Colin G. DeYoung is an associate professor of

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

(

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

).University of Minnesota Website
His research is in the field of

personality psychology Personality psychology is a branch of psychology that examines personality and its variation among individuals. It aims to show how people are individually different due to psychological forces. Its areas of focus include: * construction of a c ...

and personality neuroscience.

Background

DeYoung earned his A.B. in the Mind, Brain, Behavior program of the History and Science concentration at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1998. He obtained his M.A. and Ph.D. in psychology in 2000 and 2005, respectively, at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

where he studied under Jordan B. Peterson.

Research

DeYoung's research in

has examined the theoretical structure of personality and the biological basis of personality.

Models of Personality

In contemporary psychology, the most commonly accepted model of personality structure is the "Big Five" or "

Five Factor Model The Big Five personality traits is a suggested taxonomy, or grouping, for personality traits, developed from the 1980s onward in psychological trait theory. Starting in the 1990s, the theory identified five factors by labels, for the US English ...

." Recent research using

factor analysis Factor analysis is a statistical method used to describe variability among observed, correlated variables in terms of a potentially lower number of unobserved variables called factors. For example, it is possible that variations in six observed ...

has suggested that the five domains of the Big Five have two higher-order factors, referred to as metatraits.DeYoung, C. G., Peterson, J. B., & Higgins, D. M. (2002). Higher-order factors of the Big Five predict conformity: Are there neuroses of health? ''Personality and Individual Differences, 33'', 533-552. The two metatraits are ''Stability'', which is composed of Big Five factors of

Agreeableness Agreeableness is a personality trait manifesting itself in individual behavioral characteristics that are perceived as kind, sympathetic, cooperative, warm, and considerate. In contemporary personality psychology, agreeableness is one of the five ...

Conscientiousness Conscientiousness is the personality trait of being careful, or diligent. Conscientiousness implies a desire to do a task well, and to take obligations to others seriously. Conscientious people tend to be efficient and organized as opposed to ...

, and Emotional Stability (the reverse of Neuroticism) and ''Plasticity'', which includes the Big Five factors of

Extraversion The traits of extraversion (also spelled extroversion Retrieved 2018-02-21.) and introversion are a central dimension in some human personality theories. The terms ''introversion'' and ''extraversion'' were introduced into psychology by Carl J ...

and Openness/Intellect (commonly referred to as

Openness to Experience Openness to experience is one of the domains which are used to describe human personality in the Five Factor Model. Openness involves six facets, or dimensions: active imagination (fantasy), aesthetic sensitivity, attentiveness to inner feelings, ...

). Stability is defined by one's maintenance of stability and hypothesized to be related to the neurotransmitter

serotonin Serotonin () or 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) is a monoamine neurotransmitter. Its biological function is complex and multifaceted, modulating mood, cognition, reward, learning, memory, and numerous physiological processes such as vomiting and vas ...

, while Plasticity is seen in one's adaptability to novelty and hypothesized to be related to the neurotransmitter

dopamine Dopamine (DA, a contraction of 3,4-dihydroxyphenethylamine) is a neuromodulatory molecule that plays several important roles in cells. It is an organic compound, organic chemical of the catecholamine and phenethylamine families. Dopamine const ...

. DeYoung has also proposed an expanded classification of the Big Five dividing each of the Big Five into two sub-dimensions. DeYoung, Quilty and Peterson (2007) suggested the following aspects of the Big Five factors: *

Neuroticism In the study of psychology, neuroticism has been considered a fundamental personality trait. For example, in the Big Five approach to personality trait theory, individuals with high scores for neuroticism are more likely than average to be moody ...

