Human Temperament Research Articles

The COMT Val158Met polymorphism is associated with novelty seeking in czech methamphetamine abusers: Preliminary results

Background and aims:Measurable traits of human personality may mark the predisposition to psychopathology. Increased novelty seeking plays an important role in the pathogenesis of substance abuse. Novelty seeking, one of the fundamental traits of the human temperament, is related to dopamine. Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) is essential for dopamine inactivation. The aim of our study was to assess whether the COMT gene Val158Met functional polymorphism in patients dependent on methamphetamine is related to their novelty seeking score.Methods:Patients dependent on methamphetamine who had been treated at the Addiction Treatment Unit in Nechanice in 2004 and 2005 agreed to participate in the investigation. We administered the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) questionnaire, assessed their novelty seeking score and analysed their DNA samples for COMT Val158Met genotype.Results:The subjects were thirty-seven Czech Caucasians (women N = 10) dependent on methamphetamine with an average age of 23.6 ± 3.8 years. We found a significantly higher mean novelty seeking score among the patients with the Met allele (Met/Met homozygotes + Val/Met heterozygotes; N = 28) than in nine Val/Val homozygotes (27.4 vs 24.1; p = 0.042, Two-Sample T-Test).Conclusions:The Met allele of the COMT gene Val158Met polymorphism is associated with low COMT enzyme activity and high endogenous dopamine synaptic levels in the prefrontal cortex. This leads to a decrease in dopaminergic neurotransmission in nucleus accumbens and a need for an increased activity to stimulate it. Novelty seeking behavior corresponds with this need.

Cloninger's temperament dimensions and epidermal growth factor A61G polymorphism in Finnish adults

This study examines a link between human temperament and epidermal growth factor (EGF). There is evidence that dopaminergic neurotransmission in the central nervous system has a role in temperament, especially in novelty seeking. Functional polymorphism in EGF gene has an impact on EGF production, and EGF, in turn, appears to affect the development of midbrain dopaminergic neurons. Epidermal growth factor gene A61G polymorphisms were studied in a randomly selected sample of 292 Finnish adults. Their temperaments were assessed twice (with a 4-year test-retest interval) with Cloninger's Temperament and Character Inventory consisting of four dimensions, i.e. novelty seeking (NS), harm avoidance (HA), reward dependence (RD) and persistence (P). The findings on men showed a significant association between a presence of the G/G polymorphism and scoring in the highest tertile on NS in both test and retest. The same was true with men who scored high on RD, especially on sensitivity, in both tests. Among women, G/G polymorphism was associated with a stable high level of P. Importantly, temperament dimensions, as assessed with one test only, did not provide replicable associations with EGF polymorphism across the two measurements. Our results demonstrate the importance of reliable phenotype assessment and lend support to the hypothesis that dopaminergic activity is one factor underlying stable temperament.

Association of dopamine D4 receptor (DRD4) exon III repeat polymorphism with temperament in 3-year-old infants.

The long forms of the dopamine D4 receptor (DRD4) exon III repeat polymorphism (L-DRD4) have been linked in some studies to the adult personality trait of novelty seeking (NS), as well as to infant personality traits related to interest and activity. The current investigation extends the results of our previous longitudinal study on 1- to 5-month-old neonates assessed by the Early and Revised Infancy Temperament Questionnaire (EITQ/RITQ), in which we found a significant correlation between the DRD4 polymorphism and the adaptability trait at 1 month of age. In this study, we examined the relationship between children's behavior at 3 years of age, measured with the Toddler Temperament Scale (TTS), and DRD4 exon III repeat polymorphism. We found a significant association between the behavioral dimension of intensity of reaction and DRD4 genotypes. Current data failed to confirm the association with the adaptability trait. None of the extraversion and/or exploratory behavior measures was related to the L-DRD4 allele, as expected. In contrast, children with 4/7 genotypes showed worse response to new stimuli compared with 4/4 genotypes. This study corroborates only in part previous results on the link between the DRD4 gene and human temperament.

A communibiological examination of ethnocentrism and homophobia

This study examined relationships between ethnocentrism, homophobia, and human temperament, and the impact these variables have on human communication. The first phase of the study examined the relationship between homophobia and ethnocentrism, and indicated a substantial relationship. Previous research in psychobiology has noticed that many factors related to ethnocentrism are genetically based; therefore, the next phase of this study examined the relationship of both ethnocentrism and homophobia with Eysenck's temperamental framework (based on the super traits of extra‐version, neuroticism, and psychoticism). There were no significant relationships between individuals' temperament and their level of either ethnocentrism or homophobia. The essay concludes by examining some implications of the findings for the study of human communication.

