Evolved individual differences: Advancing a condition-dependent model of personality

Abstract

a b s t r a c tThe field of personality psychology offers a wealth of robust empirical research and a successful descriptive taxonomy, but neither explains the origins of the structure of human personality nor elaborates a generative framework for predicting the specific conditions that evoke the development of distinct personality traits. Exploration of traditional personality constructs within an evolutionary adaptive individual differences framework may help fill this explanatory gap. Personality traits exhibit functional features and patterns of variation expected from psychological adaptations designed to solve survival-and reproduction-related challenges recurrently faced during our species' evolutionary history. Conditiondependent evolutionary models of personality have been proposed for decades, but only recently have begun to see empirical investigation. These models posit that species-typical psychological mechanisms take as input cues from the individual's phenotype that would have been ancestrally linked to differential cost-benefit tradeoffs of alternative personality strategies, and produce as output personality trait levels with the greatest probabilistic net benefit for the individual. This paper elaborates a more nuanced conceptual framework that builds on earlier conceptualizations of condition-dependent traits to yield new and untested hypotheses about personality trait variation and covariation. It then describes clear future research directions for empirically investigating these readily testable hypotheses.

The extraversion continuum in evolutionary perspective: A review of recent theory and evidence

“…In evolutionary perspective, the mystery of extraversion's origins boils down to the question of why natural selection has maintained variability along this continuum, rather than eliminating variation in favor of fixed genotypes or behavioral phenotypes with the highest net fitness (Lukaszewski, 2013;Lukaszewski & Roney, 2011;Nettle, 2005Nettle, , 2006Nettle, , 2011Verweij et al, 2012). Natural selection can theoretically maintain personality variation via fluctuating (including frequency-dependent) selection pressures that modulate the fitness costs and benefits of different personality trait levels (Buss, 2009;Gangestad & Simpson, 2000;Lewis, 2014;Lukaszewski & Roney, 2011;Nettle, 2006;Penke et al, 2007;Tooby & Cosmides, 1990). This theoretical perspective leads to the expectation that personality variation will often be adaptively patterned in relation to circumstances that predicted optimal trait levels under ancestral conditions.…”

“…neural or endocrine substrates) of a behavioral phenotype (Buss, 2009;Gangestad, 2011;Lukaszewski & Roney, 2011;Penke et al, 2007;Tooby & Cosmides, 1990;Verweij et al, 2012). Second adaptations that facultatively calibrate personality phenotypes in response to cues that predicted optimal trait levels under ancestral conditions (Buss, 2009;Keller & Miller, 2006;Lewis, 2014;Lukaszewski, 2013;Lukaszewski & Roney, 2011;Nettle, 2011;Penke, 2011;Sell, Tooby, & Cosmides, 2009;Tooby & Cosmides, 1990).…”

Rash impulsivity predicts lower anticipated pleasure response and a preference for the supernormal

“…As Lewis (2015) notes, certain traits can be associated with both adaptive and non-adaptive behaviour in different context. For example, in our evolutionary past the ability to flee or fight in dangerous situations was adaptive to survival; but in modern times, this response often results in debilitating hyper-vigilance, anxiety or stress disorders.…”

“…Evolutionary adaptions to environments are typically species wide, however, many specific traits are associated with both benefits and costs to adaptive fitness and therefore even highly species-typical behaviours vary between individuals and situations (Lewis, 2015). Likewise, whilst virtually all people are prone to the allure of supernormal stimuli, one would expect to observe individual differences in susceptibility.…”

An integrated framework of safety performance evaluation for oil and gas production plants: Application to a petroleum transportation station

“…Quantitative model based on RDA constantly spring up. A numerical statistical model is introduced to measure inter-individual differences in relative degree of personal disorganization and social alienation, which transfers ambiguous empirical cognitions to quantitative expressions (Lewis, 2015). Mu et al (Mu et al, 2004).…”