'Genes do not determine personality'

While genetics could influence health and looks, personalities are more a matter of evolution, says a study.

It may be fair to blame your genes on the way you look, or how healthy you are, but as far as your personality goes, it seems that that’s one trait you are responsible for.

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These findings are based on a study by boffins at the Centre for Statistical Genetics at the University of Michigan, that was conducted on 6,148 people from the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, where many residents are related, and thus genetically isolated from the world.

The researchers found that while genetics account for roughly 51 per cent of a person’s height, weight and overall body shape, 25 per cent of cardiovascular function, and about 40 per cent of certain blood characteristics, such as sugar and cholesterol levels, they only account for about 19 percent of many documented personality traits, such as neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness.

Gonçalo Abecasis, one of the study’s authors, said that in his personal view, that unlike looks and health, people have evolved to have very different personalities.

"My personal view is that we have evolved to have very diverse personalities and that, compared to other traits, personality may be much less deterministic than other human characteristics. My view is that both genes and environment will play smaller roles than random factors," Discovery News quoted him, as saying.

As a part of the study, the boffins took blood samples, gave physical exams, and asked participants to fill out standard personality questionnaires.

They also performed a number of tests to measure liver and thyroid function, electroylte levels, cholesterol, blood glucose etc in the group of people.

The researchers first calculated the amount of DNA shared for each pair of relatives, and then compared the data with the health, weight, personality and other data through computer models to find how much of each trait appeared to be affected by genetics.

They found that while genetics often influence body structure, health and looks, they don’t play a very big role in a person’s personality.

The study appeared in the August issue of PLoS Genetics.