A Regulatory Monoamine Oxidase A Promoter Polymorphism and Personality Traits

Monoamine oxidase type A (MAOA) has been implicated to be part of mechanisms underlying human temperament and psychiatric disorders. We hypothesised that a functional polymorphism in the 5′ untranslated region of the MAOA gene is associated with specific personality traits. In 371 healthy Caucasians, we estimated personality traits by the use of the Karolinska Scales of Personality (KSP), Scandinavian Universities Scales of Personality, Health-Relevant 5-Factor Personality inventory, Temperament and Character Inventory and the revised NEO Personality Inventory. In the same subjects, we analysed the genotype of a polymorphic region consisting of a variable number of a 30-bp repeat sequence located approximately 1.2 kb upstream of the MAOA gene. After correction for multiple testing, no statistically significant differences between MAOA genotype and personality were observed in men (n = 206) nor in women (n = 165). We conclude that the structure of this MAOA promoter region does not have a large impact on the expression of personality characteristics in the present Swedish population.

Dopamine D4 receptor (DRD4) polymorphism and adaptability trait during infancy: a longitudinal study in 1- to 5-month-old neonates.

We have examined the relationship between the common dopamine D4 receptor (DRD4) exon III repeat polymorphism and infants' behavior measured with the Italian version of the Early and Revised Infancy Temperament Questionnaires (EITQ/RITQ) in 122 Italian neonates at 1 and 5 months of life, when the genetic contribution to the behavior can be more clearly assessed. Two-way (genotype x age) analysis of variance revealed a significant correlation with the temperamental subscale of adaptability [F(1, 120) = 5.26, P < 0.02]. At 1 month of life (early assessment), infants with long (L) DRD4 alleles presented significantly low scores (L 2.61 +/- 0.073; S 2.84 + 0.79; Newman-Keuls P = 0.03) in comparison with the high scores of infants with short (S) alleles (L 2.4 +/- 0.059; S 2.25 +/- 0.57). These differences were not detected at 5 months of life (late assessment), denoting a strong environmental effect at this age on the genetic background. These results confirm and extend the genetic influence of the DRD4 gene in human temperament at birth.

Association between Novelty Seeking and the -521 C/T polymorphism in the promoter region of the DRD4 gene.

Association between the human personality trait 'Novelty Seeking' and the polymorphism of the DRD4 gene was first reported by Ebstein and Benjamin in 1996. This was soon followed by replication studies in various ethnic groups and by studying the role of other neurotransmitter receptor and transporter genes in the genetic determination of human temperament. More recently, several polymorphic sites of the upstream regulatory region of the DRD4 gene have been described. Among these the -521 C/T single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) was shown to be associated with the Novelty Seeking (NS) scores of the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) in a Japanese male population. We have investigated the -521 C/T SNP polymorphism in a Caucasian (Hungarian) population, and here we report a replication of the Japanese findings, in an association study involving 109 healthy Hungarian volunteers. We found a weak association between NS and CC vs CT or TT genotypes (P < 0.06). Examination of this relation in male and female sex groups, however, strengthened the association for females (P < 0.01), but showed no genotypic effect for males.

Personality and polymorphisms of genes involved in aminergic neurotransmission

Genetic factors significantly contribute to the determination of human personality traits assessed by self-report questionnaires. However, only in the past few years have common genetic polymorphisms especially the dopamine D4 receptor and the serotonin transporter promoter region been associated with specific personality traits such as novelty seeking and harm avoidance, respectively. The effects of these genes are modest and several genes are likely accounting for individual differences in personality dimensions that can be attributed to genetic factors. Molecular genetic studies of adult personality have also been extended to investigations of early human temperament and some of the genes associated with adult personality traits are also contributing to the earliest developmental expressions of human behavior. Additionally, some of these same genes have also been implicated in various types of abnormal behavior including addiction, obsessive–compulsive disorder, attention deficit, depression, aggression and psychosis. Future research directions will no doubt take advantage of the bioinformatics revolution coinciding with the completion of the first phase of the human genome project. It should soon be possible to identify many of the genes contributing to specific personality traits and to better define their role in determining normal and abnormal behavior from early development through adulthood.

