In the Beast Mode: Predator Self-Identifications as a Model of Disagreeable Functioning

Abstract

Some key sources of motivation are likely to be primitive. As a way of assessing such sources of motivation and their links to personality, participants in three studies (total N = 808) were asked to choose animals that they would prefer to be, with all pairs contrasting predator and prey animals. Individuals who select predator animals more often may wish to interact with the environment in a self-serving and callous manner. In support of such thinking, Study 1 linked higher levels of predator self-identification to lower levels of agreeableness and interpersonal warmth. Study 2 extended this model by showing that wishing to be predator animals was linked to self-serving behavior in economic games. Study 3 found inverse relationships between predator preferences and daily agreeableness levels in both between-person and within-person analyses. The findings, in total, highlight a motivation-based orientation to the environment that is disagreeable and self-serving.