Personality’s genetic links extend across health, careers and relationships

An international consortium has identified more than 1,200 genetic variants associated with the Big Five personality traits and found that variants predicting personality are also linked to health, education, career paths, longevity and other aspects of life. The peer-reviewed study, led by the Revived Genomics of Personality Consortium and published in Nature, combined data from 46 research cohorts around the world in which participants supplied DNA samples and completed questionnaires measuring openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. The results indicate that personality is influenced by many genetic variants rather than a single “personality gene,” with the combined effects of numerous variants more substantial than those of any one variant.

The researchers linked participants’ DNA to questionnaire-based personality scores and then examined whether genetic variants associated with those traits also predicted differences in life outcomes. Associations involving extraversion were observed across age and location, including a young adult in the Netherlands and an older adult retiree in the United States. Analyses that compared relatives also supported the conclusion that the genetic relationships were not simply products of a shared upbringing. Nevertheless, the study’s authors emphasized that environmental influences remain important in shaping personality, presenting the results as evidence of an interconnected relationship between genetic predispositions and life experience rather than as a claim that genes determine behavior.

Across the cohorts, personality-associated variants partially predicted physical and mental health, longevity, education, employment outcomes and how close others perceived participants. Genetic variants linked to conscientiousness were associated with more activity during the day, while those connected with openness to experience and extraversion were associated with being more of a night owl. Variants associated with neuroticism predicted more time spent in hospital, and variants linked to openness were associated with income and job switching. The study also found that common variants associated with openness predicted residence in more cosmopolitan neighborhoods, an association that may involve feedback between a person’s predispositions, surroundings and continued personality development.

The findings offer a research-oriented explanation for why personality measures may be relevant across disciplines. Study lead author Ted Schwaba, a faculty member in Michigan State University’s Department of Psychology, said the results may encourage researchers in health, vocational and other fields to account for personality traits when studying human behavior and outcomes. The work received support in part from grants from the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute on Aging. Because the reported links are associations drawn from diverse cohorts, they do not establish that genetic variants alone cause the related outcomes, and the study’s authors caution that individual variants have very small effects even when many are considered together.

Subject of Research: Genetic associations among Big Five personality traits and major life outcomes

Article Title: New study finds the DNA of personality is linked to our health, wealth, work and love lives

Article References: New study finds the DNA of personality is linked to our health, wealth, work and love lives. Original publication (Bibliographic details unavailable.)

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Keywords: personality genetics, Big Five traits, genetic variants, health outcomes, career paths, longevity, education, environmental influence, genomics, finds, personality, linked