Chimpanzees have personalities like us

London, May 24 (IANS) Chimpanzees and orangutans have personalities "like people", researchers have claimed.

Experts say it could finally end a decades-old debate over whether we simply project human-like personalities onto great apes, Daily Mail reported Thursday.

It is already known that common chimpanzees share 98 percent of human genes and are mankind's closest living relative.

They are thought to be the most intelligent non-human animal, but researchers have disagreed over whether they have human-like personality traits.

A team at the University of Edinburgh now believe they have conclusive proof.

"Chimpanzees have the same social problems that we do, they want to make friends and find mates and sort of gain position within their society," said Mark Adams, a PhD student who led the research.

Researchers looked for five personality traits - neuroticism, extroversion, openness to experience, agreeableness and conscientiousness.