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Ted Schwaba, Margaret L. Clapp Sullivan, Wonuola A. Akingbuwa, Kerli Ilves, Peter T. Tanksley, Camille M. Williams, Yavor Dragostinov, Wangjingyi Liao, Lindsay S. Ackerman, Josephine C. M. Fealy, Gibran Hemani, Javier de la Fuente, Priya Gupta, Murray B. Stein, Joel Gelernter, Daniel F. Levey, Urmo Vosa, Liisi Ausmees, Anu Realo, Estonian Biobank Research Team, Mariliis Vaht, Juri Allik, Tonu Esko, Rene Mottus, Uku Vainik, Gudrun A. Jonsdottir, Gudmar Thorleifsson, Arni Freyr Gunnarsson, Gyda Bjornsdottir, Thorgeir E. Thorgeirsson, Hreinn Steffansson, Kari Stefansson, Rosa Cheesman, Qi Qin, Elizabeth C. Corfield, Helga Ask, Fartein Ask Torvik, Eivind Ystrom, 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 I. Vrieze, Goncalo Abecasis, Michelle K. Lupton, Brittany L. Mitchell, Petra V. Viher, Lucia Colodro-Conde, Nicholas G. Martin, Sarah E. Medland, Eske M. Derks, Briar Wormington, Jaakko Kaprio, Karri Silventoinen, Teemu Palviainen, Agnieszka Gidziela, Kaili Rimfeld, Robert Plomin, Margherita Malanchini, Danielle M. Dick, Fazil Aliev, COGA collaborators, The Spit for Science Working Group, Laura W. Wesseldijk, Fredrik Ullen, Miriam A. Mosing, Henry Kranzler, Yaira Nunez, Sarah Beck, Renato Polimanti, Tobias Edwards, Alexandros Giannelis, Emily A. Willoughby, James J. Lee, Scott Vrieze, 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, Terho Lehtimaki, Olli T. Raitakari, Mika Kahonen, Aino Saarinen, Henrik Dobewall, Liisa Keltikangas-Jarvinen, Klaus Berger, Marisol Herrera-Rivero, Fabian Streit, Swapnil Awasthi, Stephanie H. Witt, Johanna Tuhkanen, Katri Raikkonen, Johan G. Eriksson, Jari Lahti, Gail Davies, Paul Redmond, Adele Taylor, Janie Corley, Tom C. Russ, Ian J. Deary, Marina Ciullo, Teresa Nutile, Jun Ding, Yong Qian, Toshiko Tanaka, Luigi Ferrucci, Lea Zillich, Lea Sirignano, K. Paige Harden, Erhan Genc, Patrick D. Gajewski, Stephan Getzmann, Christoph Fraenz, Javier E. Schneider Penate, Stefanie Lis, Alisha S. M. Hall, Christian Schmahl, Sabine C. Herpertz, Abdel Abdellaoui, Michel G. Nivard, Elliot M. Tucker-Drob
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.05.16.648988
Abstract
Personality traits describe stable differences in how individuals think, feel, and behave and how they interact with and experience their social and physical environments. We assemble data from 46 cohorts including 611K-1.14M 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 51K participants for within-family GWAS. We identify 1,257 lead genetic variants associated with personality, including 823 novel variants. Common genetic variants explain 4.8%-9.3% of the variance in each trait, and 10.5%-16.2% accounting for measurement unreliability. Genetic effects on personality are highly consistent across geography, reporter (self vs. close other), age group, and measurement instrument, and we find minimal spousal assortment for personality in recent history. In stark contrast to many other social and behavioral traits, within-family GWAS and polygenic index analyses indicate little to no shared environmental confounding in genetic associations with personality. Polygenic prediction, genetic correlation, and Mendelian randomization analyses indicate that personality genetics have widespread, potentially causal associations with a wide range of consequential behaviors and life outcomes. The genetic architecture of personality is robust and fundamental to being a human.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
Funder Information Declared
NIMH, R01MH120219
NIA, R01AG073593
MRC, MR/T030852/1
European Research Council, 101087395
Hector foundation II
Brain & Behavior Research Foundation
Jacobs Foundation, 2023-1510-00
Research Council of Norway, 325245, 274611, 324620, 26270, 274611
South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority, 2021045
Academy of Finland Strategic Research Council, 352700
Estonian Research Council, PSG656, PSG759, PRG2190, PRG1291
Copyright
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
