Your Personality Is Linked To Your Genes, And It Can Even Shape Where You Live And How You Spend Your Free Time

New research has found that part of your personality is linked to your genes. Scientists examined the genes of more than one million people to determine how the genes are related to their personality traits.

More than 1,260 common genetic variants associated with the "Big Five" were identified, and about 800 of them had not been previously identified.

The Big Five are five main personality traits: conscientiousness, extroversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and neuroticism.

"I view the 1,260 variants as kind of a testament to the fact that we've now got the power to answer all of these other questions that we couldn't answer before," said Elliot Tucker-Drob, a co-author of the study and a psychologist at the University of Texas at Austin.

The findings of the study can help researchers better understand how we become who we are. Experts have long suspected that genetics must influence some aspects of personality traits, but previous efforts to pinpoint the genetic component of personality have been unsuccessful.

So, this team of researchers combined 46 study cohorts incorporating between 611,000 and 1.14 million people who took personality questionnaires and provided DNA samples.

After looking at the participants' genomes, the team identified genetic variants that were consistently linked to one or more of the Big Five.

Individuals with variants linked to extroversion were more likely to contract Covid-19 early in the pandemic. The correlation makes sense because extroverted people are more likely to seek social interaction and would be the first to take advantage of more relaxed rules regarding social interaction.

People with more genetic variants associated with agreeableness were less likely to run away from home or face suspension in school.

alones - stock.adobe.com - illustrative purposes only, not the actual person - pictured above is a woman in a city

Those with higher conscientiousness (like self-discipline, rule-following, or a capacity for productivity and organization) played sports more frequently and experienced less substance abuse. They had healthier aging and fewer hospital stays.

People with greater openness to new experiences were connected to more activity at night and tended to end up living in cosmopolitan cities.

Meanwhile, those higher on neuroticism (a tendency toward anxiety and other negative emotions) were drawn to affluent suburbs.

Additionally, the team analyzed participants who were related to each other. They compared twins and parents and their children. The results indicated that shared family background could not explain genetic ties to the Big Five. It also appeared that educational attainment played a small part.

Furthermore, the research challenges the notion that neuroticism is mainly driven by levels of the chemical messenger serotonin.

Increasing serotonin is a common treatment for depression and anxiety, but the study found no strong connection between serotonin and neuroticism.

Overall, the study showed that a small but significant proportion, between about five and 10 percent, of personality variation can be predicted by genetics.

The findings were published in the journal Nature.