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Graphing J ane Austen: Toward a New Humanities
Website questionnaire on 2,000 charactersfrom 202 19th century British novels
1470 protocols completed
435 unique characters coded for
J oseph CarrollJ ohn J ohnson
J onathan Gottschall
Daniel Kruger
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Working Hypotheses:
(1)L iterature depicts human nature.
(2) L iterature articulates and cultivates specific values.
(3) Values are mediated by positive and negativeemotional responses to specific features of
characterparticularly to motives andpersonality.
(4) Positive and negative emotional responses correspond
to the agonistic roles writers and readers assignto characters.
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Three-Part Research Design
Content of Character:
Sex
AgeAttractiveness
Personality
Motives
Mate Selection Criteria
Responses of Readers:
Emotional responses
Do you want the character to succeed?Is the characters success a main feature of
the story?
Role Assignment:
Is the character:
aprotagonist?
an antagonist?
or just aminor character (an associate
of a protagonist or antagonist)?
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Categories Produced by Our Own Factor Analysis
Content of Character:
MotivesMate Selection Criteria
Responses of Readers:
Emotional responses
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Character Sets are constituted by combinations of three variables:
1. Sex (male/female)
2. Valence (good/bad)
3. Status (major/minor)
These three variables produce three character set pairs:
1. All males vs. all females
2. All good vs. all bad characters
3. All major vs. all minor characters
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1.Good major males (protagonists)
2. Good minor males
3. Good major females (protagonists)
4. Good minor females
5. Bad major males (antagonists)
6. Bad minor males
7. Bad major females (antagonists)
8. Bad minor females
Combinations of the three variables produce
eight agonistic character sets:
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Chief Findings:
(1) Sex, Valence, and Status produce robust patterns of correlation andcan thus be identified as central organizing features in the novels.
(2) Male and female characters are differentiated in motives and mateselection criteria. Differences in mate selection criteria reflect
human universals.
(3) Valence is more important than Sex or Status in organizing readerresponses to the novels.
(4) The chief constituent of positive valence is prosociality.(5) The chief constituent of negative valence is a desire for social
dominancewealth, power, and prestige.
(6) Standing as a protagonista good major charactertypically dependson a combination of prosociality and an active mental life.
(7) In personality factors and mate-selection criteria, female protagonistsmost fully exemplify the normative tendencies of good major characters.
The norms of the novels are thus gynocentric or feminized.
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10 Emotional Responses Reduced to Three EmotionalResponse Factors (loadings of .3 or greater).
-0.86Indifference0.47-0.67Amusement
0.83Sadness
0.77Fear for character
0.42-0.78Liking
0.30-0.73Admiration
0.72Fear of character
0.83Contempt0.89Disgust
0.86Anger
InterestSorrowDislikeOriginal Emotions
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Emotional Response Factors in the Three Character Set Pairs
-0.60
-0.40
-0.20
0.00
0.20
0.40
0.60
0.80
1.00
1.20
standardized
scores
Dislike
Sorrow
Interest
Sex Valence Status
males females good bad major minor
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Emotional Response Factors for Protagonists and Antagonists
-1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
Dislike
Sorrow
Interest
Male protags Female protags Male antags Female antags
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0.82Help offspring/kin
0.73Building/Creating
0.62Make friends
0.77Education
0.410.56-0.34Help non-kin
0.89Prestige
0.89Power
0.380.70Wealth
0.83Long-term mating
-0.560.63Short-term mating
0.76Routine work0.80Survival
NurtureSubsistenceRomanceConstructive
EffortDominanceOriginal Motives
12 Motives Reduced to Five Motive Factors
(loadings of .3 or greater)
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Motive Factors: The Three Character Set Pairs
-0.8
-0.6
-0.4
-0.2
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
stan
d
ard
ized
scores
Dominance
ConstructiveEffort
Romance
Subsisting
Nurturing
Sex Valence Status
males females good bad major minor
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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
Dominance
Constructive
Effort
Subsistence
Romance
Nurture
Male protags Female protags Male antags Female antags
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Personality Factors: The Six Paired Character Sets
-1.2
-1
-0.8
-0.6
-0.4
-0.2
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
standardize
d
scores
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Conscientiousness
Stability
Openness
Sex Valence Status
males females good bad major minor
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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
sta
n
d
a
rd
ize
d
sco
res
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Conscientiousness
Stability
Openness
Male protags Female protags Male antags Female antags
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0.98PhysicalAttractiveness
0.78Intelligence
0.85Kindness0.85Reliability
0.88Wealth
0.91Prestige0.89Power
PhysicalAttractiveness
IntrinsicQualities
ExtrinsicAttributes
Seven Long-Term Mate-Selection Criteria
Reduced to Three Factors (loadings of .3 or greater)
Original Criteria
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Long-Term Mate Selection in the Three Character Set Pairs
-1.2
-1
-0.8
-0.6
-0.4
-0.2
0
0.2
0.4
standardiz
ed
scores
Extrinsic
Intrinsic
Attractiveness
Sex Valence Status
males females good bad major minor
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Long-Term Mate Selection Criteria for Protagonists and Antagonists
-1.2
-1
-0.8
-0.6
-0.4
-0.2
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
standardize
d
scores
Extrinsic
Intrinsic
Attractive
ness
Male protags Female protags Male antags Female antags
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CONCLUSION:Dominance and affiliation are basic organizing elements in allsocial life. The central contrast in our study between good and
bad characters reflects that opposition.The emotional responses of readers to characters mirror theadaptively conditioned responses that people make whenassessing other people as potential partners for socialinteraction.
Reading literature simulates the experience of emotionallyresponsive social judgment.
That simulation has an adaptive value in cultivating theemotionally charged social responses of readers, organizingtheir social attitudes, and thus ultimately in regulating their
social behavior.
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Possible Further Study:
Our model for the analysis of character in literature is intended to be acomprehensive model of human nature.
That model is derived from evolutionary psychology and includes sex, age,
attractiveness, motives, mate-selection criteria, personality, and emotionalresponses.
Using a comprehensive model of human nature makes it possible to compare
theway the elementsof human nature are organized in different individualpersons and different individual cultures.
We have used the model for the analysis of literary texts in a single culture.We could also use the model for the analysis of texts in other cultures and
other periods.
It would be possible to use a similar model for the comparative study of
behavior and normative values within populations of actual people.
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END
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