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Personality predicts divorce rates in humans, yet how personality traits affect divorce in wild animals remains largely unknown. In a male-skewed population of wandering albatross ( Diomedea exulans ), we showed that personality predicts divorce; shyer males exhibited higher divorce rates than bolder males but no such relationship was found in females. We propose that divorce may be caused by the intrusion of male competitors and shyer males divorce more often because of their avoidance of territorial aggression, while females have easier access to mates regardless of their personality. Thus, personality may have important implications for the dynamics of social relationships. 

Abstract Differences among individuals within a population are ubiquitous. Those differences are known to affect the entire life cycle with important consequences for all demographic rates and outcomes. One source of among‐individual phenotypic variation that has received little attention from a demographic perspective is animal personality, which is defined as consistent and heritable behavioural differences between individuals. While many studies have shown that individual variation in individual personality can generate individual differences in survival and reproductive rates, the impact of personality on all demographic rates and outcomes remains to be assessed empirically.Here, we used a unique, long‐term, dataset coupling demography and personality of wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans) in the Crozet Archipelago and a comprehensive analysis based on a suite of approaches (capture‐mark‐recapture statistical models, Markov chains models and structured matrix population models). We assessed the effect of boldness on annual demographic rates (survival, breeding probability, breeding success), life‐history outcomes (life expectancy, lifetime reproductive outcome, occupancy times), and an integrative demographic outcome (population growth rate).We found that boldness had little impact on female demographic rates, but was very likely associated with lower breeding probabilities in males. By integrating the effects of boldness over the entire life cycle, we found that bolder males had slightly lower lifetime reproductive success compared to shyer males. Indeed, bolder males spent a greater proportion of their lifetime as non‐breeders, which suggests longer inter‐breeding intervals due to higher reproductive allocation.Our results reveal that the link between boldness and demography is more complex than anticipated by the pace‐of‐life literature and highlight the importance of considering the entire life cycle with a comprehensive approach when assessing the role of personality on individual performance and demography.