Genome-wide association analyses of risk tolerance and risky behaviors in over one million individuals identify hundreds of loci and shared genetic influences

Richard Karlsson Linnér (), Pietro Biroli (), Edward Kong, S. Fleur W. Meddens (), Robee Wedow (), Mark Alan Fontana, Mael Lebreton, Abdel Abdellaoui (), Anke R. Hammerschlag (), Michel G. Nivard, Aysu Okbay, Cornelius A. Rietveld, Pascal N. Timshel, Stephen P. Tino, Maciej Trzaskowski, Ronald de Vlaming, Christian L. Zünd, Yanchun Bao, Laura Buzdugan, Ann H. Caplin, Chia-Yen Chen, Peter Eibich, Pierre Fontanillas, Juan R. Gonzalez, Peter K. Joshi, Ville Karhunen, Aaron Kleinman, Remy Z. Levin, Christina M. Lill, Gerardus A. Meddens, Gerard Muntané, Sandra Sanchez-Roige, Frank J. van Rooji, Erdogan Taskesen, Yang Wu, Futao Zhang, 23andMe Research Team, eQTLgen Consortium, International Cannabis Consortium, Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, Social Science Genetic Association Consortium, Adam Auton, Jason D. Boardman, David W. Clark, Andrew Conlin, Conor C. Dolan, Urs Fischbacher, Patrick Groenen (), Kathleen Mullan Harris, Gregor Hasler, Albert Hofman, Mohammad A. Ikram, Sonia Jain, Robert Karlsson, Ronald C. Kessler, Maarten Kooyman, James MacKillop, Minna Männikkö, Carlos Morcillo-Suarez, Matthew B. McQueen, Klaus M. Schmidt, Melissa C. Smart, Matthias Sutter, Roy Thurik, Andre G. Uitterlinden, Jon White, Harriet de Wit, Jian Yang, Lars Bertram, Dorret Boomsma, Tõnu Esko, Ernst Fehr, David A. Hinds, Magnus Johannesson, Meena Kumari, David Laibson, Patrik K. E. Magnusson, Michelle N. Meyer, Arcadi Navarro, Abraham A. Palmer, Tune H. Pers, Danielle Posthuma, Daniel Schunk, Murray B. Stein, Rauli Svento, Henning Tiemeier, Paul R. H. J. Timmers, Patrick Turley, Robert J. Ursano, Gert Wagner, James F. Wilson, Jacob Gratten, James J. Lee, David Cesarini, Daniel Benjamin, Philipp Koellinger and Jonathan Beauchamp ()
Additional contact information
Richard Karlsson Linnér: University Amsterdam
S. Fleur W. Meddens: University Amsterdam
Robee Wedow: University of Colorado, Boulder
Mark Alan Fontana: Center for the Advancement of Value in Musculoskeletal Care, Hospital for Special Surgery
Abdel Abdellaoui: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Anke R. Hammerschlag: University Amsterdam
Michel G. Nivard: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Aysu Okbay: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Cornelius A. Rietveld: Erasmus University
Pascal N. Timshel: University of Copenhagen
Stephen P. Tino: University of Toronto
Maciej Trzaskowski: University of Queensland
Ronald de Vlaming: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Christian L. Zünd: University of Zurich
Yanchun Bao: University of Essex
Laura Buzdugan: ETH Zurich
Ann H. Caplin: Stuyvesant High School
Chia-Yen Chen: Massachusetts General Hospital
Pierre Fontanillas: 23andMe
Juan R. Gonzalez: Barcelona Institute for Global Health
Peter K. Joshi: University of Edinburgh
Ville Karhunen: University of Oulu,
Aaron Kleinman: 23andMe
Remy Z. Levin: University of California San Diego
Christina M. Lill: University of Lübeck
Gerardus A. Meddens: Team Loyalty BV
Gerard Muntané: Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Sandra Sanchez-Roige: University of California San Diego
Frank J. van Rooji: Erasmus University
Erdogan Taskesen: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Yang Wu: University of Queensland
Futao Zhang: University of Queensland
23andMe Research Team: 23andMe
eQTLgen Consortium: eQTLgen Consortium
International Cannabis Consortium: International Cannabis Consortium
Psychiatric Genomics Consortium: Psychiatric Genomics Consortium
Social Science Genetic Association Consortium: Social Science Genetic Association Consortium
Adam Auton: 23andMe
Jason D. Boardman: University of Colorado Boulder
David W. Clark: University of Edinburgh
Andrew Conlin: Oulu Business School
Conor C. Dolan: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Kathleen Mullan Harris: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Gregor Hasler: University of Bern
Albert Hofman: Erasmus Medical Center
Mohammad A. Ikram: Erasmus Medical Center
Sonia Jain: University of California San Diego
Robert Karlsson: Karolinska Institutet
Ronald C. Kessler: Harvard Medical School
Maarten Kooyman: SURFsara
James MacKillop: McMaster University
Minna Männikkö: University of Oulu
Carlos Morcillo-Suarez: Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Matthew B. McQueen: University of Colorado Boulder
Klaus M. Schmidt: University of Munich
Melissa C. Smart: University of Essex
Andre G. Uitterlinden: Erasmus Medical Center
Jon White: University College London
Harriet de Wit: University of Chicago
Jian Yang: University of Queensland
Lars Bertram: University of Lübeck
Dorret Boomsma: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Tõnu Esko: University of Tartu
David A. Hinds: 23andMe
Meena Kumari: University of Essex
Patrik K. E. Magnusson: Karolinska Institutet
Michelle N. Meyer: Geisinger Health System
Arcadi Navarro: Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Abraham A. Palmer: University of California San Diego
Tune H. Pers: University of Copenhagen
Danielle Posthuma: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Daniel Schunk: Johannes Gutenberg University
Murray B. Stein: University of California San Diego
Rauli Svento: University of Oulu
Henning Tiemeier: Erasmus Medical Center
Paul R. H. J. Timmers: University of Edinburgh
Robert J. Ursano: University Health Science
James F. Wilson: University of Edinburgh
Jacob Gratten: University of Queensland
James J. Lee: University of Minnesota Twin Cities
Jonathan Beauchamp: University of Toronto

