fei75766_ch15_463-494.indd 486  02/24/20 10:48 AM
Part V    Biological/Evolutionary Theories486
impulses—is themost recently evolved personality trait.Thus, withtheexception of
chimps andhorses, animals other thanhumans donotpossess therequired brain 
structures tocontrol impulse andorganize andplantheiractivities inadvance. Even 
withchimps, theconscientiousness dimension wassomewhat narrowly defined as
lackofattention, goaldirectedness, anddisorganized behavior.
Itmaybesurprising, however, toseewildbirds, fish,andevenoctopus onalist
ofanimals thatpossess humanlike personality traits. Forinstance, inastudy ofaEuro -
peanbirdresembling achickadee, when researchers placed aforeign object, suchasa
battery oraPinkPanther doll,intothecage, some birds wereconsistently curious and
explored thenovel object while others consistently withdrew andavoided theobject 
(Zimmer, 2005; cf.Dingemanse etal.,2002). Theresearchers called these differences 
inbirds “bold” and“shy.” These differences aremuch likethose psychologists observe 
when theyplace aninfant inaroom withastranger. Approach–boldness andshyness–
avoidance arealsodimensions ofhuman temperament. 
Moreover, some researchers havebegun touncover thegenetic foundation of
animal personality traits (vanOers&Mueller, 2010). Forinstance, using theQTL 
technique wedescribed above, researchers havefound genetic locations ofexploratory 
behavior andrisk-taking behavior infish(Boehmler etal.,2007; Laine etal.,2014), 
birds (Fidler etal.,2007), anddogs(Itoetal.,2004).
Insum, justaseyes, ears,brains, andthermoregulation areevolved solutions 
andareshared between species andgenera ofanimals, personality traits areshared TABLE 15.4
Table of Personality Dimensions across Species
Personality Dimension
Species  Neuroticism  Extraversion  Agreeableness  Openness  Conscientiousness
Chimpanzee  ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Horsea ✓ ✓ ✓ ? ✓
Rhesus Monkey  ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Gorilla  ✓ ✓ ✓
Dog ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓b
Cat ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓b
Hyena  ✓ ✓ ✓
Pig  ✓ ✓ ✓
Vervet Monkey   ✓ ✓
Donkey    ✓ ✓
Rat ✓ ✓
Guppy (Fish)  ✓ ✓
Octopus  ✓ ✓
Chickadeec   ✓
aBased on Morris, Gale, & Duffy (2002).
bCompetence/learning is a mixture of openness and conscientiousness.
cBased on Dingemanse, Both, Drent, Van Oers, & Van Noordwijk (2002).
Expanded and adapted from Gosling & John (1999).Final PDF to printer