One of the most amazing things about dogs is that they seem to have at least a small sense of morality.Besides looking totally guilty when they realizethey did something bad, a recent study suggeststhat dogs give preference to people who treat others kindly.

Previous research demonstratedthat babies younger than a year old could already learn to judge people by how they interacted with others. That finding led researchers at Kyoto University to investigate whether other animal species might use a similar, innate sense of morality to evaluate social situations. They decided to use dogs and capuchin monkeys by observing their reactions to third-party social evaluations.

In oneexperiment, the researchers made a group of dogswatch their owners struggleto open a container that contained a toy. After struggling with no success, the dogsthen watched their owner turn totwoactors one who either helped them or refused to help, plusanother who acted passively.

The dogs were then offered food by the actors. They didnt seem to show a preference if they were exposed to a helpful actor and a passive actors, but if they were exposed to an unhelpful actor and a passive actor, then the dogs were more likely to accept food from the passive one.

Its possible that the long history and evolution of dogsmay have something to do with their ability to negatively respond topeople who are unhelpful to their owners. They may be more sensitive than expectedto humanbehavior both of their owners, as completely strangers.

As for the monkeys?The researchers discovered that they also negatively evaluate people who refuse to help others. The monkeys were involveda similar experiment, watching an actor struggle to open a container as they turnedto another actor who would either help or refuse to help.

When the monkeys were offered food from both actors, they didnt show a preference between the actorwho struggled to open the container and the actor who helped. If the actor refused to help, however, the monkeys were more likely to take the food from the actor who struggled to open the container.

The researchers also tested the monkeys ability to judge fairness by making them watch two actors interact together using three different balls. When one actor asked for all three balls from the other actor, the actor with the balls would either give all three balls to the other actor or give none at all.

The monkeys were then offered food by both actors and again showed no preference if the actor with the balls played fairly. However, if the actor had refused to give the balls to to the other participant, then the monkeys were more likely to accept food from the actor who had asked for the balls. Animal behaviorists suggestthat wild monkeys use these types of social evaluations to determine which other monkeys they can get along with in their groups.

The results of these experiments suggest that non-human species may have emotional reactions similar to those ofhuman infants, allowingthem to engage in third-party based social evaluations. By identifying whoexhibits antisocial behavior, they can make choices that serve them best.

So, dog owners and perhaps monkey owners too shouldnt expect their furry family members to judgethem based off how theyre treated. Theyknow when youre being rude or unhelpful to others when in their presence, and they probably dont like it.

These findings offer just another good reason to be kind to everyoneyou interact with in your everyday life.

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Can Dogs Evaluate Human Kindness and Generosity? - Care2.com