Why we should all ape the chimps to live longer
● Sensitive, genial and co-operative types outlived their less amiable peers
Friendly men live longer, according to a study of apes carried out by Scottish scientiests.
Those who get along well with others by being sensitive, genial, protective and cooperative outlived their less amiable peers.
And being affable has an evolutionary advantage because the longer you live, the more chance you have of having children.
The study of hundreds of captive male chimps also showed that, contrary to studies of humans and other primates, being more extroverted, conscientious or neurotic had no impact on chimpanzee’s longevity.
Extraversion is frequently associated with longer life in other non-human primates, while conscientiousness and neuroticism are associated with longer and shorter
0 Being affable is seen as an evolutionary advantage as living longer means there is more chance of reproducing
life, respectively, in humans. Postdoctoral Fellow Dr Drew Altschul in the University of Edinburgh’s School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, said: “Like humans, animals have dis-
tinct personalities. Our close evolutionary cousins chimpanzees even display the same five major personality traits that we do – extraversion, neuroticism, conscientiousness, openness,
and agreeableness – as well as a distinct trait, for dominance.
“How did these distinct personality traits evolve and persist across different species?
“Ultimately, each trait must
provide some fitness benefits that help the animal to reproduce and pass on the trait to its offspring.
“Longevity is an important factor in promoting fitness; an animal that lives for longer will have more opportunities to reproduce. Previous work in humans and other animals suggested that some personality traits are associated with a longer life.
“However, few studies have been large enough to test all major personality traits in both sexes of an animal species.”
The study published in the journal elife, was the one of the largest ever analyses of individual behaviour data from chimpanzees or any other great ape.
It looked at the personality and survival from 538 chimpanzees, our closest ape relative, kept in zoos, research facilities and sanctuaries in the UK, US, Netherlands, Australia and Japan.
Male chimpanzees with higher levels of agreeableness - the personality trait characterised by low aggression and positive social interactions such as cooperation - generally lived for longer.
Female chimpanzees who were more open to new experiences also appeared to live for longer.