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Genetic variants implicated in personality: A review of the more promising candidates
Author(s) -
Savitz Jonathan B.,
Ramesar Rajkumar S.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
american journal of medical genetics part b: neuropsychiatric genetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.393
H-Index - 126
eISSN - 1552-485X
pISSN - 1552-4841
DOI - 10.1002/ajmg.b.20155
Subject(s) - novelty seeking , serotonin transporter , personality , harm avoidance , epistasis , confounding , anxiety , psychology , allele , big five personality traits , twin study , genetics , gene , biology , clinical psychology , developmental psychology , heritability , psychiatry , medicine , social psychology , genotype
Alleles of the serotonin transporter gene ( SERT ) and the dopamine 4 receptor gene ( DRD4 ) were first associated with anxiety‐related and novelty‐seeking personality traits, respectively, in 1996. These early successes precipitated a flood of research into the genetic basis of personality; a quest that has yet to yield decisive answers. Here, both the theoretical and the empirical evidence implicating specific loci—in particular SERT and DRD4—in the development of personality is evaluated. Despite a paucity of statistically significant results following post‐hoc analysis, and an excess of positive results derived from studies with small sample sizes, the existence of a genuine effect is argued for: a gene‐personality relationship rendered periodically latent through genetic epistasis, gene–environment interactions, variation in genetic background, and the presence of other confounding variables. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.