Personality and social network analysis in animals

Over the last decade, the study of consistent individual-level differences in behaviour, or animal personality, has become a subject of significant research growth. This ongoing interest in personality traits is likely attributable to the diverse range of taxa as well as ecological contexts in which personality has been shown to be mechanistically involved. Despite this research interest, surprisingly little is known about the role of personality in terms of complex social interaction dynamics and group-level interactions such as those characterized by social networks. The aim of this chapter is to highlight recent advances in the integration of personality and network analysis research and provide an overview of areas of current and future research promise. This chapter discusses the potential importance of key individuals, or individuals with particular behavioural characteristics (i.e. behavioural types) in animal social networks as well as the need for considering networks and personality over ontogeny and related processes. Lastly, this chapter offers new directions and perspectives for future research on this exciting topic.