Answers to the question of what characteristics allow animals to thrive in human-dominated environments remain elusive. Consistent interindividual differences or personalities can potentially explain the functional significance of habitat-specific traits that enable animals to coexist with humans. Rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) are the most successful nonhuman primates in the Anthropocene, living in diverse climatic and environmental conditions. Studying the personalities of synanthropic rhesus macaques, that is, those that thrive in anthropogenic habitats, can provide insights into the biological traits facilitating their success. We planned a multi-method "bottom-up" approach of behavioral observations and novelty experiments, standardized for assessing captive nonhuman primates, to evaluate the personalities of adult rhesus macaques (N = 52). Novelty experiments encountered significant challenges, limiting their effectiveness. So, we continued with behavioral observations in the form of focal sampling, that revealed two repeatable traits, subjectively labeled as social tension and meekness. We found an association of sex with social tension, where males exhibited higher social tension than females. In an additional analysis, we found that individuals that obtained food through contact provisioning had higher scores for the meekness trait than individuals that obtained food through noncontact provisioning. We discuss how the observed personality traits may offer adaptive advantages in human-dominated environments, where despotic rhesus macaques face both benefits and costs (including social) of living in an anthropogenic setting. We also emphasize that protocols designed for captive conditions may not be directly applicable to free-living animals. The study underscores the need to reconsider behavioral experiments to obtain comparable measures between captive and non-captive populations. This would enhance the ecological validity of personality assessments. Nevertheless, empirically identifying traits using observations in synanthropic species can provide valuable insights into the mechanisms that enable certain animals to thrive amidst a rapid expansion of anthropogenic activities.

Keywords: Macaca; human‐animal coexistence; interindividual differences; nonhuman primates; urban wildlife.

© 2025 The Author(s). American Journal of Primatology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.

回答动物在人类主导环境中生存的特征是什么这一问题仍然难以捉摸。个体间一致性的差异或个性可能能够解释特定栖息地特异性特征的功能意义，这些特征使动物能够与人类共存。恒河猴（Macaca mulatta）是人类世时期最成功的非人灵长类动物，在各种气候和环境条件下生活。研究适应人类居住环境的恒河猴（即synanthropic恒河猴）的性格可以提供有关促进其成功生物特性的见解。我们计划使用行为观察和新颖实验相结合的多方法“自下而上”的方法，采用标准化程序评估圈养非人灵长类动物的人格特质，以评估成年恒河猴（N=52）的人格特征。新颖性实验遇到了重大挑战，限制了其有效性。因此，我们继续进行行为观察，即焦点取样，发现了两个可重复的特质，主观上被标记为社会紧张和温顺。我们发现性别与社会紧张之间存在关联，雄性表现出更高的社会紧张程度。在附加分析中，我们发现在接触式提供食物的情况下获得食物的个体比非接触式提供食物的个体具有更高分数的温顺特质。我们讨论了观察到的人格特征可能为人类主导环境中的恒河猴带来适应性优势，包括专制型恒河猴生活在人造环境中带来的利弊（包括社会成本）。我们也强调设计用于圈养条件的协议未必可以直接应用于自由生活的动物。这项研究突显了需要重新考虑行为实验以获得圈养和非圈养群体之间的可比较措施的重要性。这将增强性格评估的生态有效性。然而，通过观察synanthropic物种中使用实证方法识别特征可以为某些动物在快速扩张的人类活动背景下繁荣所需的机制提供宝贵的见解。

关键词：Macaca；人与动物共存；个体间差异；非人类灵长类动物；城市野生动物。