Big Five traits as (mal)adaptive behavioural responses to harsh and unpredictable environment: Further evidence for the state-dependent evolution of personality

Abstract

State-dependent behaviour models of personality predict that fitness consequences of personality depend on various states. Hence, personality traits may be adaptive only in certain conditions. In the present research, we tested the state-dependent personality model of Big Five personality traits using harsh and unpredictable environments as the extrinsic states. The data were collected on a community sample (N=221). We extracted the fitness factor from a broader set of indicators related to reproduction and mating. It consisted of higher reproductive success, the longest romantic relationship duration, and earlier age of first reproduction. The only personality trait which significantly predicted fitness was low Openness to experience. However, three interactions between environmental conditions and personality in the prediction of fitness were detected: Low Agreeableness and Extraversion decreased fitness in highly unstable environments; low Openness elevated fitness, especially in harsh environments. The data are in accordance with the previous findings regarding the relations between personality and evolutionary fitness. Furthermore, current findings suggest that state-dependent models of personality are not only valid explanations of evolutionary forces which maintain personality variation, but that they are quite robust as well, since they can be detected in a relatively small sample of reproductively active individuals.