No 2018-087, Working Papers from Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group

Abstract: Humans vary substantially in their willingness to take risks. In a combined sample of over one million individuals, we conducted genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of general risk tolerance, adventurousness, and risky behaviors in the driving, drinking, smoking, and sexual domains. We identified 611 approximately independent genetic loci associated with at least one of our phenotypes, including 124 with general risk tolerance. We report evidence of substantial shared genetic influences across general risk tolerance and risky behaviors: 72 of the 124 general risk tolerance loci contain a lead SNP for at least one of our other GWAS, and general risk tolerance is moderately to strongly genetically correlated with a range of risky behaviors. Bioinformatics analyses imply that genes near general-risk-tolerance-associated SNPs are highly expressed in brain tissues and point to a role for glutamatergic and GABAergic neurotransmission. We find no evidence of enrichment for genes previously hypothesized to relate to risk tolerance.

Keywords: GWAS; genome-wide association studies; risk taking; risk tolerance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D81 I14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp and nep-hea
Note: HI,ECI
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (26)

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http://humcap.uchicago.edu/RePEc/hka/wpaper/Linner ... ciation-analyses.pdf First version, November 2018 (application/pdf)
http://humcap.uchicago.edu/RePEc/hka/wpaper/Linner ... ntal-information.pdf Supplemental Information (application/pdf)
http://humcap.uchicago.edu/RePEc/hka/wpaper/Linner ... analyses_figures.pdf Supplemental Figures (application/pdf)
http://humcap.uchicago.edu/RePEc/hka/wpaper/Linner ... analyses_tables.xlsx Supplemental Tables (application/vnd.ms-excel)

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