The social network structure of a group arises from the patterns of association of its constituent members, which in turn originates from behaviors and preferences of those individuals. Consequently, an individual’s position in their social environment is commonly related to their own attributes. However, most studies that report such relationships are limited to single or very small numbers of groups. I consider one set of attributes suggested to influence network structure, namely personality type, and observed 15 groups of captive meerkats Suricata suricatta. Thus, I could assess whether the relationship between individual attributes and patterns of association and network position persisted across groups. Principal component analysis of behavior, within the 15 groups, revealed two personality dimensions: friendliness and aggressiveness. For a subset of five groups, only friendliness was consistent over 1 year. I found little evidence that they were universally good predictors of social network structure or individual positions within networks. Individuals with high friendliness scores were more central in networks of foraging competitions. There was no evidence that meerkats preferentially associated with or avoid others based on each of their personality scores. Alternatively, and contrary to much-published work, it may not be possible to generalize relationships between individual attributes and network position or overall network structure. This may be because social environments emerge from a complex interplay between individual attributes and social interactions, and thus, the role of these elements along with the physical environment in which they live in shaping network structures and personality is challenging to disentangle. Animal personalities and animal social network structures are increasingly recognized as significant components in animal behavior and welfare. Here, I explore personality in the context of social networks in different captive groups of meerkats. These types of studies are uncommon probably because collecting detailed interaction data from multiple known individuals in multiple groups is time-consuming and because groups are often highly variable in composition and ecological context. When I did consider the social networks and individual attributes of members of 15 groups, I found little evidence that an individual’s personality scores consistently explained either their network position or patterns of association across all groups. Individuals in the wild, with different personality profiles, may adjust their network assortment to balance their costs and benefits and shift their environmental pressures. In a captive environment, such characteristics can vary and therefore social associations may be expressed differently from their wild counterparts.

中文翻译：

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个性属性与个人在社交网络中的位置的相关性如何：圈养猫鼬群体之间的比较

一个群体的社交网络结构源于其组成成员的关联模式，而后者又源于这些个体的行为和偏好。因此，个人在社会环境中的位置通常与他们自己的属性有关。然而，大多数报告这种关系的研究仅限于单个或极少数群体。我考虑了一组建议影响网络结构的属性，即人格类型，并观察了 15 组圈养猫鼬 Suricata suricatta。因此，我可以评估个体属性、关联模式和网络位置之间的关系是否在群体中持续存在。15 组行为的主成分分析揭示了两个人格维度：友善和好斗。对于五个组的子集，只有友好度在 1 年内保持一致。我发现几乎没有证据表明它们普遍能很好地预测社交网络结构或网络中的个人位置。具有高友好分数的个体在觅食比赛网络中更为重要。没有证据表明猫鼬会根据他们的每个性格分数优先与其他人联系或避开其他人。或者，与大量发表的工作相反，可能无法概括单个属性与网络位置或整体网络结构之间的关系。这可能是因为社会环境源于个体属性和社会互动之间复杂的相互作用，因此，这些元素以及它们所生活的物理环境在塑造网络结构和个性方面的作用是难以解开的。动物个性和动物社会网络结构越来越被认为是动物行为和福利的重要组成部分。在这里，我在不同圈养猫鼬群体的社交网络背景下探索个性。这些类型的研究并不常见，可能是因为从多个群体中的多个已知个体收集详细的交互数据非常耗时，而且群体的组成和生态环境通常变化很大。当我确实考虑了 15 个群组成员的社交网络和个人属性时，我发现几乎没有证据表明一个人的人格得分始终如一地解释了他们在所有群体中的网络地位或关联模式。具有不同性格特征的野外个体可能会调整他们的网络分类以平衡他们的成本和收益并转移他们的环境压力。在圈养环境中，这些特征可能会有所不同，因此社会关联的表达方式可能与野生动物不同。