Robust inference and correlates from genetic associations with personality
Abstract
Personality traits describe stable differences in how people think, feel and behave, and how they interact with and experience their social and physical environments1,2. Many questions remain unanswered about associations between DNA and personality traits, such as their robustness, their generalizability and the biological and social pathways through which they act. Here we meta-analyse data across 46 cohorts comprising 611,037 to 1.14 million participants with European-like and African-like genomes for genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of the Big Five personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness to experience), and data from up to 50,725 participants for within-family GWAS. We identify 1,260 lead genetic variants associated with personality, including 824 novel variants3. Common genetic variants explain a moderate 4.8–9.3% of the variance in measures of each trait, and 9.3–13.3% among instruments with typical measurement reliability. Genetic associations with personality are highly consistent but not identical across geography, reporter (self versus close other), age group and measurement instrument, and we find minimal spousal assortment for personality in recent history. In contrast to many other social and behavioural traits4,5, within-family GWAS and polygenic index analyses indicate that genetic associations with personality are minimally confounded by the shared family environment. Polygenic prediction, genetic correlation and Mendelian randomization analyses indicate that personality traits have widespread, potentially causal associations with consequential behaviours and life outcomes. Overall, we find that the genetic architecture of personality is robustly generalizable, minimally confounded and widely relevant to human experience. The genetic architecture of personality is robustly generalizable, minimally confounded and widely relevant to human experience.
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Authors: Ted Schwaba, Margaret L. Clapp Sullivan, Wonuola A. Akingbuwa, Kerli Ilves, Peter T. Tanksley, Camille M. Williams, Yavor Dragostinov, Travis T. Mallard, Justin D. Tubbs, Wangjingyi Liao, Lindsay Ackerman, Josephine C. M. Fealy, Gibran Hemani, Javier de la Fuente, George Davey Smith, Priya Gupta, Murray B. Stein, Joel Gelernter, Daniel F. Levey, Urmo Võsa, Liisi Ausmees, Anu Realo, Mariliis Vaht, Jüri Allïk, Tõnu Esko, René Mõttus, Uku Vainik, Guðrún A. Jónsdóttir, Gudmar Thorleifsson, Árni Freyr Gunnarsson, Gyða Björnsdóttir, Thorgeir E. Thorgeirsson, Hreinn Stefánsson, Kari Stefansson, Rosa Cheesman, Qi Qin, Elizabeth C. Corfield, Helga Ask, Fartein Ask Torvik, Eivind Ystrøm, Martin Tesli, Dorret I. Boomsma, Eco J. C. de Geus, Jouke-Jan Hottenga, Dener Cardoso Melo, Harold Snieder, Catharina A. Hartman, Charley Xia, Archie Campbell, Michelle Luciano, Ian J. Deary, W. David Hill, Seon-Kyeong Jang, Scott Vrieze, Gonçalo Abecasis, Michelle K. Lupton, Brittany L. Mitchell, Petra V. Viher, Lucía Colodro‐Conde, Nicholas G. Martin, Sarah E. Medland, Eske M. Derks, Briar Wormington, Jaakko Kaprio, Karri Silventoinen, Teemu Palviainen, Agnieszka Musial, Kaili Rimfeld, Robert Plomin, Margherita Malanchini, Danielle M. Dick, Fazil Aliev, COGA Collaborators, The Spit for Science Working Group, Laura W. Wesseldijk, Fredrik Ullén, Miriam A. Mosing, Henry R. Kranzler, Yaira Nunez, S L Beck, Renato Polimanti, Tobias Edwards, Alexandros Giannelis, Emily A. Willoughby, James J. Lee, Matt McGue, Antonio Terracciano, Michele Marongiu, Edoardo Fiorillo, Francesco Cucca, Angelina R. Sutin, Peter J. van der Most, Albertine J. Oldehinkel, Tina Kretschmer, Andrey A. Shabalin, Anna R. Docherty, Robert F. Krueger, Colin D. Freilich, Binisha H. Mishra
Institutions: University of Pennsylvania, University of California, Los Angeles, The University of Queensland, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Karolinska Institutet, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, The University of Melbourne, Harvard University, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, University of Bristol, University of Helsinki, Florida State University, University of Sassari, Tampere University, Washington University in St. Louis, University of Minnesota, Michigan State University, Yale University, University of Edinburgh, University of Amsterdam, University of Utah, The University of Texas at Austin, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Erasmus University Rotterdam, University of Oslo, Queensland University of Technology, Twin Cities Orthopedics, McGill University, Broad Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, Queen Mary University of London, Université Paris Sciences et Lettres, King's College London, Tallinn University, University of Tartu, NHS Lothian, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, University of Warwick, Texas State University, École Normale Supérieure - PSL, Royal Holloway University of London, National Institute on Aging, Johnson University, Medical Research Council, Fimlab (Finland), Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, Huntsman Cancer Institute, Lovisenberg Diakonale Høgskole, VA Connecticut Healthcare System, Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland, Edinburgh Cancer Research, Østfold Hospital Trust, VA San Diego Healthcare System, Institute on Aging, Laboratoire de Sciences Cognitives et Psycholinguistique, deCODE Genetics (Iceland), Cohort (United Kingdom), T3 Scientific (United States), Regeneron (United States), Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Institute of Genetic and Biomedical Research