Research
Primate are social animals, and my research focuses on how sociality affects our biology. To understand these processes, I focus on friendship, social networks, and stress in human and non-human primates. I’m especially interested in the evolution of female social relationships in species where females are typically unrelated and have flexibility in who they choose…
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Dr. Michelle A. Rodrigues
Primate are social animals, and my research focuses on how sociality affects our biology. To understand these processes, I focus on friendship, social networks, and stress in human and non-human primates. I’m especially interested in the evolution of female social relationships in species where females are typically unrelated and have flexibility in who they choose to associate with. In “fission-fusion” societies, social grouping is flexible. Spider monkeys, chimpanzees, bonobos, and humans have greater opportunities to choose to associate with others or spend time alone compared to primates living in cohesive social groups. I’m interested in how those choices shape social networks and impact stress and health. Through stress pathways, social experiences can have long-term effects on health throughout our lifespans. My ultimate goal is to apply our understanding of these processes to conserve wild primates, improve captive primate welfare, and ensure a healthy social environment for girls and women in science.

For access to publications, see my ResearchGate page. You can find a list of my publications and abstracts on my Google Scholar page. You can find my CV here.

Primate Conservation: How do Anthropogenic Environments Impact Population Density, Stress, and Social Behavior in Costa Rican Primates?

Throughout their range, spider monkeys are endangered. However, sympatric howler and capuchin monkeys are not (yet). As part of my dissertation research, I examined how spider monkeys coped with anthropogenic pressures by altering subgrouping size. With colleagues Tracie McKinney and Stacy Lindshield, I am examining how human economic activity and disturbance impact spider monkey, capuchin, and howler monkey densities at El Zota Biological Field Station in northeastern Costa Rica, and Puerto Viejo-Gandoca-Manzanillo in southeastern Costa Rica. This project builds on the conservation work done with The Monkey Bridge Project. We hope to expand this work by conducting further comparative research on stress and social grouping processes at these two sites.

Relevant Publications:

Rodrigues MA. Female spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) cope with anthropogenic disturbance through fission-fusion dynamics. International Journal of Primatology 38:838-855.

Female Friendships, Social Networks, Stress, and Well-being in Girls and Women

The tend-and-befriend hypothesis predicts that girls and women should turn to friends to deal with the stressors in their life. Does having close friends and a robust social network help you deal with the stressors that come from your social and academic environment? What happens if you don’t have a strong female support network? I am examining these questions in teenage girls and female scientists–both populations that have varying amounts of interpersonal stressors, as well as varying levels of social integration. With Kate Clancy, Carla Hunter, Jenny Amos, and others, we worked with a summer science camp where campers participated on a research project examining how the social environment affects adolescent girls. My postdoctoral includes both qualitative and quantitative data focusing on workplace stressors in women of color in science, and I’m now extending this project to include white female scientists. Additionally, with Liz Stine-Morrow and Si On Yoon, I am collaborating on research examining how social communication with friends and strangers changes with age in female dyads.

Rodrigues, M.A., Yoon, S.O., Clancy K.H.B., Stine-Morrow E.A.L. What are friends for? The impact of friendship on communicative effectiveness on the stress response during collaborative problem-solving among younger and older women. Journal of Women and Aging. https://doi.org/10.1080/08952841.2021.1915686

Rodrigues, M.A., Mendenhall, R., and Clancy, K.H.B. “There’s realizing, and then there’s realizing:” How social support can counter gaslighting of women of color scientists. Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering 27 (2): 1-23.

Rodrigues MA, Clancy KBH. A comparative examination of research on why women are more underrepresented in some STEMM disciplines compared to others, with a particular focus on computer science, engineering, physics, mathematics, medicine, chemistry, and biology. Commissioned for the National Academy of Sciences, as part of Promising Practices for the Underrepresentation of Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine.

Rodrigues MA, Sanford, SR, Rogers MP, Lee KMN,Wilson MA, Amos J, Hunter CD, Clancy KHB. From maternal tending to adolescent befriending: The adolescent transition of social support. American Journal of Primatology, e23050. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.23050 (Special Issue on Psychobiology Development in Primates).

