Does a high social status confer greater levels of trust from groupmates? An experimental study of leadership in domestic horses

• Published in: Behavioural processes Vol. 201; p. 104708
• Main Authors: Valenchon, Mathilde, Deneubourg, Jean-Louis, Nesterova, Anna P., Petit, Odile
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01-09-2022; Elsevier
• Subjects: Animal biology; Animal cognition; Collective movement; Decision-making; Equine behaviour; Followership; Individual, differences; Life Sciences; Collective movement; Decision-making; Individual, differences; Equine behaviour; Animal cognition; Followership; Individual differences
• ISSN: 0376-6357; 1872-8308
• DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2022.104708

In collective movements, specific individuals may emerge as leaders. In this study on the domestic horse (Equus ferus caballus), we conducted experiments to establish if an individual is successfully followed due to its social status (including hierarchical rank and centrality). We first informed one horse about a hidden food location and recorded by how many it was followed when going back to this location. In this context, all horses lead their groupmates successfully. In a second step, we tested whether group members would trust some leaders more than others by removing the food before the informed individual led the group back to the food location. In addition, two control initiators with intermediate social status for which the food was not removed were tested. The results, confirmed by simulations, demonstrated that the proportions of followers for the unreliable initiator with highest social status are greater than the ones of the unreliable initiator with lowest social status. Our results suggest an existing relationship between having a high social status and a leadership role. Indeed, the status of a leader sometimes prevail at the detriment of the accuracy of the information, because an elevated social status apparently confers a high level of trust.
•We set up 2 experiments to test whether horses follow an initiator depending on its identity and reliability.•Horses follow a leader according to its reliability to lead to good or bad locations.•The unreliable initiator with the lowest social status is no more followed.•Followers keep following the unreliable initiator with the highest social status.•Simulations on proportions of followers confirm experimental data.