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Confidence

January 5, 2015 by Elizabeth -

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I was going through today’s photos of the chimpanzees, and these two stood out to me. It’s not uncommon to see Jamie looking confident and relaxed; as the leader of the group, she has every reason to be confident.

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But I love that Annie, who’s at the bottom of the social hierarchy, looks just as calm and content. Though Annie’s low-ranking position in the group brings with it a certain amount of stress, she is finding more and more moments of peace as the years go by.

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6 Comments

  1. Avatar Stephanie on January 5, 2015 at 5:08 pm

    why is she the lowest ranked?



  2. Avatar Stephanie on January 5, 2015 at 5:09 pm

    is she the weakest?



    • Avatar Elizabeth on January 6, 2015 at 10:40 am

      Hi, Stephanie. Chimpanzee dominance is a pretty complex issue with lots of contributing factors. Personality, ambition, intelligence (particularly social intelligence), physical strength, and opportunity all play a role, to varying degrees. It’s often assumed that the biggest, strongest individual is going to be the leader of their group, but that’s not always the case; we can’t count out personality. I think a large part of why Jamie’s in charge here is that she believes wholeheartedly that she should be.

      I think of it as similar to human dominance. It’s true that not everyone is capable of being CEO of a large company, but it’s also true that not everyone WANTS to be CEO of a large company.



  3. Avatar Rita Stevenson on January 5, 2015 at 5:11 pm

    Annie is such a lovely beautiful little girl,
    Annie has come a long way, although low ranking, she does have Missy –



  4. Avatar Lorraine on January 5, 2015 at 6:10 pm

    Sweet girl…



  5. Avatar Kathleen on January 5, 2015 at 9:35 pm

    Annie is tops in my eyes! ; ) Love both photos, I always giggle at Jamie’s silly little grin!



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