The genetics of neuroticism and human values

George Zacharopoulos, Thomas M. Lancaster, Gregory R. Maio, David E.J. Linden

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

7 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

Human values and personality have been shown to share genetic variance in twin studies. However, there is a lack of evidence about the genetic components of this association. This study examined the interplay between genes, values and personality in the case of neuroticism, because polygenic scores were available for this personality trait. First, we replicated prior evidence of a positive association between the polygenic neuroticism score (PNS) and neuroticism. Second, we found that the PNS was significantly associated with the whole human value space in a sinusoidal waveform that was consistent with Schwartz's circular model of human values. These results suggest that it is useful to consider human values in the analyses of genetic contributions to personality traits. They also pave the way for an investigation of the biological mechanisms contributing to human value orientations.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)361-366
Number of pages6
JournalGenes, Brain and Behavior
Volume15
Issue number4
Early online date24 Feb 2016
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Apr 2016

Funding

This study was supported by the National Centre for Mental Health (NCMH) at Cardiff University, with funds from the National Institute for Social Care and Health Research (NISCHR), Welsh Government, Wales (grant number BR09) and by grant MR/K004360/1 from the Medical Research Council (MRC) and by the MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics (G0800509). We are grateful to all professionals, patients and volunteers involved with the National Centre for Mental Health (NCMH).

Keywords

  • Genetics
  • Human values
  • Neuroticism
  • Personality
  • Polygenic score

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Genetics
  • Neurology
  • Behavioral Neuroscience

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