Relations Between the Behavioral Approach System (BAS) and Self-Reported Life History Traits
Abstract
Abstract. The behavioral approach system (BAS) has been shown to be important in everyday life. However, its putative evolutionary origins have not been extensively studied. The purpose of this study was to explore relationships between BAS processes and life history strategies, or lifestyles, within life history theory. The BAS scales were assessed by the Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory of Personality Questionnaire (RST-PQ) and Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward Questionnaire (SPSRQ-20), while lifestyles were measured by the Mini-K. Data from 457 participants (173 males) were analyzed by structural equation modelling, followed by set correlation to examine personality and Mini-K relationships. The structural model showed that RST-PQ Reward Interest, Goal-Drive Persistence and Reward Reactivity correlated with a slow lifestyle, while RST-PQ Impulsivity and (SPSRQ) Sensitivity to Reward (SR) did not correlate with the Mini-K. However, set correlation analysis revealed that SR correlated negatively with the Mini-K subscale Experience in romantic relationship and highlighted the importance of Insight, planning, and control in explaining the role of the BAS within slow lifestyle strategy. The findings are discussed in terms of possible evolutionary origins of the BAS.
References
2011). Neuropsychological behavioral inhibition system (BIS) and behavioral approach system (BAS) assessment: A shortened Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward Questionnaire version (SPSRQ-20). Journal of Personality Assessment, 93, 628–636. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223891.2011.608760
(2016). Toward a general theory of motivation: Problems, challenges, opportunities, and the big picture. Motivation and Emotion, 40, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-015-9521-y
(2006). Charisma, positive emotions and mood contagion. The Leadership Quarterly, 17, 317–334. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2006.04.008
(2008).
(Human nature and individual differences: Evolution of human personality . In O. P. JohnR. W. RobinsL. A. PervinEds., Handbook of personality: Theory and research (3rd ed., pp. 29–60). New York, NY: Guilford Press.1994). Behavioral inhibition, behavioral activation, and affective responses to impending reward and punishment: The BIS/BAS Scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 319–333. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.67.2.319
(2003). Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioural sciences (3rd ed.). London, UK: Erlbaum.
(2008).
(Reinforcement sensitivity theory (RST): Introduction . In P. J. CorrEd., The reinforcement sensitivity theory and personality (pp. 1–43). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511819384.0022013). Approach and avoidance behavior: Multiple systems and their interactions. Emotion Review, 5, 286–291. https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073913477507
(2016). The Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory of Personality Questionnaire (RST-PQ): Development and validation. Psychological Assessment, 28, 1427–1440. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000273
(2013). Motivation and personality: A neuropsychological perspective. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 7, 158–175. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12016
(2014a). Middle childhood: An evolutionary-developmental synthesis. Child Development Perspectives, 8, 193–200. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12084
(2014b). An evolutionary life history framework for psychopathology. Psychological Inquiry, 25, 261–300. https://doi.org/10.1080/1047840X.2014.884918
(2015). Life history theory and evolutionary psychology. In D. M. Buss (Ed.), The handbook of evolutionary psychology, (2nd ed., pp. 88–114). New York, NY: Wiley.
(2006).
(Interpersonal behavior and the structure of personality: Neurobehavioral foundation of agentic extraversion and affiliation . In C. TurhanEd., Biology of personality and individual differences (pp. 60–92). New York, NY: Guilford Press.2007). Between facets and domains: 10 aspects of the Big Five. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93, 880–896. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.93.5.880
(2004). Timing of pubertal maturation in girls: An integrated life history approach. Psychological Bulletin, 130, 920–958. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.130.6.920
(2009). Effects of harsh versus unpredictable environments on the evolution and development of life history strategies. Human Nature, 20, 204–268. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-009-9059-3
(2007). The Arizona Life History Battery [Electronic Version]. Retrieved from http://www.u.arizona.edu/~ajf/alhb.html
(2012). The interplay of behavioral dispositions and cognitive abilities: Sociosexual orientation, emotional intelligence, executive functions and life history strategy. Temas em Psicologia, 20, 87–100.
(2013). The measurement of human life history strategy. Personality and Individual Differences, 55, 251–255. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2012.04.033
(2010).
