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
Designs of the author
(end
(start here)
here)
Content of characters:
• Sex
• Age
Responses of readers:
• Emotional responses
• Do you want the character to succeed?
• Is the character’s success a main feature of the story?
• Attractiveness
• Personality
• Motives
Role assignment:
• Mate Selection Criteria
Is the character:
a protagonist?
Ethos of individual novels
an antagonist?
a good minor character ?
Ethos of a whole culture
or a bad minor character?
12 Motives Reduced to Five Motive Factors
(loadings greater than .3 or -.3)
Original Motives
Dominance
Constructive
Effort
Romance
Subsistence
Survival
0.80
Routine work
0.76
Short-term mating
0.63
Long-term mating
0.83
Wealth
0.70
Power
0.89
Prestige
0.89
Help non-kin
-0.34
-0.56
0.38
0.56
Education
0.77
Make friends
0.62
Building/Creating
0.73
Help offspring/kin
Nurture
0.41
0.82
Motive Factors: Protagonists and Antagonists
1.20
1.00
standardized scores
0.80
0.60
0.40
0.20
0.00
-0.20
-0.40
-0.60
-0.80
Male protags
Female Protags
Male antags
Female antags
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
Seven Long-Term Mate-Selection Criteria
Reduced to Three Factors (loadings greater than .3 or -.3)
Original Criteria
Power
Prestige
Wealth
Extrinsic
Attributes
Intrinsic
Qualities
Physical
Attractiveness
0.89
0.91
0.88
Reliability
Kindness
0.85
0.85
Intelligence
0.78
Physical
Attractiveness
0.98
Long-Term Mate-Selection Preferences in Protagonists and Antagonists
0.8
0.6
0.4
standardized scores
0.2
0
-0.2
-0.4
-0.6
-0.8
-1
-1.2
Male protags
Female protags
Male antags
Female antags
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
FIVE PERSONALITY FACTORS
Extraversion
---- assertiveness and sociability
Agreeableness
----
Conscientiousness
---- organization and reliability
Emotional Stability
---- calmness and evenness of temper
Openness to Experience ----
warmth and affiliative behavior
curiosity or mental liveliness
Personality Factors: Protagonists and Antagonists
0.8
0.6
0.4
standardized scores
0.2
0
-0.2
-0.4
-0.6
-0.8
-1
-1.2
-1.4
Male protags
Female Protags
Male antags
Female antags
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
0.25
0.5
-0.42
-0.24
Openness
10 Emotional Responses Reduced to Three Emotional
Response Factors (loadings greater than .3 or -.3)
Original Emotions
Dislike
Sorrow
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
Indifference
Interest
0.47
-0.86
Emotional Response Factors for Protagonists and Antagonists
1.5
standardized scores
1
0.5
0
-0.5
-1
Male protags
Female protags
Male antags
Female antags
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
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