Who is the woman behind the successful man?

As the saying goes, behind every successful man there is a great woman. German researchers believe that the woman is more likely to be a mother than a wife or lover, and that the mother's motivation is more conducive to the success of men.

Successful males received more support from their mothers

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany looked at bonobo populations and found that, like humans, successful males are more attractive to females. Orangutan groups are hierarchical, and to succeed, males need to overcome higher-ranking peers, either one-on-one, or form "alliances" to drive out powerful rivals.

The researchers found that the male chimps who won the duels were more likely to have the support of their mothers, who had one thing in common: strong personalities and aggressive behavior.

The mother is trying to increase the number of offspring

The researchers also found that male bonobos with "tough" mothers not only had higher status in the group, but also had more successful sexual experiences.

"Females don't just support unrelated males for no reason," Martin Surbeck, one of the researchers, was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail on September 2.

Behind this support, Surbeck said, is the motivation of "mothers" who "can increase the number of their grandchildren by helping their sons."

The findings have been published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society of Biology.