Journal Article

MAINTENANCE OF GENETIC VARIATION IN HUMAN PERSONALITY: TESTING EVOLUTIONARY MODELS BY ESTIMATING HERITABILITY DUE TO COMMON CAUSAL VARIANTS AND INVESTIGATING THE EFFECT OF DISTANT INBREEDING

Widen, Elisabeth, Eriksson, Johan G, Pouta, Anneli, Hintsanen, Mirka, Räikkönen, Katri, Kähönen, Mika, Montgomery, Grant W., Keller, Matthew C., Miettunen, Jouko, Taanila, Anja, Penke, Lars, Zietsch, Brendan P., Heinonen, Kati, Keltikangas-Järvinen, Liisa, Lahti, Jari, Viikari, Jorma, Järvelin, Marjo-Riitta, Service, Susan K., Visscher, Peter M., Verweij, Karin J.H., Isohanni, Matti, Raitakari, Olli, Palotie, Aarno, Heath, Andrew C., Lehtimäki, Terho, Yang, Jian, Pulkki-Råback, Laura, Martin, Nicholas G., Pesonen, Anu-Katriina, Veijola, Juha

2012

Overview

Personality traits are basicdimensions of behavioral variation, and twin, family, and adoption studies show that around 30% of the between-individual variation is due to genetic variation. There is rapidly growing interest in understanding the evolutionary basis of this genetic variation. Several evolutionary mechanisms could explain how genetic variation is maintained in traits, and each of these makes predictions in terms of the relative contribution of rare and common genetic variants to personality variation, the magnitude of nonadditive genetic influences, and whether personality is affected by inbreeding. Using genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data from > 8000 individuals, we estimated that little variation in the Cloninger personality dimensions (7.2% on average) is due to the combined effect of common, additive genetic variants across the genome, suggesting that most heritable variation in personality is due to rare variant effects and/or a combination of dominance and epistasis. Furthermore, higher levels of inbreeding were associated with less socially desirable personality trait levels in three of the four personality dimensions. These findings are consistent with genetic variation in personality traits having been maintained by mutation—selection balance.

• Publisher: Wiley Subscription Services, Inc,Blackwell Publishing Inc,Oxford University Press
• Subject: Adult / Antagonistic pleiotropy / balancing selection / Behavioral genetics / behavioral syndromes / Biological Evolution / Causality / Consanguinity / correlational selection / Evolution / Evolutionary genetics / Female / Genetic diversity / Genetic mutation / Genetic variance / Genetic Variation / Genetics / Genomes / Human genetics / Humans / Inbreeding / Male / Medical genetics / Middle Aged / Models, Genetic / mutation / mutation–selection balance / neutral / Personality / Personality - genetics / Personality tests / Personality traits / Phenotypic traits / Quantitative Trait, Heritable / Selection, Genetic / temperament / trade‐offs / Young Adult