The Link Between Personality, Subjective Well-being, and Welfare in Zoo-Housed Sulawesi Crested Macaques (Macaca nigra)
Assessing welfare is at the forefront of modern zoo practice, and there is increasing recognition of how certain personality types are at greater risk of poor welfare outcomes than others when exposed to stressors. We investigated the associations between behaviour, welfare, subjective well-being, and personality in two groups of Sulawesi crested macaques (Macaca nigra) (n = 13) […]
Personality of killer whales (Orcinus orca) is related to welfare and subjective well-being
Questionnaires are very useful tools when it comes to assessing zoo based animal measures and caretakers of these animals (such as keepers, trainers and veterinarians) are in the best position to provide accurate answers to these assessments. Our goal was (a) to empirically demonstrate the utility of a welfare questionnaire and (b) to examine the […]
Who is happy?
A flood of new studies explores people’s subjective well-being (SWB). Frequent positive affect, infrequent negative affect, and a global sense of satisfaction with life define high SWB. These studies reveal that happiness and life satisfaction are similarly available to the young and the old, women and men, blacks and whites, the rich and the working-class. […]
Happiness is positive welfare in brown capuchins (Sapajus apella)
Questionnaires that allow people who are familiar with individual animals to rate the welfare of these animals are an underutilised tool. We designed a 12-item welfare questionnaire and tested its reliability and associations with subjective well-being (SWB), locomotor stereotypy, and personality traits. The welfare questionnaire included questions relating to physical health, stress and coping, satisfaction […]