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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