Description
Across animal taxa, cooperation is widespread. Almost all social animals cooperate with conspecifics in some form. However, individuals vary significantly in their degree of cooperation and tendency to socialise altogether. Here we propose that this variation could be explained by different personality types. To investigate this potential link, we studied Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus), a highly social species for which validated tests for cooperation and personality are available. To assess individual variation, we tested a large sample of 96 individuals that lived in six large social groups from early life. We assessed their individual cooperativeness by measuring their tendency to reciprocate received grooming from a conspecific. In addition, we observed them weekly in their home cages to determine their social associations. Finally, we assessed every individual’s personality, i.e. shyness/boldness, exploration/avoidance, activity, aggressiveness and sociability – using different tests designed for each trait. Data collection is ongoing. In a first step, we will test whether personality traits are stable over two months. If so and if variation in social behaviour is explained by personality traits, we expect to find the following effects. First, high sociability, boldness and exploration are predicted to be positively correlated with high cooperation levels, while aggressiveness is predicted to be negatively correlated. Second, individuals with high activity, boldness, exploration and sociability will be more connected to their peers, while individuals with high aggressiveness will not. Further, individuals will be more likely to form dyadic bonds with conspecifics with similar personality traits. These results will help us to understand how individual differences can affect cooperation and group dynamics, shedding light not only on the selective pressures that favour those social behaviours, but also on the evolutionary trade-offs between coexisting different strategies.| Period | 23 Apr 2025 → 25 Apr 2025 |
|---|---|
| Event title | ASAB Spring Conference 2025 |
| Event type | Conference |
| Location | Liverpool, United KingdomShow on map |