Back in the 1950s and 1960s, a scientist known as Jane Goodall was involved in some studies relating to chimpanzees. Her studies suggested that these creatures had personalities and were concentrated in Gombe National Park that is found in modern-daya Tanzania. In these studies, the scientist discovered that some chimpanzees were nurturing while the others were affectionate. On the other hand, she also discovered that some were aggressive while others were playful. However, the study didn’t receive much recognition as the more experienced scientists rubbished off her claims calling her an amateur. At the same time, they even said that she didn’t have a Ph.D. and concluded that she was inventing her own personalities in animals. However, while talking on the telephone from the United Kingdom, she told the Times she was accused of inventing the worst anthropomorphism in the world. She is 83 years at the moment. However, time has shown that she was right. Modern scientists have been able to link personalities to chimpanzees living in the wild and those in captivity. As a matter of fact, a new study that has been published in the Scientific Data has confirmed that these animals have similar personalities with human beings.
The study was carried out at Gombe national park and includes more than 100 chimps compared to the original 23 that were used back in 1973. This study is said to have been carried out by graduate students as well as Tanzanian field assistants. What they all agree is that there are personality traits in these animals such as self-control, aggression, depression, extroversion as well as agreeableness. However, the researchers said that they used different questionnaires from the ones that were used over 50 years ago. Despite the difference in questionnaires, they managed to come up with similar traits that were also consistent. Old Dr. Jane Goodall said that she was not surprised by the findings. At the moment, Dr. Jane is currently promoting a documentary known as Jane that talks about the early days when she used to conduct her research. She mentioned that from her childhood experiences with her favorite dog that used to be referred to as Rusty that animals have similar personalities. At the same time, she mentioned that she knew the same from other experiences from tortoises and guinea pigs. She said that it’s difficult to stay with an animal and fail to recognize their personalities that are vivid.
