Variation in proactive - reactive personality types in the red junglefowl

Abstract: It has been shown in many species that individuals exhibit consistent differences in behaviour over time and/or across situations. These differences in behaviour are called personality. One way to categorise personality types typically used for rodents, is along a proactive-reactive gradient, which describes how individuals cope with stressful challenges. Proactive individuals pay less attention to their environment, form routines easily and take longer to adapt when routines are broken compared to reactive individuals. Avian species have to date rarely been described along this gradient, thus the generality of this description across species is unclear. The present study has investigated variation in proactivity-reactivity in red junglefowl chicks (Gallus gallus). To observe the chicks’ coping styles, a proactive-reactive test was conducted where the chicks were trained to form a routine, which was then broken. Their behavioural response to this was recorded and used as a measure for proactivity-reactivity. The behavioural response was then linked to individual behavioural variation in additional personality assays. Individuals that were more vigilant in the proactive-reactive test often uttered stress calls and took longer to complete the test. In contrast, individuals that walked more and did not utter stress calls had a shorter time to complete the test. These findings can be used to describe proactive red junglefowl chicks; those that are more stressed when routines are broken, compared to calmer reactive individuals. I found no difference in routine formation between proactive and reactive red junglefowl chicks, suggesting that what describes proactive and reactive individuals may vary across species.