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Evolution of personality differences in leadership.
Rufus A Johnstone1, Andrea Manica
1Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, United Kingdom. raj1003@cam.ac.uk
Summary
Evolutionary game theory shows that leadership and followership can emerge through selection, even without initial differences. This diversification creates distinct leader and follower types maintained by frequency-dependent selection.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary Game Theory
- Behavioral Ecology
- Social Dynamics
Background:
- Group coordination is challenging when individuals have differing preferences.
- Leadership is a proposed solution, but its evolutionary origins are unclear.
- Previous theories often linked leadership to individual differences in information or needs.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the evolutionary emergence of intrinsic leadership and followership.
- To determine if leadership can arise without pre-existing individual state variations.
- To understand the role of frequency-dependent selection in maintaining these roles.
Main Methods:
- Modeling an n-player, repeated coordination game.
- Simulating selection dynamics within a population.
- Analyzing outcomes based on group size and conflict levels.
Main Results:
- Selection drives evolutionary branching, creating intrinsic leaders and followers without initial state differences.
- In larger groups, a stable dimorphism of extreme leaders and followers emerges.
- Frequency-dependent selection maintains these types: leaders benefit from imposing preferences but fail with other leaders.
Conclusions:
- Intrinsic leadership and followership are emergent properties shaped by social selection.
- The proportion of leaders increases with conflict, impacting coordination success.
- Coordination is optimized at intermediate conflict levels, with distinct leader/follower roles.
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