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Original Article

The Generality of Personality Heritability

Big-Five Trait Heritability Predicts Response Time to Trait Items

Published Online:September 29, 2010https://doi.org/10.1027/1614-0001/a000029

Abstract

The present research examined the relationship between heritability and response time for the Big Five personality facets in three samples of adults and adolescents. We predicted that the larger the heritability of a facet the faster is the response to the items of that facet. In support of our predictions, the results showed that heritability and response time were indeed negatively correlated. The effect size of the relationship was small but systematic and statistically significant across all samples. The findings underline the generality of personality heritability and highlight the link between heritability and behavioral indicators. The potential usefulness of both heritability estimates and response time in research on personality is discussed.

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