(Aggression, risk-taking, and alternative life history strategies: The behavioral ecology of social deviance . In M. Frias-ArmentaV. Corral-VerdugoEds., Biopsychosocial Perspectives on Interpersonal Violence (pp. 3–27). Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science.2004). The heritability of life history strategy: The K‐factor, covitality, and personality. Social Biology, 51, 121–143. https://doi.org/10.1080/19485565.2004.9989090
(2005). The K-factor: Individual differences in life history strategy. Personality and Individual Differences, 39, 1349–1360. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2005.06.009
(2006). Consilience and life history theory: From genes to brain to reproductive strategy. Developmental Review, 26, 243–275. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2006.02.002
(2002). Sexual selection and human life history. Advances in Child Development and Behavior, 30, 41–101.
(2000). The neuropsychology of anxiety: An enquiry into the functions of the septo-hippocampal system (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
(2005). Evolutionary biology and the strategic view of ontogeny: Genetic strategies provide robustness and flexibility in the life course. Research in Human Development, 2, 87–101. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427609.2005.9683346
(2007). Reinforcement sensitivity, coping, and delinquent behaviour in adolescents. Journal of Adolescence, 30, 739–749. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2006.11.006
(2010). Living a fast life. Human Nature, 21, 428–442. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-010-9102-4
(2005).
(Life history theory and evolutionary psychology . In D. M. BussEd., The handbook of evolutionary psychology (pp. 68–96). New York, NY: Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/evan.13600203032008).
(Approach and avoidance . In A. J. ElliotEd., Handbook of approach and avoidance motivation (pp. 273–288). New York, NY: Psychology Press.2015).
(Motivation science . In R. ScottS. KosslynEds., Emerging trends in the social and behavioral sciences: An Interdisciplinary, searchable, and linkable resource (pp. 1–16). New York, NY: Wiley.2017). Moving forward with the BAS: Towards a neurobiology of multidimensional model of approach motivation. Psihologijske Teme, 26, 25–45. Retrieved from http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=266922
(2016). Five reinforcement sensitivity theory (RST) of personality questionnaires: Comparison, validity and generalization. Personality and Individual Differences, 97, 19–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.03.012
(2016). The evolution of the behavioural approach system (BAS): Cooperative and competitive resource acquisition strategies. Personality and Individual Differences, 94, 223–227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.01.044
(2012). Plasticity in human life history strategy. Current Anthropology, 53, S369–S382. https://doi.org/10.1086/667410
(2016). Mutual positive emotion with peers, emotion knowledge, and pre-schoolers’ peer acceptance. Social Development, 26, 349–366. https://doi.org/10.1111/sode.12201
(1995). Evolution, the five-factor model, and levels of personality. Journal of Personality, 63, 525–567. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.1995.tb00505.x
(2012).
(Temperament and evolution . In M. ZentnerR. L. ShinerEds., Handbook of temperament (pp. 273–296). New York, NY: Guilford Press.2015). Life history strategy and the HEXACO personality dimensions. Evolutionary Psychology, 13, 48–66. https://doi.org/10.1177/147470491501300104
(2010). Life history strategy as a longitudinal predictor of relationship satisfaction and dissolution. Personality and Individual Differences, 49, 234–239. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2010.03.041
(2014). Comparison of life history strategy measures. Personality and Individual Differences, 58, 82–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2013.10.012
(2007). The evolutionary genetics of personality. European Journal of Personality, 21, 549–587. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.629
(2007). Human parental effort and environmental risk. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 274, 121–125. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2006.3690
(2010). Personality and the emergence of the pace-of-life syndrome concept at the population level. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 365, 4051–4063. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2010.0208
(2013). The behavioral correlates of overall and distinctive life history strategy. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 105, 873–888. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033772
(2012). Linking behavioural syndromes and cognition: A behavioural ecology perspective. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B, 367, 2762–2772. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2012.0216
(2011).
(Evolution, life history theory, and personality . In L. M. HorowitzS. StrackEds., Handbook of interpersonal psychology: Theory, research, assessment, and therapeutic interventions (pp. 75–89). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.2013). Life history theory and social deviance: The mediating role of executive function. Intelligence, 41, 102–113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2012.11.004
(2007). Life-history trade-offs favour the evolution of animal personalities. Nature, 447, 581–585. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature05835
(2012). A review on the relationship between testosterone and the interpersonal/affective facet of psychopathy. Psychiatry Research, 197, 181–198. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2011.08.016
(