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Evolutionary emergence of responsive and unresponsive personalities
Abstract
In many animal species, individuals differ consistently in suites of correlated behaviors, comparable with human personalities. Increasing evidence suggests that one of the fundamental factors structuring personality differences is the responsiveness of individuals to environmental stimuli. Whereas some individuals tend to be highly responsive to such stimuli, others are unresponsive and show routine-like behaviors. Much research has focused on the proximate causes of these differences but little is known about their evolutionary origin. Here, we provide an evolutionary explanation. We develop a simple but general evolutionary model that is based on two key ingredients. First, the benefits of responsiveness are frequency-dependent; that is, being responsive is advantageous when rare but disadvantageous when common. This explains why responsive and unresponsive individuals can coexist within a population. Second, positive-feedback mechanisms reduce the costs of responsiveness; that is, responsiveness is less costly for individuals that have been responsive before. This explains why individuals differ consistently in their responsiveness, across contexts and over time. As a result, natural selection gives rise to stable individual differences in responsiveness. Whereas some individuals respond to environmental stimuli in all kinds of contexts, others consistently neglect such stimuli. Interestingly, such differences induce correlations among all kinds of other traits (e.g., boldness and aggressiveness), thus providing an explanation for environment-specific behavioral syndromes.
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“This relatively stable trait is a fundamental and adaptively significant phenomenon in the biology of a broad range of species, i.e. it confers differential fitness consequences under divergent environmental conditions.”
From Coping styles and behavioural flexibility: towards underlying mechanisms (2010) · cites this paper as Wolf et al. 2008
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“Empirical evidence suggests that individuals that are responsive to environmental stimuli at one point in time and in one context tend to be responsive at later points in time and in different contexts as well (6, 7).”
BackgroundLife-history trade-offs favour the evolution of animal personalities
Wolf, M., van Doorn, G. S., Leimar, O., & Weissing, F. J. (2007) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature05835 · Cited by 1,427
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Nettle, D. (2006) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.61.6.622 · Cited by 885
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Cited by
Beyond diathesis stress: differential susceptibility to environmental influences
Belsky, J., & Pluess, M. (2009) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/a0017376 · Cited by 3,039
Differential susceptibility to the environment: an evolutionary--neurodevelopmental theory
Ellis, B. J., Boyce, W. T., Belsky, J., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., & van Ijzendoorn, M. H. (2011) · Development and Psychopathology · doi:10.1017/s0954579410000611 · Cited by 1,564
Vulnerability genes or plasticity genes?
Belsky, J., Jonassaint, C., Pluess, M., Stanton, M., Brummett, B., & Williams, R. (2009) · Molecular Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/mp.2009.44 · Cited by 1,017
Sensory Processing Sensitivity: A Review in the Light of the Evolution of Biological Responsivity
Aron, E. N., Aron, A., & Jagiellowicz, J. (2012) · Personality and Social Psychology Review · doi:10.1177/1088868311434213 · Cited by 645
Coping styles and behavioural flexibility: towards underlying mechanisms
Coppens, C. M., de Boer, S. F., & Koolhaas, J. M. (2010) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2010.0217 · Cited by 646
Metadata
- Authors
- Wolf, M., van Doorn, G. S., & Weissing, F. J.
- Affiliations
- Theoretical Biology Group, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies, University of Groningen, Kerklaan 30, 9751 NN Haren, The Netherlands; and
- Santa Fe Institute, 1399 Hyde Park Rd., Santa Fe, NM 87501
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2008-10-14
- Volume
- 105
- Issue
- 41
- Pages
- 15825-15830
- ISSN
- 0027-8424
- 1091-6490
- Cited by
- 430
- References
- 4
- Language
- en
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