Dopaminergic foundations of personality and individual differences
Open accessAbstract
For several decades, theory and research has drawn links between dopaminergic neurotransmission and various aspects of personality and individual differences, as well as major personality processes. Recent increases in the availability and affordability of neuroscience methods have permitted thorough investigation of such links as part of the thriving field of personality neuroscience. However, the picture emerging from this body of research is somewhat puzzling; Rather than being linked to only a few converging dimensions of individual differences in psychological functioning, dopamine seems to be associated with a wide range of rather disparate traits and psychopathological conditions including (among various others) impulsivity, extraversion, anxiety, reward sensitivity, approach behaviour, achievement motivation, working memory performance, cognitive flexibility, depression, anhedonia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and schizophrenia. Empirical research in this area typically focuses on only one piece of this puzzle based on a specific strand of theory and a narrow section of relevant prior findings. The present research topic will, for the first time, attempt to provide a fairly complete picture of the whole puzzle including all its disparate parts. Contributors will therefore be explicitly encouraged to go beyond their own specific dopamine-personality hypotheses and place their work in a broader context, thereby helping to forge links between largely non-overlapping research traditions.
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There is no exact match between any single personality trait and dopamine.
“there is no exact match between any single personality trait and dopamine”
From Systematic reviews of the acute effects of amphetamine on working memory and other cognitive performances in healthy individuals, with a focus on the potential influence of personality traits (2023) · cites this paper as Smillie & Wacker, 2014
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- Authors
- Smillie, L. D., & Wacker, J.
- Affiliations
- The University of Melbourne (AU)
- Universität Hamburg (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Smillie, Luke D.
- Venue
- Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media SA
- Published
- 2014-10-30
- Volume
- 8
- Pages
- 874-874
- ISSN
- 1662-5161 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4214189
- OpenAlex
- W2053815370
- Cited by
- 38
- References
- 26
- Citations by year
- 2025: 3 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 1 · 2015: 5
- FWCI
- 0.91
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Frontiers in Human Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Minerva Access (University of Melbourne) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Directory of Open access Books (OAPEN Foundation) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
- Keywords
- dopamine, dopamine signaling, personality, individual differences, personality neuroscience, impulsivity, extraversion, anxiety, reward sensitivity, approach behavior, achievement motivation, working memory, cognitive flexibility, depression, anhedonia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, schizophrenia
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