fei75766_ch15_463-494.indd 473  02/24/20 10:48 AM
Chapter 15    Buss: Evolutionary Theory of Personality473
Similarly, emotions areadaptations because theydirectly alerttheindividual 
tosituations thatareeither harmful orbeneficial tohisorherwell-being (Lazarus, 
1991). Ifanevent isharmful toaperson’s well-being, some form ofnegative emo-
tionisexperienced. Forexample, iftheharm isintheform ofloss,thensadness is
experienced, whereas iftheharm isintheform ofinsult thenanger isexperienced. 
Likewise, ifanevent occurs thatisbeneficial tothatperson’s well-being, some kind
ofpositive emotion occurs. Forexample, pride isexperienced when oneperceives the
event asimportant andsuccessfully carried out.
Motivation andemotion aredirectly linked withstable personality traits (Buss, 
1991; cf.MacDonald, 1995). Ifoneregularly isdriven toachieve andwinincompeti -
tions andisstatus-oriented, thenwelabelthatperson as“dominant” or“power-oriented.” 
Aperson whoregularly actsinways tobring people together is“agreeable.” Likewise, 
ifoneoften experiences sadness, shame, guilt, oranxiety when other people donot,we
might saythatperson is“anxious.” Motivation ispartofpersonality.
Personality Traits as Evolved Mechanisms
Buss(1991) starts withtheassumption thatmotivation, emotion, andpersonality 
areadaptive inthattheysolve problems ofsurvival andreproduction. Heargues that
thefivemain dimensions ofpersonality (BigFive) canbebestthought ofasaway
ofsummarizing thesocial landscape; thatis,theysignal toother people ourability 
tosolve survival andreproductive problems. Bussconceptualizes individual differ -
ences andpersonality asstrategies forsolving adaptive problems. More importantly, 
being sensitive toandaware ofthese differences inpersonality affords reproductive 
advantages intheperceiver. Ifyouknow whoiscooperative and/or dominant, you
haveanadvantage overthose whoareoblivious tosuchtraits. “Whenever individu -
alsdiffer inways relevant totheproblems ofsurvival andreproduction thathumans 
must solve, aselective advantage would accrue tothose whose capacity todiscern the
differences enabled them toincrease theirinclusive fitness” (p.473). Putdifferently, 
these dispositions areinherently evaluative, thatis,theyallow others toevaluate us
ontheadaptive problems; dispositions signal toother people theirability tosolve 
survival andreproductive problems. Forexample, conscientiousness signals whom 
totrustwithtasks, andthose whodothiswellaccrue aselective advantage (i.e.,are
more attractive toothers).
Buss’s model ofpersonality veryclosely resembles theBigFivetraitapproach 
ofMcCrae andCosta butitisnotidentical instructure. Bussargues foressentially the
same fivepersonality dimensions butwithslightly different terminology. Moreover, 
hisviewisthatthese behavioral dispositions haveadaptive significance:
• Surgency/extraversion/dominance
• Agreeableness
• Conscientiousness
• Emotional stability (opposite ofneuroticism)
• Openness/intellect
Surgency involves thedisposition toexperience positive emotional states and
toengage inone’s environment andtobesociable andself-confident. Asurgent 
person isonewhoisdriven toachieve andoften tends todominate andleadothers. Final PDF to printer