Personality is something we all share, but the different ways we think and feel also make us unique.
Personality is relatively stable and influences nearly every aspect of human life, from academic performance and career choices to health behaviours and longevity. For example, someone who is responsible might avoid taking risks or alcohol and drug use.
Our new study, published in Nature, has linked personality with more than 1,200 common genetic variants, highlighting its central role in understanding human experience.
This was only possible because 1.14 million people contributed their DNA and time to 46 research studies in 13 countries that measured personality in the same way.