Your personality may be more genetic than scientists realized

An international team of scientists has identified more than 1,200 genetic variants associated with the Big Five personality traits — openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. The study, led by the Revived Genomics of Personality Consortium, drew on data from 46 research cohorts worldwide and found that many of the same genetic patterns linked to personality are also connected to health, longevity, education, careers and income.

Participants provided DNA samples and completed questionnaires measuring the five traits, which describe stable patterns in how people think, feel and behave. Researchers compared each person's genetic data with differences in their personality scores to find the associated variants. "There is no single 'personality gene,'" said Ted Schwaba, the study's lead author and a faculty member in Michigan State University's Department of Psychology, adding that while any single variant's effect is very small, the combined effect of many variants together can be more sizeable.

The patterns held across very different groups: variants linked to extraversion in a young adult in the Netherlands also helped predict extraversion in an older, retired adult in the United States. Comparing relatives with one another, researchers found these genetic associations could not be explained simply by growing up in the same environment — though they said environment still plays an important role in shaping personality. Variants linked to conscientiousness were also associated with being more active during the day, while variants tied to openness and extraversion were linked to being a night owl.

Common variants associated with openness were linked to a greater likelihood of moving to a more cosmopolitan neighborhood, an environment that could then reinforce the trait. Variants tied to neuroticism predicted more time spent in the hospital, and variants linked to openness were associated with income and switching jobs, the researchers said. The study was funded in part by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute on Aging.