title: Personality structure and social style in macaques.
abstract: Why regularities in personality can be described with particular dimensions is a basic question in differential psychology. Nonhuman primates can also be characterized in terms of personality structure. Comparative approaches can help reveal phylogenetic constraints and social and ecological patterns associated with the presence or absence of specific personality dimensions. We sought to determine how different personality structures are related to interspecific variation in social style. Specifically, we examined this question in 6 different species of macaques, because macaque social style is well characterized and can be categorized on a spectrum of despotic (Grade 1) versus tolerant (Grade 4) social styles. We derived personality structures from adjectival ratings of Japanese (Macaca fuscata; Grade 1), Assamese (M. assamensis; Grade 2), Barbary (M. sylvanus; Grade 3), Tonkean (M. tonkeana; Grade 4), and crested (M. nigra; Grade 4) macaques and compared these species with rhesus macaques (M. mulatta; Grade 1) whose personality was previously characterized. Using a nonparametric method, fuzzy set analysis, to identify commonalities in personality dimensions across species, we found that all but 1 species exhibited consistently defined Friendliness and Openness dimensions, but that similarities in personality dimensions capturing aggression and social competence reflect similarities in social styles. These findings suggest that social and phylogenetic relationships contribute to the origin, maintenance, and diversification of personality.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Edinburgh.
authors.forename: Mark James
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Adams
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Lincoln.
authors.forename: Bonaventura
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Majolo
authors.affiliation: Courant Research Centre Evolution of Social Behaviour, University of Göttingen.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ostner
authors.affiliation: Courant Research Centre Evolution of Social Behaviour, University of Göttingen.
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Schülke
authors.affiliation: Fondazione Ethoikos, Parco Faunistico di Piano dell'Abatino, Poggio San Lorenzo.
authors.forename: Arianna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: De Marco
authors.affiliation: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Thierry
authors.affiliation: German Primate Center.
authors.forename: Antje
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Engelhardt
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Widdig
authors.affiliation: National Institute on Aging.
authors.forename: Melissa S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Gerald
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Weiss
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D005260:Female; D008251:Macaca / Q000523:psychology*; D008253:Macaca mulatta / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D010551:Personality; D012919:Social Behavior; D012930:Social Dominance; D013045:Species Specificity