Study: Genes hold key to happiness

EDINBURGH, Scotland, March 5 (UPI) -- Happiness is partly determined by personality traits, but both personality and happiness are largely hereditary, a Scottish and Australian study finds.

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh and Queensland Institute for Medical Research in Australia used a framework psychologists use to rate personalities -- the Five-Factor Model -- and find people who do not excessively worry, who are sociable and conscientious tend to be happier.

This personality mix can act as a buffer when bad things happen, suggests the study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

The researchers, using personality and happiness data on more than 900 twin pairs, identified evidence for common genes that result in certain personality traits and predispose people to happiness.

Dr. Alexander Weiss of the University of Edinburgh says the findings suggest that those lucky enough to have the right inherited personality mix have an "affective reserve" of happiness that can be called upon in stressful times.

However, the researchers say although happiness is gene-based, about 50 percent of the differences between people when it comes to happiness is still comes down to external factors such as relationships, health and careers.