This bibliography lists research pertaining to animal personality or temperament. The research ranges from “central” studies that focus on a broad range of behaviors that are consistent over time and across situations to “peripheral” studies that focus on specific behaviors, measured in highly circumscribed situations. Studies also vary in (1) the role played by personality in the research (ranging from studies with personality as their primary focus to those that merely touch on personality-related issues); (2) the species studied (ranging from butterflies to chimpanzees); and (3) the methodological rigor (ranging from large-scale empirical studies to those that are comprised of little more than a few casual observations).
Reviews of the field can be found in Gosling (2001) and Gosling and John (1999). For a review of the dog literature see Jones & Gosling (2005).
Our goal is to maintain this page as a comprehensive resource to which researchers can turn when they wish to know what research has been done on animal personality. If you know of a study that should be included here, please email the full citation (gosling@psy.utexas.edu) and, if possible, please send a copy of the article as a pdf (preferred) or hard copy (Samuel D. Gosling; The University of Texas at Austin; Department of Psychology; 1 University Station A8000; Austin, TX 78712-0187).