The genetics of one’s personality, or gene variants that predict it, could be more relevant to human experience and associated with health, education, career paths, among other major life outcomes, new research suggests.
For example, the same variants linked to extraversion in a young adult in the Netherlands also predicted extraversion in an older adult retiree in the U.S., the study found. For example, the study found that common genetic variants linked to openness to experience predicted that a person would move to more cosmopolitan neighbourhoods. In turn, living in those neighbourhoods may reinforce and further shape that same trait. The researchers noted that the genetics of personality are relevant to many parts of the human experience.
An international team of researchers forming the Revived Genomics of Personality Consortium combined results from 46 distinct cohorts around the world to study the genetic basis of personality. The DNA of two randomly selected people is approximately 99.9% identical — differences in the remaining 0.1 per cent of the genome can influence individual traits, including appearance, disease risk, and the body’s response to medications, the researchers said.
The researchers used methods that compared relatives to one another and “confirmed” that the genetic links weren’t actually the byproduct of a shared upbringing. “For example, genetic variants associated with neuroticism predict more time spent in the hospital, which is relevant to physicians and health researchers, and variants associated with openness to experience are linked to income and switching jobs, which is relevant to vocational researchers,” Schwaba said.
