침팬지 오랑우탄도 사람 같은 성격 있다 - BBC

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BBC에 재미난 뉴스가 올라왔다.

먼저 연합뉴스에서 이 뉴스를 번역한 기사를 보자.

침팬지와 오랑우탄도 "사람과 같은" 성격이 있다는 최신 연구가 나왔다고 BBC 뉴스가 28일 보도했다.

학자들 사이에서는 오래 전부터 대영장류의 행동이 사람과 같은 `성격'을 보여주는 것인지, 아니면 사람인 관찰자들의 `의인화된 투사'인지 논란이 계속돼 왔다.

영국 에든버러 대학 연구진은 그러나 영장류의 행동을 관찰하는 인간의 편견을 제거하는 통계적 방식을 이용한 연구 결과 사람과 다른 대영장류가 정말로 `성격 차원'(personality dimension)을 공유한다는 결론을 얻었다고 동물행동 저널 최신호에 발표했다.

이들은 사람의 성격을 `신경질적' `외향적' `경험에 대해 개방적'`친화적' `양심적'인 것의 5대 유형으로 분류한다면 침팬지들의 성격도 이와 매우 유사한 것으로 나타났다고 밝혔다.

이전의 영장류 연구에서도 침팬지들은 이 `5대 유형' 성격을 공유하지만 오랑우탄은 이 가운데 외향성과, 신경질, 친화성 등 세 가지만 공유하는 것으로 나타났다.

연구진은 침팬지가 이처럼 성격차원을 갖는다는 것은 두 종 사이의 유전적 유사성으로 가장 잘 설명된다면서 인간과 침팬지가 400만~600만년 전까지 공동 조상을 갖고 있었던 반면 인간과 오랑우탄은 1천500만년 전까지 공동 조상을 갖고 있었던 차이가 여기서 나타난다고 설명했다.

연구진은 미국과 캐나다, 호주, 일본의 동물원에서 침팬지와 오랑우탄을 관찰하는 230명의 관람객을 대상으로 동물의 성격을 `1~7 점'으로 평가하는 40~50개 문항의 설문 조사를 했다.

이들은 설문 결과로 동물의 성격을 판단하기 전에 관찰자가 동물에 대해 갖는 편견들을 제거하는 절차를 거쳤다.

연구진은 "관찰자들의 평가로부터 편견을 제거해도 결과는 차이가 없게 나타났다. 이는 관찰자들이 자신의 관념을 동물에게 투사하지 않았음을 의미하는 것"이라고 말했다.

이들은 "이 연구는 침팬지가 성격을 갖고 있다는 것, 또 이들의 성격은 사람의 성격과 매우 비슷하다는 것을 모두 입증하는 것"이라고 강조했다.

(서울=연합뉴스)

<이 기사 전문 보러 BBC 사이트로 직접 가보기>

Chimpanzees and orangutans really do have personalities "like people", researchers say.

For years experts have debated whether great apes truly display human-like personalities - or if such behaviour is simply the anthropomorphic projections of human observers.

The research team used a statistical technique to "remove" any biases apparent in human observers of the apes' behaviour, and they say their findings suggest man and ape really do share "personality dimensions".

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Cultural intelligence:

• Common chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) share 98% of human genes and are mankind's closest living relative. They are thought to be the most intelligent non-human animal
• Chimpanzees are known to modify sticks, rocks and leaves into "tools" to help the gather food such as ants, nuts and honey
• Orangutans are divided into two species: Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) and Sumatran orangutans (Pongo abelii)
• The word orangutan translates as "people of the forest(숲속의 사람)"
• They are also capable of learning to use "tools" such as sticks to gather termites. This knowledge is then passed down through the generations

• Watch: Chimp child genius
• Orangutan youngster learns about forest living
• Chimpcam: The movie
• Watch how wild chimps use "tools"

"[Chimpanzees] have the same social problems that we do, they want to make friends and find mates and sort of gain position within their society," says team member Mark Adams, a researcher who conducted the research while studying for his PhD at the University of Edinburgh, UK.

