Exploring factor space (and other adventures) with the Hominoid Personality Questionnaire

Abstract

In this chapter, I describe a research tradition for investigating the evolutionary origins of the personalities of different species of primates, including humans. To that end, I describe the tradition's origins and methods, set out its assumptions, and evaluate its ability to solve empirical problems related to personality. In doing so, I will clear up misconceptions and assuage critics of the approaches that define this research tradition. After surveying the literature that originated from this research tradition, I conclude that it solves many problems as well as other research traditions do. I then identify its limitations and the need for further studies of wild populations, and propose a new direction for the study of personality and behavior.