Personality is determined by persistent individual behavioral characteristics. It is believed that for the formation of personality traits, the animal must have developed cognitive abilities and be social.
In addition to humans, such traits have been identified in some primates, as well as in elephants. So, an interesting article was published in the Journal of Comparative Psychology, where readers were presented the results of research by Spanish scientists. They revealed some character traits in killer whales that are similar to those found in humans and chimpanzees.
Scientists studied the behavior of killer whales that were captured for the experiment, and four character traits were identified: friendliness and responsibility, accuracy, dominance and signs of extraversion.
Survey results
Spanish scientists led by Xavier Almunia, a representative of the Loro Park Foundation (an animal rights organization in Punta Brava, Spain), have found persistent personality traits on killer whales. They observed the behavior of 24 individuals (13 females and 11 males). Six of which were captured, and the rest were born in captivity.
Scientists interviewed trainers, veterinarians and curators, the total number of which was 58 people. All of them were in close contact with animals. They were asked to rate each individual on a scale of 1 to 7 in order to determine the extent to which they are characterized by 38 patterned lines of behavior.
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Among them, for example, playfulness, friendliness, sociality, organization, willingness to help and stubbornness were highlighted. The validity of the assessments was double-checked. A parameter was singled out, which, in turn, evaluated the correlation of estimates made by specialists, which ranged from 0.81 to 0.99.
Behavioral pattern
In psychology, this denotes a certain set or pattern of certain behavioral reactions, consistent and stereotyped. Scientists relied on the results of studies conducted with humans and chimpanzees.
As a result, scientists managed to identify four personality traits of killer whales, such as extraversion (regulated by playfulness and sociality), friendliness and honesty (characterized by calm and generosity), dominance (determined by courage, desire to protect, demonstrates the presence of mental activity), as well as accuracy. This character trait is characterized by organization and a desire to help. The character of each studied individual, thus, was determined by the indicator of each of the four identified behavioral scales.
