in love and war

On the left bank of the Congo River live the bonobo. On the right bank live the chimpanzee along with the gorilla. The chimpanzee is combative, aggressive and has evolved to use tools. The bonobo are more docile and are well known for their sexual appetite. They do not use tools.
A theory stands that the bonobo and the chimpanzee differ in behavior because of competition. The chimpanzee competes with the gorilla for food, and territory. Across the river, the bonobo live without this pressure and in relative peace.
The simplicity of this theory and its possible application in our own lives has been plaguing me.
In my own moments of competition I have found success in the failure of others and my own failure in the success of others. A sociologist may call this a scarcity mindset, meaning in these instances I am looking at someone’s success as a limit to my own. There is only so much success in the world to go around. The opposite being the abundance mindset when one believes another’s success is not limiting their own, because there is plenty of success to go around.
What happens when there is not plenty of success to go around? How does a bad economy affect our mindset and action towards others?
Read more about the bonobo in this National Geographic article.