Do the dimensions of the temperament and character inventory map a simple genetic architecture? Evidence from molecular genetics and factor analysis.

It has been reported that the human temperament dimensions of novelty seeking and harm avoidance are associated with polymorphisms in the D(4) dopamine receptor gene (D4DR) and the serotonin-transporter-linked promoter region (5-HTTLPR), respectively. Although these findings are consistent with Cloninger's hypothesized psychobiological model of temperament and character, many studies failed to replicate these findings. In the present study the authors tested whether the psychobiological model taps the genetic architecture of personality by exploring associations between these candidate genes and the dimensions of the Temperament and Character Inventory and by examining its phenotypic structure. Of the 946 male and female participants in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging to whom the Temperament and Character Inventory was administered, 587 were genotyped for a polymorphism with a 48-base-pair repeat in the D4DR gene and 425 were genotyped for a 44-base-pair insertion or deletion in the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism. There was no significant association between D4DR polymorphisms and novelty seeking. The authors also failed to find an association between 5-HTTLPR polymorphisms and harm avoidance. The factor structure of the Temperament and Character Inventory did not reveal the hypothesized phenotypic structure. This investigation produced no support for the temperament-character model at either the biological or psychological level.

5-HT2C (HTR2C) serotonin receptor gene polymorphism associated with the human personality trait of reward dependence: interaction with dopamine D4 receptor (D4DR) and dopamine D3 receptor (D3DR) polymorphisms.

We recently reported an association between the long repeat allele of the dopamine D4 exon III receptor polymorphism and a human personality dimension, novelty seeking, as measured by the tridimensional personality questionnaire (TPQ), a personality instrument designed by Cloninger to reflect heritable facets of human temperament. The D4 receptor polymorphism (D4DR) accounts for only a small percent of the variance for this trait, suggesting that additional genes influence both novelty seeking as well as the other temperaments that are inventoried by the Cloninger TPQ. In the current investigation, we examined, in the original cohort of 120 normal volunteers, two additional coding region polymorphisms, a glycine to serine substitution in the dopamine D3 receptor (D3DR) and a cysteine to serine substitution in the 5-HT2C serotonin receptor (HTR2C). Three-way analysis of variance (TPQ score grouped by D4DR, D3DR and 5-HT2C) demonstrated that reward dependence and persistence scores were significantly reduced by the presence of the less common 5-HT2Cser polymorphism. The effect of the serine substitution in this X-linked serotonin receptor polymorphism on reward dependence was also observed when male and female subject groups were separately analyzed. There was also a significant interaction between the two dopamine receptor polymorphisms and the serotonin polymorphism on reward dependence. In particular, the effect of the 5-HT2C polymorphism on reward dependence was markedly accentuated in individuals who had the long version of the D4DR exon III repeat polymorphism. When present in the same individual, the 5-HT2C and dopamine receptor polymorphisms account for 30% of the observed variance for persistence (RD2) and 13% of the variance for reward dependence scores (RD134). However, the number of subjects with both less common D4DR and 5-HT2C polymorphisms is small, underscoring the importance of verifying this interaction in a larger cohort.

Factorial Validity of Scores on the Structure of Temperament Questionnaire

This study investigated the construct validity of scores on the Structure of Temperament Questionnaire (STQ), which was designed to measure eight dimensions of human temperament. The 105 STQ items were factor analyzed. Guided by previous research, both three-factor and nine-factor solutions were compared to the theoretical structure of the instrument. Neither the orthogonal nor the oblique solution revealed the eight first-order temperament factors (plus a social desirability factor). The three-dimensional structure of the STQ items was supported.

Viewing the Journey of Explanatory Style: A Bystander's Report

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Object-related and communicative aspects of human temperament: A new questionnaire of the structure of temperament

Temperament is viewed as an integral system of formal behavioral dimensions, generalized from different stages of the Anokhin functional system in the process of activity and communication. The number of dimensions and their meaning refer to concepts of the four-stage structure of the functional system: the afferent synthesis stage is related to ergonicity; the programming (decision-making) stage-to plasticity; the execution stage-to individual tempo; and feedback to the acceptor of the results of action is referred to the emotional sensitivity threshold. Each dimension consists of two subdimensions: object-oriented and subject-oriented (or communicative), connected with two main spheres of human interaction, object world and society. By using the latent structure analysis technique, an 8-scale questionnaire (105 questions) of the structure of human temperament (STQ) was constructed. All scales are psychometrically reliable and internally consistent. Preliminary data show high external (experts') validity.

