Associations between loneliness and personality are mostly driven by a genetic association with Neuroticism

Abdellaoui, Abdel; Chen, Hsi-Yuan; Willemsen, Gonneke; Ehli, Erik A.; Davies, Gareth E.; Verweij, Karin J. H.; Nivard, Michel G.; Geus, Eco J. C. de; Boomsma, Dorret I.; Cacioppo, John T.

doi:10.1111/jopy.12397

Cited by 92 publications

(107 citation statements)

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“…61 We showed in another molecular genetic study that loneliness and neuroticism also have a considerable shared genetic etiology with an estimated genetic correlation between .7 and .8. 23 When analyzing the polygenic scores separately, we see a strong negative association with the polygenic score for subjective well-being which, despite relatively low power, suggests a genetic correlation with subjective wellbeing in the same range (or higher) as the genetic correlation with neuroticism and depression. This genetic correlation is likely due to genes that subjective well-being shares with neuroticism and/or depression, which have genetic correlations with well-being of approximately −.8.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 74%

“…GCTA-GREML and LD score regression have shown that the aggregate of all measured SNPs explain about 14% of the individual differences in loneliness. 23,24 The predictive value of polygenic scores based on individual level DNA data have potential clinical utility beyond that of methods that only estimate SNP-based heritability (eg, GCTA-GREML 25 and LD score regression 21 ), that is why it is important to test their predictive value as we do in our study. Powerful polygenic scores can potentially be used in the clinic as estimates of genetic risk, and have additional applications in a research context, such as the study of interactions between genetic risk and environmental exposures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Polygenic scores were also computed for the Big Five personality dimensions, which have been associated with loneliness in several studies, with neuroticism and extraversion generally showing the strongest associations with loneliness (positive and negative associations, respectively). 23,[30][31][32] From epidemiological studies we also know that lonely individuals have lower levels of well-being, 33 more depressive symptoms, 34,35 more substance use, 36,37 more fatigue, 38,39 lower self-rated health, 40 tend to live in poorer neighborhoods 41 and reach lower educational attainment. 18,[42][43][44] Some of these associations may be explained by related socioeconomic factors; 45 in this paper we test whether there is a shared genetic etiology.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Predicting loneliness with polygenic scores of social, psychological and psychiatric traits

Abdellaoui

Nivard

Hottenga

et al. 2018

Genes Brain and Behavior

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Loneliness is a heritable trait that accompanies multiple disorders. The association between loneliness and mental health indices may partly be due to inherited biological factors. We constructed polygenic scores for 27 traits related to behavior, cognition and mental health and tested their prediction for self-reported loneliness in a population-based sample of 8798 Dutch individuals. Polygenic scores for major depressive disorder (MDD), schizophrenia and bipolar disorder were significantly associated with loneliness. Of the Big Five personality dimensions, polygenic scores for neuroticism and conscientiousness also significantly predicted loneliness, as did the polygenic scores for subjective well-being, tiredness and self-rated health. When including all polygenic scores simultaneously into one model, only 2 major depression polygenic scores remained as significant predictors of loneliness. When controlling only for these 2 MDD polygenic scores, only neuroticism and schizophrenia remain significant. The total variation explained by all polygenic scores collectively was 1.7%. The association between the propensity to feel lonely and the susceptibility to psychiatric disorders thus pointed to a shared genetic etiology. The predictive power of polygenic scores will increase as the power of the genome-wide association studies on which they are based increases and may lead to clinically useful polygenic scores that can inform on the genetic predisposition to loneliness and mental health.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 74%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Predicting loneliness with polygenic scores of social, psychological and psychiatric traits

Abdellaoui

Nivard

Hottenga

et al. 2018

Genes Brain and Behavior

Self Cite

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“…Abdellaoui et al, 2019), neuroticism was not the only personality trait that was significantly related to loneliness when controlling for the other four personality traits in this meta-analysis. Consistent with our preregistered hypotheses, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness were negatively related to loneliness, and neuroticism was positively related to loneliness.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 51%

Loneliness and the Big Five Personality Traits: A Meta-Analysis

Buecker¹,

Maes²,

Denissen³

et al. 2019

Preprint

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This preregistered meta‐analysis (k = 113, total n = 93 668) addressed how the Big Five dimensions of personality (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness) are related to loneliness. Robust variance estimation accounting for the dependency of effect sizes was used to compute meta‐analytic bivariate correlations between loneliness and personality. Extraversion (r = −.370), agreeableness (r = −.243), conscientiousness (r = −.202), and openness (r = −.107) were negatively related to loneliness. Neuroticism (r = .358) was positively related to loneliness. These associations differed meaningfully in strength depending on how loneliness was assessed. Additionally, meta‐analytic structural equation modelling was used to investigate the unique association between each personality trait and loneliness while controlling for the other four personality traits. All personality traits except openness remained statistically significantly associated with loneliness when controlling for the other personality traits. Our results show the importance of stable personality factors in explaining individual differences in loneliness. © 2020 European Association of Personality Psychology

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“…Neuroticism does not predict number of friendships during the freshman year (Selfhout et al, 2010), but it does predict increases in self-reported loneliness (and vice versa; Abdellaoui et al, 2019) and negative life events (Lüdtke, Roberts, Trautwein, & Nagy, 2011;Magnus, Diener, Fujita, & Pavot, 1993). Neuroticism is also associated with the type of behaviours, such as strong reactions to cues of social inclusion (Denissen & Penke, 2008) and inter-moment mood spillovers and general susceptibility to stress (Suls & Martin, 2005), that could explain why neuroticism would predict decreased peer regard, as our results suggest it does.…”

Section: Timing Matters For Personality Effectsmentioning

confidence: 56%

Peer Sociometric Status and Personality Development from Middle Childhood to Preadolescence

Ilmarinen¹,

Vainikainen²,

Verkasalo³

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Sociometric status, the regard that other group members confer to an individual, is one of the most ubiquitous and behaviourally relevant attributes assigned to the person by the social environment. Despite this, its contribution to personality development has received little attention. The present three-wave longitudinal study, spanning the age range 7-13 years (n = 1222), sought to fill this gap by examining the transactional pathways between peer sociometric status (measured by peer nominations) and Five-Factor personality traits (measured by self-ratings and parent and teacher ratings). Sociometric status prospectively predicted the development of extraversion. By contrast, agreeableness and neuroticism prospectively predicted the development of sociometric status. Furthermore, individual-level stability in extraversion was associated with individual-level stability in sociometric status. The results were robust across different sources of personality ratings. We argue that peer sociometric status in the school classroom is the type of environmental effect that has potential to explain personality development. Because of its stability, broadness, and possible impact across a variety of personality processes, sociometric status can both repetitiously and simultaneously influence the network of multiple inter-correlated micro-level personality processes, potentially leading to a new network equilibrium that manifests in changes at the level of the broad personality trait.

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Associations between loneliness and personality are mostly driven by a genetic association with Neuroticism

Abstract: We show that the relationship between loneliness and personality is largely explained by its relationship with Neuroticism, which is substantially genetic in nature.

Cited by 92 publications

References 73 publications

Predicting loneliness with polygenic scores of social, psychological and psychiatric traits

Predicting loneliness with polygenic scores of social, psychological and psychiatric traits

Loneliness and the Big Five Personality Traits: A Meta-Analysis

Peer Sociometric Status and Personality Development from Middle Childhood to Preadolescence

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