The study found that dolphins have human-like personality traits

According to the British "Daily Mail" website reported on February 19, a new study said that dolphins have similar personality characteristics with humans and other primates such as monkeys and great apes.

Psychologists at the University of Hull in the United Kingdom have studied 134 bottlenose dolphins in 8 countries for nearly a decade.

They found that, like primates, the aquatic mammal exhibited curiosity, sociability, and a blend of "extroverted and easy-going" personality traits.

It has been known that monkeys and apes have personality traits similar to those of humans. But the study claims to be the first to examine whether dolphins have the same personality traits.

The study began in 2012 and was published this year in the British Journal of Comparative Psychology.

Dynamic socializing

Blake Morton, a psychologist at the University of Hull, said: "Dolphins are an excellent subject for this type of study because, like primates, dolphins are intellectually and socially like them. ”

"We infer that if factors such as intelligence and gregariousness contribute to the formation of personality, then dolphins should have personality traits similar to those of primates," he said. ”

Although they have adapted to life in the water and last shared a common ancestor with primates 95 million years ago, bottlenose dolphins have "several behavioral and cognitive characteristics" similar to those of primates other than humans.

Both chimpanzees and bottlenose dolphins live in so-called "fission-fusion" societies. This means that individuals have dynamic relationships within the group, and they merge or split multiple times a day in the same aggregation.

In the past, bottlenose dolphin populations have been seen as social groups of constant constituents. Recent long-term studies of bottlenose dolphins have shown that their population composition changes.

In addition, Dr. Morton and colleagues point out in the research paper that chimpanzees and dolphins also use tools and have relatively large brain volumes.

As for humans, according to the "Five Personality Traits" theory, which became popular in the 1980s, human behavior consists of five personality traits, including openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, easy-going, and neuroticism. There have been extensive studies focusing on the extent to which primates have these traits, but Dr. Morton's team hopes to study intelligent animals in completely different environments.

Unique temperament

Dr Morton told the British newspaper Union: "Scientists still don't fully understand why our behavior boils down to these five characteristics. One way to figure this out is to compare ourselves to other animals, what we have in common, and why we have it. ”

To determine to what extent these and other factors contributed to the evolution of dolphin personality, Dr. Morton's team looked at the personality structure of 134 bottlenose dolphins — 56 males and 78 females.

The researchers observed the dolphins at different facilities in eight countries, including Mexico, France, the United States, the Netherlands, Sweden and the Bahamas.

The researchers distributed questionnaires to staff at various facilities familiar with dolphin habits to assess the personality of each dolphin.

They found that the dolphins behaved in much line with the pattern described above.

The research team wrote in the paper: "We found four areas. Three of them—openness, sociality, and non-conformity—resemble personality traits of non-human primates and other species. ”

The fourth is directionality, a mixture of high conscientiousness and low neuroticism, which is unique to dolphins.

Curious

Experts believe that despite the differences, dolphins are still very similar to us.

Dr Morton said: "Like many primates, dolphins have a much larger brain capacity than is needed to maintain the basic functions of their bodies. ”

"This excess of brain matter essentially becomes a source of intelligence, and intelligent species tend to be curious," he said. ”

"Throughout our lives, we interact with people of all kinds and build relationships," he said. The same is true among dolphins. ”

Dr Morton said: "Overall, no matter which ecosystem you live in, intelligence and social skills may play an important role in the evolution of certain personality traits. ”

He stressed that the work has only just begun to identify all the personality traits exhibited by dolphins.

"It's crucial for researchers to conduct further research because it will not only give us a better understanding of the species that live in the depths of the ocean, but also give us a better understanding of ourselves," he said. ”

Source: Reference News Network