Establishing a Link Between Personality and Social Rank in a Group of Bottlenose Dolphins (<i>Tursiops truncatus</i>)

<p>Bottlenose dolphins (<em>Tursiops truncatus</em>) have been documented to possess personality traits that remain consistent over time (Highfill & Kuczaj, 2007) and across contexts (Kuczaj, Highfill, & Byerly, 2012). Such individual differences are thought to play an important role in various social contexts such as hierarchical dominance (Highfill & Kuczaj, 2010). The present study investigated the relationship between personality and social rank within a captive group of bottlenose dolphins housed at the Roatan Institute for Marine Science (RIMS). Social rank was established using questionnaires distributed to the RIMS experienced staff. Personality traits were derived from behavioral coding using context-specific correlational matrices. The traits were then correlated to each dolphin’s social rank position. The results suggest that a relationship between individual personality and social status is present, but complex. Traits that emerged exhibited sex-differences. Of the 12 factors found for the males, sexual (DID), contact seeking (DIO) and camaraderie (DID) were significantly related to social rank. For the females, only factors playful (DIO) and evasive (DIH) were significantly related to social rank. Individuals ranked at both extremes of the hierarchy (highest and lowest) seem to exhibit a more correlative relationship between personality and social status. However, other factors appear to play an important role in this relationship for middle-ranked dolphins. These results suggest that factors such as age, strength of associations between individuals, maternal style, and interactions between the male and female hierarchies all influence how personality is expressed in different contexts.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Year dc:date.available

2016

Author dc:creator

• Frick, Erin Elizabeth

Contributors dc:contributor

• David Echevarria
• Donald Sacco
• Holli Eskelinen

• animal personality
• dolphins
• behavioral coding
• Animal Studies
• Experimental Analysis of Behavior
• Personality and Social Contexts

Repository record dc:identifier

https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/186

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:aquila.usm.edu:masters_theses-1214