Personality shapes pair bonding in a wild bird social system

Josh A. Firth; Ella F. Cole; Christos C. Ioannou; John L. Quinn; Lucy M. Aplin; Antica Culina; Keith McMahon; Ben C. Sheldon

doi:10.1038/s41559-018-0670-8

Personality shapes pair bonding in a wild bird social system

Josh A. Firth^*, Ella F. Cole, Christos C. Ioannou, John L. Quinn, Lucy M. Aplin, Antica Culina, Keith McMahon, Ben C. Sheldon

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

40 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Mated pair bonds are integral to many animal societies, yet how individual variation in behaviour influences their formation remains largely unknown. In a population of wild great tits (Parus major), we show that personality shapes pair bonding: proactive males formed stronger pre-breeding pair bonds by meeting their future partners sooner and increasing their relationship strength at a faster rate. As a result, proactive males sampled fewer potential mates. Thus, personality may have important implications for social relationship dynamics and emergent social structure.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1696-1699
Number of pages	4
Journal	Nature Ecology and Evolution
Volume	2
Issue number	11
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-018-0670-8
Publication status	Published - 1 Nov 2018
Externally published	Yes

Access to Document

10.1038/s41559-018-0670-8

Cite this

@article{8cbb66a27ffc4ac89abb5f94ae3954d2,

title = "Personality shapes pair bonding in a wild bird social system",

abstract = "Mated pair bonds are integral to many animal societies, yet how individual variation in behaviour influences their formation remains largely unknown. In a population of wild great tits (Parus major), we show that personality shapes pair bonding: proactive males formed stronger pre-breeding pair bonds by meeting their future partners sooner and increasing their relationship strength at a faster rate. As a result, proactive males sampled fewer potential mates. Thus, personality may have important implications for social relationship dynamics and emergent social structure.",

author = "Firth, {Josh A.} and Cole, {Ella F.} and Ioannou, {Christos C.} and Quinn, {John L.} and Aplin, {Lucy M.} and Antica Culina and Keith McMahon and Sheldon, {Ben C.}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2018, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.",

year = "2018",

month = nov,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1038/s41559-018-0670-8",

language = "English",

volume = "2",

pages = "1696--1699",

journal = "Nature Ecology and Evolution",

issn = "2397-334X",

publisher = "Nature Research",

number = "11",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Personality shapes pair bonding in a wild bird social system

AU - Firth, Josh A.

AU - Cole, Ella F.

AU - Ioannou, Christos C.

AU - Quinn, John L.

AU - Aplin, Lucy M.

AU - Culina, Antica

AU - McMahon, Keith

AU - Sheldon, Ben C.

PY - 2018/11/1

Y1 - 2018/11/1

N2 - Mated pair bonds are integral to many animal societies, yet how individual variation in behaviour influences their formation remains largely unknown. In a population of wild great tits (Parus major), we show that personality shapes pair bonding: proactive males formed stronger pre-breeding pair bonds by meeting their future partners sooner and increasing their relationship strength at a faster rate. As a result, proactive males sampled fewer potential mates. Thus, personality may have important implications for social relationship dynamics and emergent social structure.

AB - Mated pair bonds are integral to many animal societies, yet how individual variation in behaviour influences their formation remains largely unknown. In a population of wild great tits (Parus major), we show that personality shapes pair bonding: proactive males formed stronger pre-breeding pair bonds by meeting their future partners sooner and increasing their relationship strength at a faster rate. As a result, proactive males sampled fewer potential mates. Thus, personality may have important implications for social relationship dynamics and emergent social structure.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85054348157&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1038/s41559-018-0670-8

DO - 10.1038/s41559-018-0670-8

M3 - Article

SN - 2397-334X

VL - 2

SP - 1696

EP - 1699

JO - Nature Ecology and Evolution

JF - Nature Ecology and Evolution

IS - 11

ER -

Personality shapes pair bonding in a wild bird social system

Abstract

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this