Arousal, affect, and attention as components of temperament.

Contemporary models of human temperament have been based on the general constructs of arousal, emotion, and self-regulation. In order to more precisely investigate these constructs, they were theoretically decomposed into 19 subconstructs, and homogeneous scales were developed to assess them. The scales were constructed through an item-selection technique that maximized internal consistency and minimized conceptual overlap. Correlational and factor analyses suggested that arousal can be usefully assessed in terms of its central, autonomic, and motor components. The emotions of sadness, relief, and low-intensity pleasure were most closely related to the measures of central arousal. Emotions of fear, frustration, discomfort, and high-intensity pleasure were more closely related to measures of attentional control. We discuss these findings in terms of the functional relations between arousal, emotion, and attention.

Presidential Address: Collective Mentalities in Mid Seventeenth-Century England: II. Royalist Attitudes

ANY attempt to apply the same approach in the case of Cavaliers as I did with Puritans last year may seem doomed to inevitable failure. It will be considered futile to search for particular varieties of human temperament which inclined individuals towards adopting particular ideas and beliefs of a broadly conservative persuasion. Left-wing intellectuals, historians included, have sometimes been reluctant to admit that instinctive, emotional conservatism can be held to constitute a system of ideas at all, as opposed to a welter of prejudices and vested interests. Correspondingly, for many people of conservative views, acceptance of the world of order, hierarchy and inequality broadly as they find it—not necessarily as the best of all possible worlds but as the least bad of all realisable ones—is so obviously sensible as to need no intellectual defence or justification. None the less, not all the royalists of 1641–2 and after were unthinking conservatives, with the smallest of small ‘c’s, or at any rate not in the same sense. Not all professed the same religious tenets; not all adhered to the same constitutional principles; not all came to be royalists in the same way and at the same time. So some modest analysis of the Cavalier party in terms of what may be called ideological temperament is, I hope, worth undertaking. Not that the royalist cause has lacked its apologists, from the greatest of seventeenth-century historians to our own day. Few, however, have paused to consider the kind of people who became Cavaliers and their probable motivation.

Factor Analysis of a Measure of “Social Self”

The findings reported in this paper are part of a major research project undertaken to produce an alternate form of the Activity Vector Analysis (AVA) . They also represent a replication and extension of much of the earlier work done by Clarke ( 1956) in the development of the AVA prior to its publication in 1948. The AVA is a self-concept personality assessment instrument. It consists of an open-ended list of 81 non-derogatory words which may be used in describing human temperament. The testee is asked first to check those words which have ever been used by anyone in describing him, and then to go back and check those words which he believes are really descriptive of himself. It is the first group of words checked which yields a measure of selfperception and which constitutes the basis for the study reported in this article. Since the earlier work of Raimy ( 1943 ) , Lecky ( 1945 ) , and Rogers ( 195 1, 1955), much has appeared in the literature regarding concept. Most of these reports, however, have been devoted to differences arising between concepts of basic and ideal self. Recently, however, Smith (1958) has reported on the concept of social which he defines as that seen by others. The present article refers to this latter self in contrast to the conventional ideal self.

Composition of Place

The household of Faith is manifold but single: its unity demands a variety of race and culture and temporal allegiance, reconciled at the centre in Christ our Lord. In time and space, within the categories that men discern, the individuations that spring from historical change, or merely from human temperament, can seem more compelling than the hidden unity which transcends them. And an insistence on the universality that Catholic faith must bring;—the Church is one, holy, Catholic, apostolic, because in Christ there can be no division, because he is holiness, because he willed all men to be redeemed through himself and that redemption to be made accessible through his apostles—such an insistence can never ignore the integrity of men as endowed with shape and colour, with minds and wills uniquely given and to be employed in the context of the life they find. Nor can it ignore the varieties of society— enslaved or free—which the Church exists to redeem.‘All things to all men’. It is part at least of the Christian aposto- late: the source is one, but the streams go far. And a parish, mirroring the Church herself, may include at one end a monastery, at the other a prison. And in between, the infinite gradations of holiness or the lack of it: solid families of tradition, isolated converts, the rootless and the dispossessed. Behind walls the holy, behind other walls the publicly condemned; and the mission of the Church is to those and to everyone else besides.In a stable world, with functions regulated and accepted as such, the redemptive work of the Church may seem easier to achieve.

