scholarly journals The adaptive value of personality differences revealed by small island population dynamics

2007 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea S. Camperio Ciani ◽  
Claudio Capiluppi ◽  
Antonio Veronese ◽  
Giuseppe Sartori
Keyword(s):  
Personality Traits ◽  
Geographical Origin ◽  
Small Island ◽  
Island Population ◽  
Tyrrhenian Sea ◽  
Mainland Population ◽  
Linguistic Differences ◽  
Personality Differences ◽  
Adaptive Value ◽  
Culture And Language

Whether differences in personality among populations really exist and, if so, whether they are only due to cultural and linguistic differences or have a genetically selected adaptive value, is a controversial issue. In this research, we compared three Italian populations living on three small archipelagos in the Tyrrhenian Sea (n = 993), with their corresponding neighbouring mainlanders (n = 598), i.e. sharing the same geographical origin, culture and language. We used an adjective‐based Big Five questionnaire in order to measure personality traits in four categories of individuals for each archipelago/mainland population: (1) original islanders; (2) non‐original islanders; (3) mainlanders and (4) immigrants to the islands. We further analysed original and non‐original islanders who had or had not emigrated from the islands. We found that islanders had different personality traits from mainlanders, the former being more conscientious and emotionally stable and less extraverted and open to experience. We also found that the subgroup of islanders whose ancestors had inhabited their island for about 20 generations in isolation (original islanders, n = 624) were less extraverted and open to experience than immigrants (n = 193). In contrast, immigrants retained the typical personality profile of the mainland populations. Lastly, emigrants from the islands (n = 209) were significantly more extraverted and open to experience than original and non‐original islanders who had never left their island (n = 741). We hypothesise that population differences in extraversion and openness to experience are more probably related to genetic differences which evolved rapidly, presumably through an active gene flow produced by selective emigration from the islands. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Gene Flow by Selective Emigration as a Possible Cause for Personality Differences between Small Islands and Mainland Populations

2011 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Camperio Ciani ◽  
Claudio Capiluppi
Keyword(s):  
Gene Flow ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Openness To Experience ◽  
Personality Change ◽  
Environmental Niche ◽  
Mainland Population ◽  
Personality Differences ◽  
Flexible Response ◽  
Gene Environment ◽  
Phenotypic Responses

Whether personality differences exist between populations is a controversial question. Even though such differences can be measured, it is still not clear whether they are due to individual phenotypic responses to the environment or whether they have a genetic influence. In a population survey we compared the personality traits of inhabitants of an Italian archipelago (the three Egadi islands; N = 622) with those of the closest mainland population (Trapani area; N = 106) and we found that personality differences between small populations can be detected. Islanders scored significantly lower on the personality traits of openness to experience and extraversion and higher on conscientiousness. We suggest that these personality trait differences could be an adaptive response to a confined socio–environmental niche, genetically produced by a strong, non–random gene flow in the last 20–25 generations, rather than the flexible response of islanders to environmental variables. To test this hypothesis, we compared subsets of the islander population classified by ancestry, birthplace, immigration and emigration and found that differences in extraversion can be accounted for by gene flow, while openness to experience and conscientiousness can also be accounted for by some gene–environment interactions. We propose a Personality Gene Flow hypothesis suggesting that, in small isolated communities, whenever there is strong, non–random emigration, paired with weak and random immigration, we can expect rapid genetic personality change within the population. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

scholarly journals Personality is associated with dominance in a social feeding context in the great tit

Behaviour ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 156 (13-14) ◽  
pp. 1419-1434
Author(s):  
Nehafta Bibi ◽  
Yusheng Wei ◽  
Hongwei Xu ◽  
Jingnan Liang ◽  
Ijaz Hussain ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Parus Major ◽  
Novel Object ◽  
Novel Environment ◽  
Personality Differences ◽  
Individual Personality ◽  
Behavioural Types ◽  
Fitness Consequence ◽  
Feeding Context

Abstract Despite the growing interest in consistent individual differences in behaviour (animal personality), the influence of social context on different behavioural types remains poorly understood. The suite of correlated behaviours within and across contexts is called behavioural syndromes. Most personality studies have investigated consistent individual behavioural types and their consequences in a asocial context, however few studies have considered the influence of social context on individual behaviour. In addition, the evolutionary and ecological consequences of personality differences in social context remain unknown. In the present study, we confirm individual personality in Great tits (Parus major) using room exploration and neophobia tests. As a result of these two tests, repeatability and correlational structure of two personality traits were investigated. Additionally we assessed the extent to which personality influences dominance in a social feeding context. Great tits remained consistent in their personality traits (exploration and neophobia). Individuals who explored a novel environment faster also approached a novel object faster, while those who spent more time exploring a novel environment were also slower to approach a novel object. In a social feeding context personality was linked to dominance: with proactive individuals being more likely to be dominant. Our result provides evidence of the importance of social context in a wild population of birds and may have fitness consequence, both for focal individuals and their conspecifics.

scholarly journals Insights into the late-Sixties taxocenosis of Oniscidea from the Pontine islands (West Mediterranean) (Peracarida: Isopoda)

2019 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-223
Author(s):  
Gabriele Gentile ◽  
Roberto Argano ◽  
Stefano Taiti
Keyword(s):  
Research Program ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Small Island ◽  
National Council ◽  
Tyrrhenian Sea ◽  
Number Of Species ◽  
Pontine Islands ◽  
Volcanic Islands ◽  
Very High

We report and discuss faunistic data of Oniscidea inhabiting the Pontine islands, a group of five small volcanic islands and several islets in the Tyrrhenian Sea, located about 60 km from the Italian mainland. Data here presented were primarily obtained from the examination of the material collected during a three-year (1965-1968) research program supported by the Italian National Council of Research and aimed at investigating Mediterranean small island faunas, including Oniscidea. Despite the sampling was not specifically directed at Oniscidea, these data may provide insights into the structure of the Oniscidean taxocenosis of the islands as it existed fifty years ago. Thirty-five species belonging to 11 families, 8 ecological and 7 biogeographical classes were found on these islands. Such number of species of Oniscidea is very high, if we consider the low number of islands and their small sizes. Changes in climate and environmental conditions occurred in the last fifty years would call for a new investigation.

