Graphing Jane Austen:Paleolithic Politics in British Novels of the 19th Century

• Website questionnaire on 2,000 characters from 202 British novels of the longer 19th century

• 1,494 protocols completed

• Separate website for Thomas Hardy’s

The Mayor of Casterbridge (124 protocols completed)

• 441 individual characters profiled and graphed

Joseph Carroll, Jonathan Gottschall, John Johnson, Daniel Kruger

Research Design

Content of characters:

• Sex

• Age

• Attractiveness

• Personality

• Motives

• Mate Selection Criteria

Responses of readers:

• Emotional responses

• Do you want the character to succeed?

• Is the character’s success a main feature of the story?

Role assignment:

Is the character:

a protagonist?

an antagonist?

a good minor character ?

or a bad minor character?

Designs of the author

Ethos of individual novels

Ethos of a whole culture

(end here) (start here)

Original Motives DominanceConstructive

Effort Romance Subsistence Nurture

Survival 0.80

Routine work 0.76

Short-term mating 0.63 -0.56

Long-term mating 0.83

Wealth 0.70 0.38

Power 0.89

Prestige 0.89

Help non-kin -0.34 0.56 0.41

Education 0.77

Make friends 0.62

Building/Creating 0.73

Help offspring/kin 0.82

12 Motives Reduced to Five Motive Factors(loadings greater than .3 or -.3)

Motive Factors: Protagonists and Antagonists

-0.80

-0.60

-0.40

-0.20

0.00

0.20

0.40

0.60

0.80

1.00

1.20

standard

ized s

core

s

Dominance -0.03 -0.26 0.87 0.97

Constructive Effort 0.59 0.41 -0.64 -0.5

Romance -0.2 0.4 -0.05 -0.26

Subsistence 0.34 -0.08 0.04 -0.46

Nurture -0.11 0.34 -0.61 -0.14

Male protags Female Protags Male antags Female antags

Extrinsic Attributes

Intrinsic Qualities

Physical Attractiveness

Power 0.89

Prestige 0.91

Wealth 0.88

Reliability 0.85

Kindness 0.85

Intelligence 0.78

Physical Attractiveness 0.98

Seven Long-Term Mate-Selection Criteria

Reduced to Three Factors (loadings greater than .3 or -.3)

Original Criteria

Long-Term Mate-Selection Preferences in Protagonists and Antagonists

-1.2

-1

-0.8

-0.6

-0.4

-0.2

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

standard

ized s

core

s

Extrinsic -0.1 0.29 -0.15 0.64

Intrinsic 0.07 0.53 -0.94 -1.01

Attractiveness 0.57 -0.16 -0.05 0.1

Male protags Female protags Male antags Female antags

FIVE PERSONALITY FACTORS

Extraversion ---- assertiveness and sociability

Agreeableness ---- warmth and affiliative behavior

Conscientiousness ---- organization and reliability

Emotional Stability ---- calmness and evenness of temper

Openness to Experience ---- curiosity or mental liveliness

Personality Factors: Protagonists and Antagonists

-1.4

-1.2

-1

-0.8

-0.6

-0.4

-0.2

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

standard

ized s

core

s

Extraversion -0.34 -0.17 0.38 0.52

Agreeableness 0.25 0.52 -1.13 -1.19

Conscientiousness 0.3 0.35 -0.47 0.04

Stability 0.2 0.21 -0.34 -0.55

Openness 0.25 0.5 -0.42 -0.24

Male protags Female Protags Male antags Female antags

10 Emotional Responses Reduced to Three Emotional Response Factors (loadings greater than .3 or -.3)

Original Emotions Dislike Sorrow Interest

Anger 0.86

Disgust 0.89

Contempt 0.83

Fear of character 0.72

Admiration -0.73 0.30

Liking -0.78 0.42

Fear for character 0.77

Sadness 0.83

Amusement -0.67 0.47

Indifference -0.86

Emotional Response Factors for Protagonists and Antagonists

-1

-0.5

0

0.5

1

1.5

standard

ized s

core

s

Dislike -0.37 -0.47 1.38 1.21

Sorrow 0.33 0.41 -0.48 -0.26

Interest -0.15 0.36 0.12 0.25

Male protags Female protags Male antags Female antags

CONCLUSION

The adaptive function

of agonistic structure.

Agonistic structure mirrors the basic political dynamic in egalitarian hunter-gatherer cultures.

• The novels serve as a medium for readers to participate in an egalitarian social ethos.

• The novels help create the ethos that governs the society of its readers. That ethos enables people to cooperate as a social unit.

• The novels extend cultural practices that in oral cultures require face-to-face interaction.

The adaptive function of literature

is centrally important

to our understanding

of the evolved and adapted

character

of

human nature.

2006 2007

Thanks

for

your

attention.

Graphing Jane Austen

Joe Carroll, Jon Gottschall, John Johnson, Dan Kruger