Rhesus monkeys by BBC World Service Bangladesh Boat.

Now I know where we humans get it from. The threat of public humiliation can be too much to handle and kids know just how to push our buttons.

When moms and babies weren’t close to other monkeys, rebuffed babies that started shrieking were allowed to nurse 39 percent of the time, the researchers found. With just relatives nearby, the babies’ luck rose to 53 percent. But with unrelated onlookers that outranked mom in the dominance hierarchy, babies won the tantrum 81 percent of the time.

~ScienceNews

And although the following refers to monkey onlookers I’m sure you’ve seen humans behaving in similar ways when they see children flipping out in public.

The onlookers seemed bothered and on occasion made threatening gestures, or even chased, grabbed or bit the mother or the infant.

Advice to rhesus monkey (and human) mothers: Never give in. Kids quickly learn to manipulate you with tantrums. Stay calm and hightail it home immediately if possible. (See some great advice over at Empowering Parents.)

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