Part of Your Personality Is Encoded in Your Genes. Huge Analysis Links Characteristics to More Than 1,200 Common Genetic Variants

A new meta-analysis pooled data from more than one million people to look at the crossover between DNA and the “Big Five” personality traits: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness and neuroticism

Sara Hashemi | Daily Correspondent

September 4, 2026 7:37 a.m.

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Our personalities come in all shapes and sizes, from being adventurous and extroverted to being anxious and organized. Scientists measure these characteristics using the “Big Five” personality traits: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness and neuroticism.

They’re defined by a mixture of genetics and environmental factors—nature and nurture, as some call it. But how much of your personality is defined by your DNA?

Now, in new research published in the journal Nature on September 2, scientists have compiled dozens of study cohorts to examine more than one million people’s genes to see how they relate to their personality traits. They identified more than 1,260 common genetic variants associated with one or more of the Big Five, more than 800 of which had not previously been identified. The findings can help researchers better understand human behavior and life outcomes on the population level.

“I view the 1,260 variants as kind of a testament to the fact that we’ve now got the power to answer all of these other questions that we couldn’t answer before,” says Elliot Tucker-Drob, a study co-author and psychologist at the University of Texas at Austin, to Emily Baumgaertner Nunn at the New York Times.

Previously, researchers have struggled to untangle the genetic component of personality. Large population databases with DNA information generally lack reliable measurements of personality, reports Nature’s Ewen Callaway.

So, Tucker-Drob and colleagues combined 46 study cohorts incorporating between about 611,000 and 1.14 million people who had provided DNA samples and taken personality questionnaires. By looking at the participants’ genomes—their complete sets of genetic instructions—the team identified genetic variants that were consistently tied to the Big Five.

The variants were associated with specific health and life outcomes. People with variants linked to extroversion, for example, were more likely to be infected with Covid-19 early in the pandemic. “Which makes sense, right? Because when you loosen up rules around social interaction, then the people who will take advantage of those loosening rules the most are people who have been missing that interaction most,” says Michel Nivard, a study co-author and epidemiologist at the University of Bristol in England, to Veronique Greenwood at Time.

Individuals with more genetic variants tied to agreeableness were less likely to face school suspension or to run away from home. Those with higher conscientiousness, or a capacity for productivity and organization, had less substance use and more frequently played sports. Outcomes-wise, they had fewer hospital stays and healthier aging. Openness to experience, meanwhile, was linked to more activity at night.

The team also analyzed participants who were related, including comparisons between twins and between parents and their children. The work suggested that shared family background couldn’t explain the identified genetic ties to the Big Five. Educational attainment also seemed to play a minor role.

Dalton Conley, a sociologist at Princeton University who was not involved in the work, tells the Times that he’s especially interested in the study’s findings on neuroticism. The trait was correlated with ten different psychiatric disorders, and individuals with more genetic variants associated with neuroticism were also more likely to second-guess themselves while filling out questionnaires, giving more “I don’t know” or “prefer not to answer” responses.

Conley tells the outlet that study’s findings challenge the idea that neuroticism is mainly driven by differences in levels of the chemical messenger serotonin, which is associated with mood. Psychiatric conditions like anxiety and depression are often treated by increasing serotonin, but the work found no strong connection between the chemical and neuroticism.

“I wouldn’t say it’s slaying that theory forever, but it’s definitely casting doubt,” Conley says.

Still, the researchers stress that only a small proportion of personality variation can be predicted by genetics—between about 5 and 10 percent, according to their work. Genetic associations are also not identical across geography, age groups and measurement instruments, the team writes in the paper.

Additionally, Nivard tells Nature that there would be little point in using genetics to predict someone’s personality. If you’re curious about your Big Five traits, it would be better to a personality test used in research.

“I’m not in the business, or interested at all, in predicting personality,” Nivard says. “Because if I want to know personality, I would just measure it.”

Sara Hashemi is a science writer and fact-checker currently based in New York City. Her work has appeared in Sierra, The Body, Maisonneuve magazine and more.