Home Robust inference and correlates from genetic associations with personality

Robust inference and correlates from genetic associations with personality

Health & Medicine

September 2, 2026

Robust inference and correlates from genetic associations with personality

Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

Ted Schwaba, Lindsay S. Ackerman & Josephine C. M. Fealy

Department of Psychiatry, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, United States

Margaret L. Clapp Sullivan

Department of Biological Psychology, Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Wonuola A. Akingbuwa, Eco J. C. de Geus, Jouke-Jan Hottenga & Ian J. Deary

Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Wonuola A. Akingbuwa & Eco J. C. de Geus

Institute of Genomics, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia

Kerli Ilves, Urmo Võsa, Tõnu Esko, Mariliis Vaht, Tõnu Esko & Uku Vainik

ALERRT Center, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX, USA

Peter T. Tanksley

Laboratoire de Sciences Cognitives et Psycholinguistique (ENS, EHESS, CNRS), École Normale Supérieure, PSL University, Paris, France

Camille M. Williams

Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA

Yavor Dragostinov, Javier de la Fuente, K. Paige Harden & Elliot M. Tucker-Drob

Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA

Yavor Dragostinov & Elliot M. Tucker-Drob

Center for Precision Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

Travis T. Mallard & Justin D. Tubbs

Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

Travis T. Mallard & Justin D. Tubbs

Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

Travis T. Mallard & Justin D. Tubbs

Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA

Travis T. Mallard, Justin D. Tubbs & Margherita Malanchini

School of Biological and Behavioral Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK

Wangjingyi Liao & Agnieszka Musial

Medical Research Council Integrative Epidemiology Unit, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

Gibran Hemani, George Davey Smith, Elizabeth C. Corfield & Michel G. Nivard

Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

Gibran Hemani, George Davey Smith & Michel G. Nivard

Yale University, Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System, New Haven, CT, USA

Priya Gupta, Joel Gelernter & Daniel F. Levey

University of California San Diego, Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, USA

Murray B. Stein

Institute of Psychology, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia

Liisi Ausmees, Anu Realo & René Mõttus

Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK

Anu Realo, Jüri Allik & Uku Vainik

School of Educational Sciences, Tallinn University, Tallinn, Estonia

Anu Realo

Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

René Mõttus, Catharina A. Hartman, Charley Xia, Michelle Luciano, Ian J. Deary & W. David Hill

Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Uku Vainik

deCODE genetics/Amgen, Reykjavik, Iceland

Gudrun A. Jonsdottir, Gudmar Thorleifsson, Árni Freyr Gunnarsson, Gyda Bjornsdottir, Thorgeir E. Thorgeirsson, Hreinn Stefansson & Kari Stefansson

PROMENTA Research Center, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

Rosa Cheesman, Qi Qin, Helga Ask, Fartein Ask Torvik & Eivind Ystrom

School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

Rosa Cheesman

PsychGen Centre for Genetic Epidemiology and Mental Health, Division of Public Health and Prevention, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway

Elizabeth C. Corfield, Helga Ask & Eivind Ystrom

Psychiatric Genetic Epidemiology Group, Research Department, Lovisenberg Diaconal Hospital, Oslo, Norway

Elizabeth C. Corfield

Centre for Fertility and Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway

Fartein Ask Torvik

Centre for Research on Equality in Education, Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

Eivind Ystrom

Department of Mental Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway

Martin Tesli

Department of Psychiatry, Østfold Hospital, Sarpsborg, Norway

Martin Tesli

Department of Complex Trait Genetics, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Dorret I. Boomsma

Interdisciplinary Center Psychopathology and Emotion Regulation (ICPE), University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

Dener Cardoso Melo, Catharina A. Hartman & Albertine J. Oldehinkel

Epidemiology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

Harold Snieder & Peter J. van der Most

Lothian Birth Cohort Studies, Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

Charley Xia, W. David Hill, Gail Davies, Paul Redmond, Adele Taylor & Janie Corley

Centre for Genomic and Experimental Medicine, Institute of Genetics and Cancer, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

Archie Campbell

Department of Computational Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Seon-Kyeong Jang

Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

Scott I. Vrieze, Tobias Edwards, Alexandros Giannelis, Emily A. Willoughby, James J. Lee, Matt McGue, Robert F. Krueger & Colin D. Freilich

Minnesota Center for Twin and Family Research, Minneapolis, MN, USA

Scott I. Vrieze

Regeneron Genetics Center, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Tarrytown, NY, USA

Gonçalo Abecasis

QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Michelle K. Lupton, Brittany L. Mitchell, Petra V. Viher, Lucía Colodro-Conde, Nicholas G. Martin, Sarah E. Medland, Eske M. Derks & Briar Wormington

Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Michelle K. Lupton & Brittany L. Mitchell

School of Biomedical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Michelle K. Lupton & Brittany L. Mitchell

School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Lucía Colodro-Conde & Sarah E. Medland

Institute for Molecular Medicine FIMM, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

Jaakko Kaprio & Teemu Palviainen

Population Research Unit, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

Karri Silventoinen

Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway University of London, London, UK

Kaili Rimfeld

Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, UK

Kaili Rimfeld & Robert Plomin

Rutgers Addiction Research Center, Brain Health Institute, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA

Danielle M. Dick

Department of Psychiatry, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ, USA

Danielle M. Dick & Fazil Aliev

Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

Laura W. Wesseldijk & Fredrik Ullén

Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Laura W. Wesseldijk, Fredrik Ullén & Miriam A. Mosing

Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam University Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Laura W. Wesseldijk & Abdel Abdellaoui

Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

Miriam A. Mosing

Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Miriam A. Mosing

Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Henry R. Kranzler

Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

Yaira Nunez, Sarah Beck & Renato Polimanti

Department of Applied Economics, Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Alexandros Giannelis

Department of Geriatrics, College of Medicine, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA

Antonio Terracciano

Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, ML, USA

Antonio Terracciano

Institute for Genetic and Biomedical Research, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Cagliari, Italy

Michele Marongiu & Edoardo Fiorillo

Department of Biomedical Sciences, University Study of Sassari, Sassari, Italy

Francesco Cucca

Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine, College of Medicine, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA

Angelina R. Sutin

Pedagogical Sciences, Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

Tina Kretschmer

Huntsman Mental Health Institute, Department of Psychiatry, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

Andrey A. Shabalin

Department of Clinical Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland

Anna R. Docherty, Binisha H. Mishra & Terho Lehtimäki

Finnish Cardiovascular Research Center Tampere, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland

Binisha H. Mishra, Terho Lehtimäki & Mika Kähönen

Department of Clinical Chemistry, Fimlab Laboratories, Tampere, Finland

Binisha H. Mishra & Terho Lehtimäki

Department of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland

Olli T. Raitakari

Centre for Population Health Research, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland

Olli T. Raitakari

Research Centre of Applied and Preventive Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland

Olli T. Raitakari

InFLAMES Research Flagship, University of Turku, Turku, Finland

Olli T. Raitakari

Department of Clinical Physiology, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland

Mika Kähönen

Faculty of Medicine, Department of Psychology and Logopedics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

Aino Saarinen & Liisa Keltikangas-Järvinen

Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland

Henrik Dobewall

Institute of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, University of Münster, Münster, Germany

Klaus Berger & Marisol Herrera-Rivero

Department of Genetic Epidemiology, Institute of Human Genetics, Göttingen, Germany

Marisol Herrera-Rivero

Hector Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Psychiatry, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany

Fabian Streit

Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany

Fabian Streit

German Center for Mental Health (DZPG), Partner Site Mannheim-Heidelberg-Ulm, Ulm, Germany

Fabian Streit

Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Swapnil Awasthi & Alisha S. M. Hall

Department of Genetic Epidemiology in Psychiatry, Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Germany

Stephanie H. Witt, Lea Zillich & Lea Sirignano

Department of Psychology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

Johanna Tuhkanen & Jari Lahti

Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

Katri Räikkönen & Johan G. Eriksson

Folkhälsan Research Centre, Helsinki, Finland

Johan G. Eriksson & Jari Lahti

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, National University Singapore Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, Singapore, Singapore

