Genes may play a bigger role than previously thought in influencing personality.
Your Back Page scrawler has long been fascinated by the question of nature versus nurture, particularly when the discussion pertains to the issue of human personality.
For instance, how is it that two siblings can be raised in almost identical social environments and yet one of them turns out to be an utter arsehat while the other can charm the pants off a snake?
How much, or whether at all, genetics plays a role in all this has been a hotly contested subject of debate over the years with the pendulum of opinion often swinging wildly.
And new research from a team of boffins at Michigan State University seems set to pour fuel on the fire by bolstering the case for team “nature” and annoying the daylights out of team “nurture”.
Publishing their findings in the journal Nature this week, the researchers say their meta-analysis of more than one million people reveals there are more than 1000 genetic variants that help shape the human personality.
The analysis looked at how genes are linked to the key pillars of personality, including extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness to experience.
Overall, the team says it found 1260 genetic variants that can influence these traits, including a whopping 824 new discoveries.
While research in the past has demonstrated that genetic and environmental factors contributed to variation in personality, attempts to identify genetic signatures associated with personality traits are challenging as multiple genes may be involved and very large participant numbers are needed to make meaningful associations.
Unsurprisingly, this research shows that these associations are complex, with combinations of multiple variants associated with each trait. Having said that, the associations do apply to a range of different human groups, such as categories based on age or geographical location.
But before the nurture camp get their undies in too much of an uproar, the scientists were quick to explain that these results did not suggest that personality could be directly predicted by DNA.
Rather, they said, the findings indicated that while some variants might influence behaviour traits, other environmental factors could still have a greater impact on personality development.
Or to put it simply, it’s complicated. Which goes a long way to explaining the extraordinary range of personality diversity we naked apes display.
And while not everyone agrees that diversity is a good thing (you know who you are), we would argue that the success story we call evolution begs to differ.
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