Machiavellian intelligence hypothesis

In primatology, the Machiavellian intelligence or social brain hypothesis describes the capacity of primates to manuever in complex social groups.^[1][2] The first introduction of this concept came from Frans de Waal's book Chimpanzee Politics (1982). In the book de Waal notes that chimpanzees performed certain social maneuvering behaviors that he thought of as being "Machiavellian".^[3]

This hypothesis posits that large brains and distinctive cognitive abilities of primates have evolved via intense social competition in which social competitors developed increasingly sophisticated strategies as a means to achieve higher social and reproductive success.^[4]