Wondering what similarities that humans have with the dolphin personality?
The study published in the Journal of Comparative Psychology – said to be the first of its kind – has revealed the characteristics shared between humans and dolphins.
Let’s roll!
Dolphins And Humans Found To Have Two Of The Same Personality Traits
The researchers conducted a study of 134 male and female bottlenose dolphins in eight countries around the world.
This research involved questionnaires about the dolphins behavior, sent to staff from the facility who know them best.
Dolphin Personality Traits In Humans
It was concluded that dolphins share certain personality traits, especially those relating to curiosity and sociability.
The findings are somewhat groundbreaking, especially when you consider dolphins evolved in a completely different environment from primates and their last common ancestor lived around 95 million years ago.
Dr Morton, a psychology lecturer at the University of Hull, was part of the team conducting the research.
Explaining the results, he said: “Dolphins, like many primates, have brains that are considerably larger than what their bodies require for basic bodily functions; this excess of brain matter essentially powers their ability to be intelligent, and intelligent species are often very curious.”
Dolphin Personality Attributes
Explaining the desire to study animals in a completely different setting to primates, Dr Morton continued: “Dolphins were a great animal for this kind of study because, like primates, dolphins are intelligent and social.
“We reasoned that if factors such as intelligence and gregariousness contribute to personality, then dolphins should have similar personality traits to primates.”
The most widely accepted model of human personality is defined by five traits. These are summarised as openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism.
Facility staff were asked to assess the appearance of these same personality traits in their dolphins.
These five personality traits have been used when researchers studied the personalities of primates and compared them to humans in the past. The researchers of this study were keen to compare them to other animals raised in vastly different environments.
Studies like this can give us a better understanding of evolution and human personality traits, as well as the dolphin’s personality.
The eight countries where researchers studied personality traits of dolphins were: the United States, France, Curacao, the Netherlands, Sweden, Mexico, the Bahamas, and the Cayman Islands.
Frequently Asked Questions About The Dolphin Personality
What Are The Characteristics Of A Dolphin?
If you’ve been able to watch dolphins, you’ll immediately notice they’re intelligent animals. They are very social and curious about their immediate environments.
What Are Dolphins’ Behavioral Characteristics?
Dolphins tend to travel in schools of 50 to 100. They like to caress one another and even rub up against boats in a friendly manner. Their social behavior has been compared to lions in the past. Now, we know they also have similar personality traits to humans, as far as sociability and curiosity.
Characteristics Of A Dolphin Spirit Animal
If someone said their spirit animal was a dolphin, you can expect to be very social, playful and curious.
Why Are Dolphins So Intelligent?
Studies of this great animal are ongoing. However, a key factor is that they have brains considerably larger than what their bodies require for basic bodily functions.
Dolphin Personality Test
There is a popular personality test at animalinyou.com, which allows you to discover your “animal personality”.
What Personality Type Is A Dolphin?
A dolphin personality is said to be fit and active. They are intelligent, but are not necessarily fussed about using factors such as intelligence for academic pursuits. They care more about enjoying life and having fun. If you’ve had the opportunity to watch dolphins, you’ll know that this description is similar to these intelligent animals.
What Does A Dolphin Say About Your Personality?
If you received a dolphin in the “animal personality” test, you are probably intelligent and fun to be around. It’s not a bad result at all in that sense. The results do also suggest that the dolphin personality has a high sex drive and that the quest for sex sometimes dominates their social interactions.
Dolphin Personality Jobs
The test suggested those with a dolphin personality might enjoy talkative and social careers in sales or public relations, for example. Alternatively, they might try to make a name for themselves in the world of professional sports or acting.
The five personality traits used to compare humans with other animals are: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. After comparing these five traits, it was found humans and dolphins had similar personality traits, especially when it comes to curiosity and sociability.
It can be seen with the human eye that we are somewhat similar in other respects too. Intelligence and gregariousness contribute to personality traits of dolphins and humans, for example.
Any Questions?
Thanks for reading my guide on the similar personality traits between dolphins and humans.
If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below.
It would be great to hear from you.
