BEHAVIORAL-GENETICS AND EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY - UNIFIED PERSPECTIVEON PERSONALITY-RESEARCH

Behavioral geneticists and evolutionary psychologists have generally p ursued human behavioral analyses with little theoretical or methodolog ical exchange. However, significant benefits might accrue from increas ed communication between these disciplines. The primary goals of this article are (1) to identify meaningful junctures between behavioral ge netics and evolutionary psychology, (2) to describe behavioral genetic research designs and their applications to evolutionary analyses, and (3) to reassess current personality research in light of behavioral g enetic and evolutionary concepts and techniques, The five-factor model of personality is conceptualized as subsuming variation in normative species-typical systems with adaptive functions in the human environme nt of evolutionary adaptation. Considered as universal evolved mechani sms, personality systems are often seen in dynamic conflict within ind ividuals and as highly compartmentalized in their functioning between settings, However, genetically influenced individual differences in pe rsonality may also be understood within an evolutionary framework. Stu dies of the heritability of personality traits indicate broad-sense he ritabilities in the 0.40-0.50 range with evidence of substantial nonad ditive genetic variation and nonshared environmental influences. Evide nce indicates that evolutionary theory (e.g., inclusive fitness theory ) predicts patterns of social interaction (e.g., cooperation and berea vement) in relatives. Furthermore, variation in personality may consti tute a range of viable strategies matching the opportunities available in the complex niche environment of human societies. Within this wide range of viable strategies, personality variation functions as a reso urce environment for individuals in the sense that personality variati on is evaluated according to the interests of the evaluator (e.g., fri endships, coalitions, or mate choice).