Grooming (also calledpreening) is theart andpractice of cleaning and maintaining parts of the body. It is aspecies-typical behavior.
Individualanimals regularly clean themselves and put their fur, feathers or otherskin coverings in good order. This activity is known as personal grooming, a form ofhygiene. Extractingforeign objects such asinsects, leaves,dirt, twigs and parasites[1] is a form of grooming. Among animals,birds spend considerable timepreening theirfeathers. This is done to removeectoparasites, keep the feathers in good aerodynamic condition, and waterproof them. To do that, they use thepreen oil secreted by theuropygial gland, the dust ofdown feathers, or other means such as dust-bathing oranting. Duringoil spills,animal conservationists that rescuepenguins sometimes dress them inknitted sweaters to stop them from preening and thereby ingesting themineral oil, which is poisonous. Monkeys may also pick out nits from their fur or scratch their rears to keep themselves clean.Cats are well known for their extensive grooming. Cats groom so often that they often producehairballs from the fur they ingest.[2] Many mammal species also groom their genitals aftercopulation.[3][4]
Manysocial animals adapt preening and grooming behaviors for other social purposes such asbonding and the strengthening ofsocial structures. Grooming plays a particularly important role in forming social bonds in many primate species, such aschacma baboons andwedge-capped capuchins.
In humankind, mutual grooming relates closely tosocial grooming, which is defined as the process by which human beings fulfill one of their basic instincts, such as socializing, cooperating and learning from each other.[5]In research conducted by Holly Nelson (from theUniversity of New Hampshire), individuals who chose their romantic partner reported more mutual grooming than others who focused in other types of relationships. Hence, this study hypothesized that mutual grooming related to relationship satisfaction, trust and previous experience of affection within the family. They claim that even though humans do not groom each other with the same fervor that other species do, they are groomers par excellence. Therefore, human mutual grooming plays an important role inpair bonding.In the same investigation, researchers found that individuals with more promiscuous attitudes and those who scored high on the anxiety sub-scale on an adult attachment style measure tend to groom their partners more frequently. These findings were also consistent with some of the functions of grooming: potential parental indicator, developing trust and courtship or flirtation.[6]
A recent empirical study by Seinenu Thein-Lemelson (University of California, Berkeley) utilized anethological approach to examine cross-cultural differences in human grooming as it pertains to caregiving behaviors. Naturalistic data was collected through video focal follows with children during routine activities and then coded for grooming behaviors. This cross-cultural comparison of urban families in Burma and the United States indicates that there are significant cross-cultural differences in rates of caregiver-to-child grooming. Burmese caregivers in the sample groomed children more often than caregivers in the United States. Additionally, children in the United States have short instances of concentrated grooming predominantly during daily activities that are structured explicitly around hygiene goals (bath time), in contrast to the Burmese child, whose grooming is distributed more evenly within and across daily activities. The Burmese parents maintained a constant vigilance with regard to risk of infection. The study is significant because it is the only study of human grooming to utilize naturalistic data.[7]
Media related toGrooming at Wikimedia Commons
