV just to see who’s arguing with who?

You’re not alone – and it turns out, you might have more in common with chimpanzees than you think.

In a new study comparing social curiosity in chimpanzees and children, a team of international researchers have found that both are deeply interested in the interactions of others, even when it comes at a cost.

The research, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, suggests that being curious about social behaviour isn’t just a human quirk – it’s shared with one of our closest primate relatives.

Lead author, Dr Laura Simone Lewis at the University of California in Santa Barbara, said: “After years of observing both children and chimpanzees sometimes jumping up in the middle of research games to observe their peers, the research team was inspired to pursue a new social avenue in the blossoming field of curiosity research.”

Previously, little was known about the developmental and evolutionary roots of social curiosity, defined as the motivation to gain information about the actions, relationships, and psychology of others.

Now, the research team has found that chimpanzees and young children prefer to watch videos of social interactions compared to videos of a single individual, and young children and male chimpanzees even pay a material cost to gain social information.

“This means social curiosity emerges early in human development and is shared with one of our closest living cousins, the chimpanzees”, added Dr Lewis.

“Our strong interest in the lives of others – think gossip magazines and celebrity shows – seems to have deep evolutionary roots in our great ape lineage.”

The study involved three experiments and was carried out at the Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Uganda and at sites in California, including the Oakland Zoo and the Lawrence Hall of Science.

Dr Esther Herrmann from the University of Portsmouth’s Centre for Comparative and Evolutionary Psychology co-authored the research.

She said: “This study tells us that curiosity about what others are doing – what you might call being a bit nosey – starts young and runs deep.

It’s probably something that helps not only us but also our closest living relatives to survive and thrive in complex social groups.”

What they did

To measure social curiosity, researchers built two special ‘curiosity boxes’ – wooden structures that held tablets playing different videos.

In each experiment, chimpanzees and 4 to 6-year-old children could choose between opening one box to watch a social interaction (like grooming, playing or arguing) or opening the other box to watch a video of just one individual acting alone.

In the first experiment, both species consistently spent more time watching the social scenes.

In the second, participants had to choose between a reward (jackfruit seeds for chimps, marbles for kids) and the chance to watch a social video.

Some – especially younger children and male chimpanzees – chose the video over the treat.

The final experiment tested whether individuals preferred watching positive interactions (like grooming or play) or negative ones (like conflicts).

While chimpanzees didn’t seem to show a strong preference either way, human children did: as they got older, boys were more interested in the negative interactions, while girls leaned towards the positive ones.

The study is one of the first to test social curiosity directly in both humans and chimpanzees using the same setup.

It suggests our interest in what others are doing – who’s cooperating, who’s falling out, who’s worth keeping an eye on – may be something we inherited from a common ancestor millions of years ago.

And that curiosity might be more than just entertainment.

Watching how others interact helps us understand relationships, avoid trouble, and figure out who we can trust.

Dr Herrmann added: “This kind of social curiosity is actually really important for learning about our environment, making decisions, and building relationships.”

The researchers suggest future studies could explore how social curiosity develops in younger chimpanzees and across different human cultures, as well as compare adults from both species.

They also recommend testing other great apes like bonobos and orangutans, and examining how factors like familiarity or relationship type (friends vs. strangers) affect curiosity.

These insights could help uncover how social curiosity evolved and why it varies across age, gender, and species.