Larval ecology of Rana arvalis: an allopatric island population compared with a sympatric mainland population

1995 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Björn Lardner
Keyword(s):  
Competitive Ability ◽  
Rana Temporaria ◽  
Island Population ◽  
Larval Ecology ◽  
Rana Arvalis ◽  
Lower Growth ◽  
Mainland Population ◽  
Lower Growth Rate ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
Specific Species

AbstractRana arvalis has escaped its mainland competitor Rana temporaria on the Baltic island of Gotland. Larvae from mainland and island R. arvalis populations were raised in inter- as well as intraspecific regimes of different densities. Gotlandian larvae had a longer larval period and a lower growth rate than mainland conspecifics at the provided densities. The Gotlandian larvae did not respond more strongly to competition with R. temporaria than mainland larvae, but they seemed to have lost competitive ability in general. When competing with a stronger competitor, this loss of competitive ability in general is predicted to give the same effect as a loss of competitive ability towards that specific species.

scholarly journals The role of extraversion and neuroticism for experiencing stress during the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer A. Bellingtier ◽  
Marcus Mund ◽  
Cornelia Wrzus
Keyword(s):  
Personality Traits ◽  
Perceived Stress ◽  
Social Contact ◽  
Third Wave ◽  
Personality Differences ◽  
The Third ◽  
Anxiety Depression ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Moderate Stress

AbstractAlthough long postulated, it has been scarcely researched how personality traits play out differently in distinct situations. We examined if Neuroticism and Extraversion, personality traits known to moderate stress processes, function differently in highly stressful situations requiring reduced social contact, that is, the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on past findings, we expected neuroticism to be associated with exacerbated perceptions of stress. In contrast to past findings, we expected extraversion, which usually ameliorates stress, to be associated with intensified perceptions of stress, especially in regard to the sociability facet. During the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany, one-hundred-thirty adults (age M = 21.7 years) reported on their personality traits including their facets with the BFI-2, COVID-19-related stressors, and their perceived stress during the last month (using the PSS). Findings indicated that neuroticism was associated with higher perceived stress regardless of the COVID-19-related stressors experienced. Facet level analysis revealed differences for anxiety, depression, and volatility. Importantly, trait extraversion was unassociated with stress experiences, whereas specifically the facet of sociability was associated with higher perceived stress. Also, the facets of assertiveness and energy both moderated the relationship between COVID-19-related stressors and perceived stress. In line with the transactional theory of stress, our findings indicate that perceptions of stress were best understood by looking at the interaction of environmental stressors and personality differences. Furthermore, the study substantiates that facets of personality traits offer unique information beyond broad traits in specific contexts.

Long-term consistency despite cross-seasonal changes in personality traits of common waxbills

Behaviour ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 157 (8-9) ◽  
pp. 781-806
Author(s):  
Soraia Guerra ◽  
Ana Cristina R. Gomes ◽  
Gonçalo C. Cardoso
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Breeding Season ◽  
Seasonal Changes ◽  
Tonic Immobility ◽  
Longitudinal Change ◽  
Personality Differences ◽  
Long Term Stability ◽  
Proactive Behaviour

Abstract Tests of long-term consistency in personality differences are not abundant. We studied personality in common waxbills (Estrilda astrild) from one Autumn to the next, and also from Autumn to a subsequent Spring, using a behavioural assay for their proactive-reactive personality axis (mirror test) and for tonic immobility. From one Autumn to the next, individual differences were consistent and the population median behaviours did not change, indicating long-term stability of personality differences. From Autumn to Spring, behavioural differences remained consistent, despite the population shifting to more proactive behaviour and individual differences being accentuated in the proactive-reactive personality axis. This increase in personality differences was not found between the two previous Autumns, suggesting a seasonal rather than longitudinal change, and a possible role for personality differences during the Spring breeding season. We conclude that waxbill personality differences are stable in the long term, despite changes in behaviour between Autumn and Spring.

Are Humans all Alike? Personality Differences in Mean Profiles of IPIP-NEO Respondents around the Globe

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minhaaj Rehman ◽  
John Anthony Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Personality Traits ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Replication Study ◽  
Current Paper ◽  
Large Dataset ◽  
Personality Differences ◽  
Global Study ◽  
Mean Differences

Allik et al. (2017) studied scores of 71,870 participants from 76 samples, 62 countries and 37different languages and found out that mean differences in personality traits between countries and cultures were about 8.5 times less than two randomly picked individuals from the respective sample. No such global study has been conducted with the data from IPIP-NEO-300 scores. A brief study of 12 nation comparison based on IPIP-NEO-120 scores was conducted, but no large-scale meaningful and generalizable results were obtained (Kajonius, 2017). Authors in current paper have attempted a replication study of (Allik et al., 2017) with a large dataset of over 300,000 respondents globally.

The wild goat, Capra aegagrus Erxleben, 1777, of the island of Montecristo (Northern Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy): does it still exist?

Mammalia ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 80 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Masseti
Keyword(s):  
Small Island ◽  
Tyrrhenian Sea ◽  
Goat Population ◽  
Capra Aegagrus

AbstractOn the small island of Montecristo, in the Tuscan archipelago (Northern Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy), a wild goat population,

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