California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, California, USA.
Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, California, USA.
Am J Primatol. 2021 May;83(5):e23234. doi: 10.1002/ajp.23234. Epub 2021 Feb 2.
Most primate species are highly social. Yet, within species, pronounced individual differences in social functioning are evident. In humans, the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) measures variation in social functioning. The SRS provides a quantitative measure of social functioning in natural social settings and can be used as a screening tool for autistic traits. The SRS was previously adapted for use in chimpanzees and recently refined for rhesus macaques, resulting in the macaque Social Responsiveness Scale-Revised (mSRS-R). Here, we performed an exploratory factor analysis on the mSRS-R in a large sample of male rhesus macaques (N = 233). We investigated the relationships of the resulting mSRS-R factors to quantitative social behavior (alone, proximity, contact, groom, and play) and to previously-established personality dimensions (Sociability, Confidence, Irritability, and Equability). Factor analysis yielded three mSRS-R factors: Poor Social Motivation, Poor Social Attractiveness, and Inappropriate Behavior. mSRS-R factors mapped closely to social behavior and personality dimensions in rhesus macaques, providing support for this instrument's convergent and discriminant validity. Animals with higher Poor Social Motivation were more likely to be observed alone and less likely to be observed in contact and grooming with conspecifics. Animals with higher Poor Social Attractiveness were less likely to be observed playing but more likely to be observed grooming with conspecifics. Inappropriate Behavior did not predict any behavioral measure. Finally, animals with higher Poor Social Motivation and higher Poor Social Attractiveness had less sociable personalities, whereas animals with more Inappropriate Behavior were more confident and more irritable. These findings suggest that the mSRS-R is a promising, psychometrically robust tool that can be deployed to better understand the psychological factors contributing to individual differences in macaque social functioning and, with relevant species-specific modification, the SRS may hold promise for investigating variation in social functioning across diverse primate taxa.
大多数灵长类动物都是高度社会化的。然而，在物种内部，明显存在个体在社交功能上的差异。在人类中，社会反应量表（SRS）衡量社交功能的变化。SRS 提供了在自然社交环境中社交功能的定量衡量标准，可作为自闭症特征的筛查工具。SRS 之前已被改编用于黑猩猩，并最近针对恒河猴进行了改进，得到了恒河猴社会反应量表修订版（mSRS-R）。在这里，我们对大量雄性恒河猴（N=233）的 mSRS-R 进行了探索性因素分析。我们研究了由此产生的 mSRS-R 因素与定量社交行为（独处、接近、接触、梳理和玩耍）以及之前确立的人格维度（社交性、自信、易怒和均衡）之间的关系。因素分析产生了 mSRS-R 的三个因素：社交动机差、社交吸引力差和行为不当。mSRS-R 因素与恒河猴的社交行为和人格维度密切相关，为该工具的收敛和判别效度提供了支持。社交动机差的动物更有可能被观察到独处，而与同类接触和梳理的可能性较小。社交吸引力差的动物更不可能被观察到玩耍，但更有可能被观察到与同类梳理。不当行为不能预测任何行为测量。最后，社交动机差和社交吸引力差高的动物具有不太社交的个性，而行为不当多的动物更自信和易怒。这些发现表明，mSRS-R 是一种有前途的、心理测量可靠的工具，可以用来更好地理解导致恒河猴社交功能个体差异的心理因素，并且在相关的特定物种修改后，SRS 可能有希望研究不同灵长类动物社会功能的变化。
