How consistently do personality attributes relate to an individual’s position within a social network: a comparison across groups of captive meerkats

Abstract

The social network structure of a group arises from the patterns of association of its constituent members, which in turn originates from behaviors and preferences of those individuals. Consequently, an individual’s position in their social environment is commonly related to their own attributes. However, most studies that report such relationships are limited to single or very small numbers of groups. I consider one set of attributes suggested to influence network structure, namely personality type, and observed 15 groups of captive meerkats Suricata suricatta. Thus, I could assess whether the relationship between individual attributes and patterns of association and network position persisted across groups. Principal component analysis of behavior, within the 15 groups, revealed two personality dimensions: friendliness and aggressiveness. For a subset of five groups, only friendliness was consistent over 1 year. I found little evidence that they were universally good predictors of social network structure or individual positions within networks. Individuals with high friendliness scores were more central in networks of foraging competitions. There was no evidence that meerkats preferentially associated with or avoid others based on each of their personality scores. Alternatively, and contrary to much-published work, it may not be possible to generalize relationships between individual attributes and network position or overall network structure. This may be because social environments emerge from a complex interplay between individual attributes and social interactions, and thus, the role of these elements along with the physical environment in which they live in shaping network structures and personality is challenging to disentangle. Animal personalities and animal social network structures are increasingly recognized as significant components in animal behavior and welfare. Here, I explore personality in the context of social networks in different captive groups of meerkats. These types of studies are uncommon probably because collecting detailed interaction data from multiple known individuals in multiple groups is time-consuming and because groups are often highly variable in composition and ecological context. When I did consider the social networks and individual attributes of members of 15 groups, I found little evidence that an individual’s personality scores consistently explained either their network position or patterns of association across all groups. Individuals in the wild, with different personality profiles, may adjust their network assortment to balance their costs and benefits and shift their environmental pressures. In a captive environment, such characteristics can vary and therefore social associations may be expressed differently from their wild counterparts.