Dr Alexander Weiss, senior lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, who also worked on the study, agrees that chimpanzee personality is "highly similar" to that of humans.

Researchers categorise human personality into five "dimensions", sometimes known as "the big five", he explains.

"Those dimensions are neuroticism, extroversion, openness to experience, agreeableness and conscientiousness."

Previous studies into non-human primates suggest that chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) share these five dimensions with people, whilst orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus and Pongo abelii) display three of the five: extraversion, neuroticism and agreeableness.

These shared personality dimensions are best explained by our genetic similarities, says Dr Weiss.

"Humans and chimps share a common ancestor about 4 to 6 million years ago."

The common ancestor for humans and orangutans is thought to have existed fifteen million years ago, which explains why chimpanzees and humans are more similar in personality than orangutans and humans, says Dr Weiss.

Ape vs man

There is continuing debate amongst experts as to whether scientists should use anthropomorphic projections when studying how animals behave.

Dr Clive Wynne, professor of psychology at the University of Florida, Gainesville, US describes anthropomorphism as "a mistake" when "trying to understand animal behaviour."

"Human beings have a very natural tendency to project human agency into almost anything that moves," he tells BBC Nature.

Primate personalities: Mirror image or human misinterpretation?

"It's very deeply ingrained into our ways of trying to understand the world around us."

But despite our inevitable "human perspective" in the way we see the animal kingdom, he says, "since these animals are not us, although it is difficult, we should nonetheless struggle to get our own perspective out of the way and to try and see them for themselves."

The research team carrying out the study, which features in the journal Animal Behaviour, wanted to test the extent to which human observers of chimpanzee and orangutan behaviour might be biased in their reports.

"There's sort of a fear that human observers and 'raters' are projecting their own ideas about personality on to these animals," says Mr Adams.

But until now, this theory "hasn't actually really been tested in great apes."

Members of the research team - who also came from from Kyoto University in Japan and the University of Arizona, Tucson, US - issued questionnaires to around 230 people observing chimpanzees and orangutans in zoos and research centres in the US, Canada, Australia and Japan.

The survey described about 40 to 50 personality "items", which when grouped together make personality dimensions.

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What is "animal personality"?

• Individual animals display different personalities across a range of species, including mammals, fish, birds, insects and molluscs
• These personality traits control whether individual animals are leaders or followers, bold or shy, aggressive or passive, for example. As with people, some animal's personalities change as they age
• Great tits look for partners that are as outgoing as themselves, while zebra finches with similar personalities make better parents
• Some fallow deer are braver than others, spending less time looking out for predators and being more likely to try new foods
• A fish's personality may determine how likely it is to be captured - with bold fish more likely to be hooked

The human observers - called "raters" - were instructed to rate the apes' behaviour on a one-to-seven point scale for each personality item.

From the questionnaire results, the team determined the type of biases present in the raters' observations of the animals.

"We used a statistical technique to remove these observer differences before extracting personality traits from the data," explains Mr Adams.

"What we found is that controlling for these differences among observers made no difference, which suggests that the observers are not projecting their own ideas about personality onto the animals."

Dr Weiss says that the research "vindicates both the view that chimpanzees have personalities and perhaps the more controversial statement that their personalities are quite similar to those of humans."

More on This Story

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• Chimps ‘consider their audience’ 29 DECEMBER 2011, FEATURES
• Wild chimps outwit human hunters 03 SEPTEMBER 2010, EARTH NEWS
• Bonobos shake heads to 'say no' 05 MAY 2010, EARTH NEWS
• Chimps 'appreciate a full pint' 23 FEBRUARY 2010, EARTH NEWS
• Orangutans cannibalise own babies 21 MAY 2009, EARTH NEWS

Related Internet links

• Read more about the study
• University of Edinburgh psychology research