Comparative Social Relationships in Ateles and Pan

With Emily Boeving I am examining social networks in spider monkeys, bonobos, and chimpanzees. These three species provide an interesting contrast. Spider monkeys and chimpanzees are distantly related, but exhibit a striking convergence in social patterns. Conversely, chimpanzees and bonobos are sister species, but exhibit differences in patterns of sexual behavior and social bonding. We compared social grooming network in both Pan species and spider monkeys to examine how similarities in how they utilize affiliative behaviors to mediate those relationships. Ultimately, we would like to apply our findings to improve captive welfare and management.

Relevant Publications:

Boeving ER, Rodrigues MA, Nelson EL. Network analysis as a tool to understand social development in spider monkeys. American Journal of Primatology. e23182. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.23182 (Special Issue on Psychobiology Development in Primates).

Picard AM, Mundry R, Auersperg AM, Boeving ER, Boucherie PH, Bugnyar T, Dufour V, Emery NJ, Federspiel I, Gajdon G, Guéry JP, Hegedič Matjaz, Horn L, Kavanagh E, Lambert ML, Massen J, Rodrigues MA, Schiestl M, Schwing R, Szabo B, Taylor AH, van Horik J, von Bayern AMP, Seed A, Slocombe KE. Why preen others? Social functions of allopreening in parrots and corvids and comparisons to grooming in great apes. Ethology. DOI:10.1111/eth.12999 (Special Issue on Studying the Evolution of Cooperation and Prosociality in Birds).

Rodrigues MA, Boeving ER. Comparative social grooming networks in captive chimpanzees and bonobos. Primates 60:191-202 (Special Issue on Social Network Analysis in Primates, A Multilevel Perspective).

Stress and Friendship in Spider Monkeys

Theoretical models of female social relationships focused on the influence of ecology on competition, dispersal patterns, and kinship. However, as we do more research, we are recognizing that female social relationships are much more complicated. My dissertation research examined the “tend-and-befriend” hypothesis to examine if female spider monkeys seek affiliation with other primates to cope with stress. Female spider monkeys disperse in early adulthood, and other studies indicate that they have weak social relationships. However, I found that some females did form close bonds with other females, and increased affiliation with females when experiencing high stress levels. Furthermore, lactating females experienced higher stress levels than cycling females, which may be due to the the threat of male coalitionary aggression.

Relevant Publications:

Rodrigues MA. 2017.Female spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) cope with anthropogenic disturbance through fission-fusion dynamics. International Journal of Primatology 38:838-855.

Rodrigues MA Wittwer D, Kitchen DM. 2015. Measuring stress responses in female Geoffroy’s spider monkeys: Validation and the influence of the reproductive state. American Journal of Primatology 77(9):925-935.

Juvenile Social Development in Ateline Primates

Primates have an extended period of juvenility, in which individuals are weaned/independently locomoting, but retain a small body size. This extended developmental stage provides primates with opportunities to gain the social and ecological skills they need to become functional adults. My early research focused on social behavior in juvenile howler and spider monkeys, in order to examine how their social behaviors prepare them for adulthood. In both species, I found that juveniles actively seek social opportunities. In spider monkeys, male and female juveniles engage in sex-segregated patterns, in which they preferentially play with same-sexed peers. Furthermore, juvenile males interacted more widely, and spent more time in subgroups containing adult males. I’m currently collaborating with Emily Boeving to examine juvenile social development in captive Colombian spider monkeys.

Relevant Publications:

Boeving ER, Rodrigues MA, Nelson EL. Network analysis as a tool to understand social development in spider monkeys. American Journal of Primatology. e23182. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.23182 (Special Issue on Psychobiology Development in Primates).

Rodrigues MA, 2014. The emergence of sex-segregated behavior and association patterns in juvenile spider monkeys. Neotropical Primates. 21(2): 183-189.

Rodrigues MA. 2007. Age and sex-based differences in social interactions and social spacing in mantled howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata): Implications for juvenile social development. Journal of Developmental Processes 2(2): 103-114.