ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: The personality traits are substantially heritable, and therefore very likely result from the interplay of genetic variations with environmental influences. Recently, there is a growing enthusiasm for biological approaches to personality, especially genetic research on identifying responsible genes. So, the aim of this study is to investigate the associations between serotonin transporter promoter linked region (5-HTTLRP) polymorphism and personality traits. METHODS: We recruited unrelated normal 114 female subjects. The Korean version of temperament and character inventory (TCI) were used to assess personality traits. From the blood, DNA was isolated using standard techniques and the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism was genotyped by polymerase chain reaction and electrophoresis. We classified the subject as s/s, s/l, and l/l group according to their genotype. The differences of TCI scores between l allele non-carrier group (s/s genotype) and l allele carrier group (s/l+l/l genotype) were tested after inclusion of age as covariate in the analysis of variance (ANCOVA). RESULTS: Under the control of age, there were no associations between harm avoidance, novelty seeking, reward dependence, cooperativeness, and self-transcendence scores and genotypes. But, persistence and self-directedness score of l allele non-carrier group was significantly higher than that of l allele carrier group. CONCLUSION: The 5-HTTLPR polymorphism may be associated with persistence and self-directedness score of TCI in normal Korean female population.