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Evolutionary Game Theory and Personality

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Evolutionary Perspectives on Social Psychology

Part of the book series: Evolutionary Psychology ((EVOLPSYCH))

Abstract

In this chapter, we discuss the links between evolutionary game theory and personality research. Evolutionary game theory is a set of research methods used to investigate the evolution of social behavior, whereas personality research is mainly focused on comprehensively describing individual differences and their correlates. Until recently, these research domains developed independently, and scholars from one domain only scarcely referred to insights obtained in the other domain. This is changing, however, due to two developments. First, models of evolutionary game theory reveal that personality differences may have an adaptive explanation. These models generate new insights into the origins of personality, and some of these models produce novel and testable hypotheses. Second, it is becoming clear that individual differences matter for the course and outcome of evolution. Accordingly, insights from evolutionary game theory (and experiments based on these insights) can be misleading if personality differences are neglected. Here, we review these recent developments, emphasizing both the evolutionary causes and the evolutionary consequences of personality differences. Overall, we argue that the behavioral sciences would profit from a closer integration of mechanistic and functional perspectives.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Notice that Hawk and Dove indicate strategies and not different species of animals; evolutionary game theory is typically concerned with interactions within one species.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Theoretical Biology Group, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 7, 9747 AG, Groningen, AG, The Netherlands

    Pieter van den Berg M.S. & Franz J. Weissing Ph.D.

Authors
  1. Pieter van den Berg M.S.
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  2. Franz J. Weissing Ph.D.
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Correspondence to Pieter van den Berg M.S. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Virgil Zeigler-Hill

  2. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Lisa L. M. Welling

  3. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

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van den Berg, P., Weissing, F. (2015). Evolutionary Game Theory and Personality. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Welling, L., Shackelford, T. (eds) Evolutionary Perspectives on Social Psychology. Evolutionary Psychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12697-5_34

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