EARLY REARING ENVIRONMENT RELATED TO DIFFERENCES IN RHESUS MONKEY (MACACA MULATTA) PERSONALITY AS ASSESSED THROUGH SUBJECTIVE QUESTIONNAIRE |
H. Rupp1 and A. Bennett2
1Laboratory of Comparative Ethology, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, P.O. Box 529, Fisher Ave., Poolesville, MD, 20837, USA, 2Laboratory of Clinical Studies, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism |
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| Although monkeys with early maternal and social deprivation show later behavioral and affective deficits compared to their maternally-reared counterparts, the extent to which these differences may be captured by subjectively-measured personality ratings remains relatively unexplored. Previous nonhuman primate subjective personality assessment has uncovered differences associated with subjects’ age and gender. We examined the influence of early social deprivation on personality using a subjective rating scale developed by Stevenson-Hinde and Zunz (1978) to assess 89 rhesus monkeys (34 male, 55 female, 39 adolescent, 50 adult). Subjects were reared by mothers in social groups (MR; n=37) or with age-mate peers in a nursery (NR; n=52). Principal components analysis of 21 mean trait scores yielded factors similar in number and composition to previous work and were interpreted as: Confidence, Excitability, and Sociability. The factor scores were subjected to multiple regression analysis with rearing, age, and sex as independent variables. Concurrent with previous literature, females and younger subjects were more Sociable than males (p=.039), and older subjects (p<.0001). Excitability was higher for younger than older subjects (p=.03). Only Confidence differentiated for rearing groups, with NR lower than MR (p=.026). These results confirm age and gender as significant predictors of personality differences. Rearing effects appear attainable by subjective assessment only for robust dominance-related traits and suggest the use of these tools as additions rather than alternatives to behavioral approaches. |
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