Personality in Sanctuary-Housed Chimpanzees: A Comparative Approach of Psychobiological and Penta-Factorial Human Models

Abstract

We evaluate a sanctuary chimpanzee sample (N = 11) using two adapted human assessment instruments: the Five-Factor Model (FFM) and Eysenck's PsychoticismExtraversion-Neuroticism (PEN) model. The former has been widely used in studies of animal personality, whereas the latter has never been used to assess chimpanzees. We asked familiar keepers and scientists (N = 28) to rate 38 (FFM) and 12 (PEN) personality items. The personality surveys showed reliability in all of the items for both instruments. These were then analyzed in a principal component analysis and a regularized exploratory factor analysis, which revealed four and three components, respectively. The results indicate that both questionnaires show a clear factor structure, with characteristic factors not just for the species, but also for the sample type. However, due to its brevity, the PEN may be more suitable for assessing personality in a sanctuary, where employees do not have much time to devote to the evaluation process. In summary, both models are sensitive enough to evaluate the personality of a group of chimpanzees housed in a sanctuary.

Bushmeat trade consequences predict higher anxiety, restraint, and dominance in chimpanzees

“…Curiously, Cattell has never been previously applied in chimpanzees or any other animal species, except humans. Given the success that researches have had in adapting other top‐down rating models (as the Five‐Factor Model: King & Figueredo, ; Eysenck: Ubeda & Llorente, ; Emotions Profile Index: Buirski, Kellerman, Plutchik, Weininger, & Buirski, ; Interpersonal Circumplex: Zeigler‐Hill & Highfill, ), we wanted to examine whether the Cattell 16PF could be employed with nonhuman species as well in order to gain a better understanding of their personalities. Our main goal was to determine whether early life experiences influence personality development using a rapid and innovative tool (Hopper, Cronin, & Ross, ).…”

Personality, cognition and behavior in chimpanzees: a new approach based on Eysenck’s model

“…Secondly, their phylogenetic closeness to humans allows us to better understand and rate their personality traits using questionnaires ( Weiss & Adams, 2013 ). Since one of the most relevant attempts to describe chimpanzee personality using a human model with a hierarchical structure ( King & Figueredo, 1997 ), several studies in captivity and in the wild have shown that chimpanzees have specific personality dimensions or traits that are common to their species ( King, Weiss & Farmer, 2005 ; Weiss et al, 2012 ; Weiss et al, 2017 ), and that questionnaires adapted from human models are reliable measures of their personality ( Freeman et al, 2013 ; Úbeda & Llorente, 2015 ; Weiss & Adams, 2013 ; Weiss et al, 2009 ; Weiss et al, 2017 ). Moreover, several studies have reported correlations between trait rating and observed behavior, both in monkeys ( Ebenau et al, 2019 ; Iwanicki & Lehmann, 2015 ) and in great apes ( Eckardt et al, 2015 ; Murray, 2011 ; Schaefer & Steklis, 2014 ; Vazire et al, 2007 ; Pederson, King & Landau, 2005 ; Konečná et al, 2008 ), thus confirming that personality ratings can successfully predict individual behavior.…”

“…In addition, the HPQ further contains the trait Dominance, which was described for the first time in chimpanzees ( King & Figueredo, 1997 ). More recently, other authors have applied other top-down human models to study chimpanzee personality, such as Eysenck’s Psychoticism-Extraversion-Neuroticism model ( Úbeda & Llorente, 2015 ) or Cattell’s 16 PF ( Ortín et al, 2019 ). The Eysencks’ psychobiological theory ( Eysenck & Eysenck, 1964 ; Eysenck & Eysenck, 1975 ) is focused on the underlying biological mechanisms of personality dimensions.…”

“…In their assessment of the PEN model to describe chimpanzees’ personality, Úbeda & Llorente (2015) adapted a 12-item questionnaire rated on a 7-point Likert scale. The authors identified three dimensions: Extraversion, Neuropsychoticism and Dominance.…”

“…In view of the scant literature exploring the relationship between personality and performance in non-human primates, and of the controversial results reported so far, the main aims of this study were to (i) assess the correspondence between the personality traits from the PEN model (previously adapted by Úbeda & Llorente (2015) ) and chimpanzees’ spontaneous behavior, and (ii) evaluate whether individual differences in chimpanzees’ personality are linked to their interest, motivation and performance in cognitive tasks. Firstly, we expected to find significant correlations between personality traits and behaviors that match the definitions of the traits (e.g., Extraversion positively correlating with social behaviors and with affiliative interactions, such as grooming and social play; Dominance with agonistic dominance; and Neuropsychoticism with agonistic behaviors and with behaviors related to anxiety, such as self-directed behaviors or abnormal behaviors).…”