Cohort profile: Personality Measurements at the Estonian Biobank of the Estonian Genome Center, University of Tartu

Like all behaviour, personality traits are substantially heritable, but their genetic background is poorly understood. Investigating traits’ genetic background could help explain disparities in health and other life outcomes that the traits likely contribute to. We describe two cohorts of the Estonian Biobank for whom, besides self- and informant-rated personality traits, detailed data are available on health behaviour, medical diagnoses and treatments, and biomarkers, among others. The first cohort (N = 3,640) filled out the NEO-PI-3 between 2008 and 2018. The second, partially overlapping cohort (N = 77,400) responded to a large and diverse item pool called the Hundred Nuances of Personality (100NP) covering the Big Five and other traits between 2021 and 2022. Research opportunities include gene discovery, health and well-being prediction, and causal modeling. New data are added periodically through additional data collection waves and linkage with various registries and databases.