Final answer:
Reconciliation is important for female primates in matrilineal societies to maintain social cohesion, ensure cooperative care of offspring, and sustain group success in survival and reproduction. Female kinship is at the core of these social structures, making the resolution of conflicts imperative for the group's stability.
Step-by-step explanation:
Reconciliation is crucial for female primates living in matrilineal groups due to the necessity of maintaining strong social bonds and cohesion. Matrilineal social structures revolve around female kinship and solidarity, with females not being marginal figures but rather central actors in most social dynamics. Within these groups, females invest considerable time in raising their offspring and rely on the assistance and protection of their female kin. Reconciliation after conflicts helps to maintain stability and cooperation within the group, which is essential for the collective success in terms of survival and caring for the young. As these groups are centred on closely bonded mothers and their offspring, the failure to reconcile can lead to social fragmentation, which can negatively impact the group's effectiveness in resource acquisition, predator defense, and overall reproductive success.
In a broader context, cooperative behaviour, including reconciliation, is seen as a significant aspect of primate social life. Female primates exercise their preference to mate with certain male 'friends' and often establish their territories, attracting males to the resources they control. This indicates that for female primates, social strategies such as forming alliances and reconciling after disputes may be as critical, if not more so, than competition over resources or mates.
Studies, such as those by Fedigan and Fedigan (1989), have noted the importance of cooperation in primate societies, pushing beyond the traditional focus on competition. Furthermore, evidence from matriarchal human societies, like the Indonesian Minangkabau, shows that cooperative work between genders is systemic, suggesting parallels in nonhuman primate societies as well.