Premium
Perfectionism and Neuroticism: Evidence for a common genetic and environmental etiology
Author(s) -
Burcaş Sylvia,
Creţu Romeo Zeno
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of personality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.082
H-Index - 144
eISSN - 1467-6494
pISSN - 0022-3506
DOI - 10.1111/jopy.12617
Subject(s) - neuroticism , perfectionism (psychology) , psychology , personality , big five personality traits , twin study , behavioural genetics , trait theory , clinical psychology , etiology , multivariate statistics , developmental psychology , heritability , psychiatry , social psychology , genetics , biology , statistics , mathematics
Recent meta‐analyses have shown that perfectionism dimensions display significant relationships with the Big Five factors, with the strongest associations being detected between perfectionistic concerns and Neuroticism. To date, no research investigating the etiologic factors underlying these relationships has been conducted. Objective The aim of our study was to address this literature gap by exploring the genetic and environmental influences that explain the phenotypic associations between perfectionistic concerns and Neuroticism. Method We used a multivariate twin design and tested two theoretical genetic models, an Independent and a Common Pathway model, on a sample of 678 Romanian twins. Results Univariate estimates showed that perfectionistic concerns and Neuroticism are moderately heritable (32%–46%). Multivariate analyses revealed that their phenotypic relationships were largely explained by additive genetic factors ( r g between .58 and .73). The best‐fit Independent Pathway model indicated that perfectionistic concerns and Neuroticism were influenced directly by some common genetic and environmental factors accounting for approximately half of their individual variance. Conclusion The overlap between perfectionistic concerns and Neuroticism is mainly explained by a common genetic etiology. However, perfectionistic concerns and Neuroticism are still distinct personality features as their variances are also influenced by specific genetic and environmental factors.