Perfectionism and Neuroticism: Evidence for a common genetic and environmental etiology

Introduction: Recent meta-analyses have shown that perfectionism dimensions display significant relationships with the Big Five factors, with the strongest associations being detected between perfectionistic concerns and Neuroticism. To date, no research investigating the etiologic factors underlying these relationships has been conducted.

Objective: The aim of our study was to address this literature gap by exploring the genetic and environmental influences that explain the phenotypic associations between perfectionistic concerns and Neuroticism.

Method: We used a multivariate twin design and tested two theoretical genetic models, an Independent and a Common Pathway model, on a sample of 678 Romanian twins.

Results: Univariate estimates showed that perfectionistic concerns and Neuroticism are moderately heritable (32%-46%). Multivariate analyses revealed that their phenotypic relationships were largely explained by additive genetic factors (r_g between .58 and .73). The best-fit Independent Pathway model indicated that perfectionistic concerns and Neuroticism were influenced directly by some common genetic and environmental factors accounting for approximately half of their individual variance.

Conclusion: The overlap between perfectionistic concerns and Neuroticism is mainly explained by a common genetic etiology. However, perfectionistic concerns and Neuroticism are still distinct personality features as their variances are also influenced by specific genetic and environmental factors.