METHODOLOGICAL IMPROVEMENTS FOR THE STUDY OF RECONCILIATION

The present paper suggests methodological improvements for the study o f reconciliation, i.e. affiliative interactions between former opponen ts shortly after agonistic conflicts. Three methods have been suggeste d to determine whether post-conflict affiliation between former oppone nts is higher than what would be expected by chance. Two of these meth ods may fail to find this higher level when the analyses are based on long-lasting observations. The third method, however, solves this pote ntial shortcoming by identifying the 'relevant' duration of the observ ations to be considered. We also emphasize the importance of distingui shing post-conflict affiliative interactions on the basis of their tim ing following a conflict in order to examine their conciliatory functi ons. Finally we suggest a correction of the conciliatory tendency, a m easure used to compare the frequency of reconciliation between dyads o f individuals that may have different baseline levels of affiliation. A comparison between the original measure and the corrected one shows that only the latter is independent of the baseline level of affiliati on and is, therefore, more suitable for the study of intra- and inter- specific differences in the frequency of reconciliation.