The behavioral correlates of overall and distinctive life history strategy.

Abstract

Life history (LH) theory provides an evolutionary theoretical framework for understanding individual differences in maturation, mating, reproduction, parenting, and social interaction. However, the psychometric assessment of human life history has been largely limited to generalized self-reports. Using template matching, this article examines the relationship between personality differences associated with slow-life history (slow-LH) and social behavior in 3 archival datasets. Two of these datasets include direct observations of behavior in the laboratory, and the 3rd provides self-reports of behavior in real life situations experienced within the preceding 24 hr. The results paint a consistent picture of the slow-LH individual as engaging in numerous adaptive social behaviors. However, when "normativeness" (the tendency for most people to be normal in both the statistical and evaluative sense) is statistically removed from the LH scores, a slightly different picture emerges. Both slow-LH and fast-LH persons display a number of behaviors that may be either adaptive or maladaptive in different contexts. Specifically, slow-LH individuals tended to behave in a manner that was considerate, kind, hard-working, and reliable but also socially awkward, insecure, and overcontrolling. Fast-LH individuals came across as talkative, socially skilled, dominant, and charming but also unpredictable, hostile, manipulative, and impulsive. These results are consistent with the evolutionary interpretation of LH strategies as being adapted to systematically different environments rather than better or worse approaches to reproductive fitness overall.

Are extraversion and openness indicators of a slow life history strategy?

“…As in Study 1, CAQ-based Slow LHS was calculated as the correlation (r-to-z transformed) between an individual's CAQ profile and the SLH CAQ template (Sherman et al, 2013), and CAQ-generated FFM dimension scores were calculated based on the findings of McCrae et al (1986). Table 6 shows the bivariate correlations among the CAQ-generated FFM dimensions and CAQ-based slow LHS, along with scale reliabilities.…”

“…primary psychopathy (Reise & Oliver, 1994). Two research groups (Dunkel et al, 2015;Sherman et al, 2013) have independently generated slow Life History (SLH) CAQ templates, which are quite similar,…”

“…The correlation between each participant's CAQ profile and the SLH CAQ template from Sherman et al (2013) was calculated and then transformed using the Fisher r-to-z transformation.…”

The Continuum of Conscientiousness: The Antagonistic Interests among Obsessive and Antisocial Personalities

“…Life history is a branch of evolutionary biology that studies some of the following variables: age and size at maturity, number and size of offspring, lifespan and aging (Stearns, 1992;Stearns & Hoekstra, 2005). Only recently have subtle variations on life history traits, such as growth rates, sexual maturation rates and mortality schedules, been detected within the human population (Rushton, 1985;Rushton, 1987;Figueredo et al, 2005;Ellis, Figueredo, Brumbach & Schlomer, 2009;Sherman, Figueredo & Funder, 2013). Interestingly,"conscientiousness may be particularly well-positioned to capture individual differences in life history" (Weiss & Adams, 2013, page 105).…”

Predicting Intellectual Ability and Scholastic Outcomes with a Single Item: From Early Childhood to Adulthood

“…Although these criticisms have been addressed [42] and the Q-sort method is being used in new and innovative ways in psychology [24,43,44], clarification is needed. The rating of "high intellectual capacity" is not an independent, but a relative value; it reflects the degree to which the target's character or personality is defined by having a "high intellectual capacity" in relation to other items in the Q-set.…”