Consensus and experience trump leadership, suppressing individual personality during social foraging.

ABSTRACT: Whether individual behavior in social settings correlates with behavior when individuals are alone is a fundamental question in collective behavior. However, evidence for whether behavior correlates across asocial and social settings is mixed, and no study has linked observed trends with underlying mechanisms. Consistent differences between individuals in boldness, which describes willingness to accept reward over risk, are likely to be under strong selection pressure. By testing three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) in a risky foraging task alone and repeatedly in shoals, we demonstrate that the expression of boldness in groups is context-specific. Whereas personality is repeatable in a low-risk behavior (leaving a refuge), the collectively made consensus decision to then cro

SUBMITTER: McDonald ND 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5023318 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature