Henry Kellerman’s research while affiliated with New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and other places

The authors began their work with the assumption that defense mechanisms are related to emotion in a dynamic and regulatory fashion, and that ego defenses are interrelated and have implications for adaptation in both an evolutionary and an ontogenetic perspective. Based on their review of the literature on ego defenses and their own theoretical considerations, they conclude that (1) there is overlap among defenses as traditionally defined; (2) some defenses are polar opposites; and (3) some are more primitive than others. The authors develop a model for interrelating defense mechanisms, emotions, and diagnostic concepts. They postulate four pairs of basic bipolar emotions: fear-anger, joy-sadness, acceptance-disgust, and expectancy-surprise. These bipolar emotions vary in the degree to which they are similar to each other. They are considered basic because they are rooted in our biological-evolutionary history and were selected through evolution because of their adaptive functions.

This study demonstrates a useful methodology for judging the personality of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthi). Observers rated the chimpanzees on a forced-choice rating scale which yielded measures on eight emotion dimensions. The rating scale, Emotions Profile Index, is derived from a theory of personality which stresses the adaptive significance of emotions at all evolutionary levels. This method has theoretical generality, having been successfully applied previously to humans, baboons and dolphins. Observers were able to rate chimpanzees with reasonable reliability. Sex differences in personality were evident in this chimpanzee sample. In addition, dominance rank was found to correlate with certain emotion dimensions.

Without Abstract

As interest in mate selection theory has increased, the issue of pair compatability has stimulated publication of tests designed to identify and diagnose types of pairs. The Pair Attraction Inventory (PAI) is one such test. The historical research tradition out of which the PAI model arises is reviewed, and the issue of. PAI construct validity is examined. The Emotions Profile Index, a test of personality based upon a similar underlying factor structure, is used as a standard of comparison, and certain theoretical modifications of the PAI dimensions are suggested.

This study involved the testing of a new rating instrument designed to measure emotional behavior, and the examination of the correlations between dominance and certain classes of emotional behavior. The sample population was a troop of 7 olive baboons. The rating scale was found to be very effective. Wide individual differences in scores on the 8 dimensions of the scale were detected. Also, there was high interjudge reliability indicating that independent observers can agree on the temperamental characteristics of primates. Mean time being groomed, a duration/frequency ratio, more fully reflects the dominance relationship between two animals than any other single index. Mean time being groomed was found to correlate significantly with the dimensionsprotection, deprivation, rejection anddestruction. More dominant animals showed less sociability and more aggression than the submissive animals, who showed a great deal of both sociability and fearfulness.