REVIEWS AND NOTICES OF BOOKS

British Journal of InebrietyVolume 35, Issue 1 p. 10-40 REVIEWS AND NOTICES OF BOOKS First published: July 1937 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1360-0443.1937.tb05034.xAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Abstract The Science of Social Adjustment. By Sir Josiah Stamp, G.C.B., G.B.E., F.B.A. Le Tabac et l'Hygiegne. By Par D. J. Poucel The Morphine Habit and its Painless Treatment. By G. Laughton Scott, B.A., M.R.C.S. Common Sense and God: A Critique of Naturalism. By Orville A. Petty, Ph.D., D.D. Reactions of the Human Machine. By John Yerbury Dent. The Roots of Evil: Being a Treatise on the Methods of Dealing with Crime and the Criminal during the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries in Relation to those of a More Enlightened Age. By Hon. Edward Cadogan, C.B. When Temperaments Clash: A Study of the Components of Human Temperament. By Murdo Mackenzie, M.D., M.R.C.P. A Textbook of Psychiatry. By P. Noyes, M.D. The Fight for our National Intelligence. By Raymond B. Cattell, M.A., B.Sc., Ph.D. Modern Discoveries in Medical Psychology. By Clifford Allen, M.D., M.R.C.P., D.P.M. Practical Aspects of Psychoanalysis: A Handbook for Prospective Patients and Their Advisers. By Lawrence S. Kirbie, M.D. Medical Modes and Morals. By Harry Roberts. With chapters on Doctors and Patients in the Past, by Margaret Jackson. Keeping Your Child Normal: Suggestions for Parents, Teachers, and Physicians; with a Critical Estimate of the Influence of Psychoanalysis. By Bernard Sachs, M.D. To-Morrow's Children: The Goal of Eugenics. By Ellsworth Huntington Seven Stages of Childhood. By Elizabeth Sloan Chesser, M.D. Problems of Child Welfare. By George B. Mangold, Ph.D. Road Sense for Children. By Major C. V. Godfrey Voluntary Parenthood. By Edward F. Griffith, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P. Controlling Human Behaviour: A First Book in Psychology for College Students. By Daniel Starch, Ph.D.; Hazel M. Stanton, Ph.D. Can Delinquency be Measured? By Sophia Moses Robison Manual of Public Health: Laboratory Practice. By J. R. Currie Illustrious Contributors to Public Health. By Charles Frederick Bolduan, M.D. What is Osteopathy? By Charles Hill, M.A., M.D., D.P.H., H. A. Clegg, M.A., M.B., M.R.C.P. The Science of Dining (Mensa Philosophica): A Medieval Treatise on the Hygiene of the Table and the Laws of Health. By Arthur S. Way The Loyal Heart: An Anthology on Monarchy and Country for the Year of the Coronation of His Majesty King George VI., May, 1937, to April, 1938. By Mary Hay Corfield, O.B.E. Stories of the Coronation. By “Euphan” and “Klaxon.” The Inn At the End of the World, and Other Plays of the Nativity. By J. Howard Whitehouse, John C. R. Cook, Donald E. Sutcliffe, and P. Alec Cook. Volume35, Issue1July 1937Pages 10-40 RelatedInformation

Book Review: Science and the Human Temperament

Book Review: Science and the Human Temperament

Where is Science Going? By Max Planck. With a preface by Albert Einstein. Translated and edited by James Murphy. (London: George Allen &amp; Unwin, Ltd.1933. Pp. 224. Price 7s. 6d. net.) - Atomic Theory and the Description of Nature. By Niels Bohr. (Cambridge University Press. 1934. Pp. 119. Price 6s. net.) - Science and the Human Temperament. By Erwin Schrödinger.

Where is Science Going? By Max Planck. With a preface by Albert Einstein. Translated and edited by James Murphy. (London: George Allen &amp; Unwin, Ltd.1933. Pp. 224. Price 7s. 6d. net.) - Atomic Theory and the Description of Nature. By Niels Bohr. (Cambridge University Press. 1934. Pp. 119. Price 6s. net.) - Science and the Human Temperament. By Erwin Schrödinger.