Johan G. Eriksson

Alzheimer Scotland Dementia Research Centre, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

Tom C. Russ

Division of Psychiatry, Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

Tom C. Russ

Institute of Genetics and Biophysics “Adriano Buzzati-Traverso”, CNR, Naples, Italy

Marina Ciullo & Teresa Nutile

Translational Gerontology Branch, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, MD, USA

Jun Ding, Yong Qian, Toshiko Tanaka & Luigi Ferrucci

Department of Psychology and Neurosciences, Neuroimaging and Interindividual Differences, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors (IfADo), Dortmund, Germany

Erhan Genç & Christoph Fraenz

Department of Ergonomics, Networking Group Aging, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors (IfADo), Dortmund, Germany

Patrick D. Gajewski & Stephan Getzmann

Department of Psychology, Neuropsychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany

Javier E. Schneider Peñate

Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Germany

Stefanie Lis & Christian Schmahl

Department of Clinical Psychology, Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Germany

Stefanie Lis

Department of Affective Disorders, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark

Alisha S. M. Hall

Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

Alisha S. M. Hall

Department of Psychosomatic General Psychiatry, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany

Sabine C. Herpertz

Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Abdel Abdellaoui

T.S., M.L.C.S., A.A., M.G.N. and E.M.T.-D. conceived and designed the study and drafted and revised the manuscript. T.S., M.L.C.S., W.A.A., K.I., P.T.T., C.M.W., Y.D., T.T.M., J.D.T., W.L., L.S.A., J.C.M.F. and Á.F.G. conducted analyses of meta-analytic data. T.S., K.I., T.T.M., J.D.T., W.L., P.G., M.B.S., J.G., D.F.L., U. Võsa, L.A., A.R., M.V., J.A., T. Esko, R.M., U. Vainik, G.A.J., G.T., Á.F.G., G.B., T.E.T., H. Stefansson, K. Stefansson, R.C., Q.Q., E.C.C., H.A., F.A.T., E.Y., M.T., D.I.B., E.J.C.d.G., J.-J.H., D.C.M., H. Snieder, C.A.H., C.X., A.C., M.L., I.J.D., W.D.H., S.-K.J., S.I.V., G.A., M.K.L., B.L.M., P.V.V., L.C.-C., N.G.M., S.E.M., E.M.D., B.W., J.K., K. Silventoinen, T.P., A.M., K. Rimfeld, R. Plomin, M. Malanchini, D.M.D., F.A., L.W.W., F.U., M.A.M., H.R.K., Y.N., S.B., R. Polimanti, T. Edwards, A.G., E.A.W., J.J.L., M. McGue., A. Terracciano, M. Marongiu, E.F., F.C., A.R.S., P.J.v.d.M., A.J.O., T.K., A.A.S., A.R.D., R.F.K., C.D.F., B.H.M., T.L., O.T.R., M.K., A.S., H.D., L.K.-J., K.B., M.H.-R., F.S., S.A., S.H.W., J.T., K. Räikkönen, J.G.E., J.L., G.D., P.R., A. Taylor, J.C., T.C.R., M.C., T.N., J.D., Y.Q., T.T., L.F., L.Z., L.S., K.P.H., E.G., P.D.G., S.G., C.F., J.E.S.P., S.L., A.S.M.H., C.S., S.C.H., A.A., M.G.N. and E.M.T.-D. collected and conducted analysis of cohort-level data. G.H. and J.d.l.F. developed software used in the study. W.A.A., P.T.T., G.D.S., R.M., U. Vainik, G.A.J., T.E.T., R.C., E.C.C., H.A., F.A.T., N.G.M., E.M.D., J.K., L.W.W., R. Polimanti, A.T., P.J.v.d.M., C.X., M.L., I.J.D., W.D.H., H.D., F.S., L.F. and K.P.H. provided iterative feedback on the manuscript and made substantial contributions to the interpretation of data. M.G.N and E.M.T.-D. oversaw the study. All of the authors approved the final version of the manuscript.

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