Trends and Directions in Personality Genetic Studies

ABSTRACT

How personality forms and whether personality genes exist are long-studied questions. Various concepts and theories have been presented for centuries. Personality is a complex trait and is developed through the interaction of genes and the environment. Twin and family studies have found that there are critical genetic and environmental components in the inheritance of personality traits, and modern advances in genetics are making it possible to identify specific variants for personality traits. Although genes that were found in studies on personality have not provided replicable association between genetic and personality variability, more and more genetic variants associated with personality traits are being discovered. Here, we present the current state of the art on genetic research in the personality field and finally list several of the recently published research highlights. First, we briefly describe the commonly used self-reported measures that define personality traits. Then, we summarize the characteristics of the candidate genes for personality traits and investigate gene variants that have been suggested to be associated with personality traits.