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"Stanford lecture: Stress and Coping: What Baboons Can Teach Us" by professor Robert Sapolsky.

free iTunes Link: Baboons

Sapolsky seems to have spent decades studying the biological effects of psychological stress. Baboons live in complex social groups. They only spend about 3.5 hours a day obtaining food, so they have plenty of time to compete, cooperate, work their way up the "corporate ladder" (of the pack hierarchy), and just be mean to each other. His initial hypothesis was that individuals higher in pack rank had less stress, but it turns out to be less simple than that.

High rank and social stability, are two factors, but certain personality traits are also important:

• Being able to tell the difference between winning and losing.
• Being able to tell the difference between threat and non-threat behavior of a rival or enemy.
• Having a outlet for aggression after losing a battle or stare-down (for male baboons, that means beating up female baboons, unfortunately)
• And last but not least, having friends.

Interesting stuff. More stuff by Robert Sapolsky is here and Why Zebra Don't Get Ulcers, free iTunes Link: Zebras.