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Heritability of NEO PI-R Extraversion Facets and Their Relationship With IQ

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2012

Jennifer L. Pincombe
Affiliation:
Genetic Epidemiology, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane, Australia.
Michelle Luciano*
Affiliation:
Genetic Epidemiology, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane, Australia. michelle.luciano@qimr.edu.au
Nicholas G. Martin
Affiliation:
Genetic Epidemiology, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane, Australia.
Margaret J. Wright
Affiliation:
Genetic Epidemiology, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane, Australia.
*
*Address for correspondence: Michelle Luciano, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, PO Royal Brisbane Hospital, Brisbane, QLD, 4029, Australia.

Abstract

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In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in the relationship between intelligence and personality. Extraversion, in particular, has been suggested to influence intelligence, but the direction of this relationship has been controversial (Wolf & Ackerman, 2005). In a young adult sample, the NEO PI-R was completed by 103 pairs of monozygotic twins, 181 pairs of dizygotic twins and 210 of their nontwin siblings. IQ data (Multidimensional Aptitude Battery) were available for approximately three quarters of this sample, and were collected at 16 years as part of an ongoing study of cognition conducted by the Queensland Institute of Medical Research. All extraversion facets were significantly influenced by genes with both additive and nonadditive genetic effects being important (heritabilities ranged from .25 for activity to .54 for warmth). While a significant correlation between the extraversion domain score and IQ was not found, the extraversion facet of excitement-seeking (E5) was significantly negatively correlated with both verbal (r = −.15) and performance (r = −.11) IQ scores. The facet of gregariousness was significantly correlated with verbal IQ only (r = −.09). The relationship between excitement-seeking and IQ was further shown to be solely due to additive genetic influences. These common genetic effects may stem from a dependence on brain dopamine, a neurotransmitter that has been implicated in both personality and cognition.

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Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007