: **''Volatility'' - irritability, anger, and difficulty controlling emotional impulses **''Withdrawal'' - susceptibility to anxiety, worry, depression, and sadness *

: **''Compassion'' - empathetic emotional affiliation **''Politeness'' - consideration and respect for others' needs and desires *

: **''Industriousness'' - working hard and avoiding distraction **''Orderliness'' - organization and methodicalness *

: **''Enthusiasm'' - positive emotion and sociability **''Assertiveness'' - drive and dominance *Openness/Intellect (or

): **''Intellect'' - ingenuity, quickness, and intellectual engagement **''Openness'' - imagination, fantasy, and artistic and aesthetic interests The classification system utilizing these ten aspects allows for nuanced discrimination within the Big Five, which can reveal subtleties in differences in personality domains otherwise undetected.

Biological Basis of Personality

DeYoung et al.'s (2010) research indicates that the sizes of certain brain regions are related to four of the five different domains of the

. The volume of the medial

orbitofrontal cortex The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) is a prefrontal cortex region in the frontal lobes of the brain which is involved in the cognitive process of decision-making. In non-human primates it consists of the association cortex areas Brodmann area 11, 12 ...

, which is responsible for coding reward values, was positively associated with

. Neuroticism was related to reduced dorsomedial

prefrontal cortex In mammalian brain anatomy, the prefrontal cortex (PFC) covers the front part of the frontal lobe of the cerebral cortex. The PFC contains the Brodmann areas BA8, BA9, BA10, BA11, BA12, BA13, BA14, BA24, BA25, BA32, BA44, BA45, BA46, ...

and posterior

hippocampus The hippocampus (via Latin from Greek , 'seahorse') is a major component of the brain of humans and other vertebrates. Humans and other mammals have two hippocampi, one in each side of the brain. The hippocampus is part of the limbic system, a ...

volume and increased mid-

cingulate gyrus The cingulate cortex is a part of the brain situated in the medial aspect of the cerebral cortex. The cingulate cortex includes the entire cingulate gyrus, which lies immediately above the corpus callosum, and the continuation of this in the ci ...

volume, which are areas sensitive to threat and punishment and associated with negative emotion and

emotional dysregulation Emotional dysregulation is a range of emotional responses that are poorly modulated and do not lie within a desirable scope of emotive response. Emotional dysregulation can be associated with an experience of early psychological trauma, brain in ...

. Reduced posterior left

superior temporal sulcus The superior temporal sulcus (STS) is the sulcus separating the superior temporal gyrus from the middle temporal gyrus in the temporal lobe of the brain. A sulcus (plural sulci) is a deep groove that curves into the largest part of the brain, t ...

and increased

posterior cingulate cortex The posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) is the caudal part of the cingulate cortex, located posterior to the anterior cingulate cortex. This is the upper part of the "limbic lobe". The cingulate cortex is made up of an area around the midline of the ...

and

fusiform gyrus The fusiform gyrus, also known as the ''lateral occipitotemporal gyrus'','' ''is part of the temporal lobe and occipital lobe in Brodmann area 37. The fusiform gyrus is located between the lingual gyrus and parahippocampal gyrus above, and the inf ...

volume were associated with

and have been shown to be involved in interpretation of others' motives and beliefs. Increased volume in the

middle frontal gyrus The middle frontal gyrus makes up about one-third of the frontal lobe of the human brain. (A ''gyrus'' is one of the prominent "bumps" or "ridges" on the surface of the human brain.) The middle frontal gyrus, like the inferior frontal gyrus an ...

in the left

lateral prefrontal cortex In human brain anatomy, the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) is part of the prefrontal cortex (PFC). According to Striedter the PFC of humans can be delineated into two functionally, morphologically, and evolutionarily different regions: the ven ...

, an area responsible for maintaining and executing information and planned action, was positively correlated with

. Openness/Intellect (

) was the only member of the Big Five lacking a significant relationship to brain structure volume. However, other research by DeYoung et al. (2009) has shown that Openness/Intellect is related to brain function in prefrontal cortex. A helpful overview of 'Personality and the Brain' is provided by Glenn Wilson (2012) while Allen & DeYoung (2016) provide an overview article of 'Personality Neuroscience and the Five-factor model' in the Oxford Handbook of the Five Factor Model of Personality.T.A. Widiger (ed), The Oxford Handbook of the Five Factor Model, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2017,

References

External links

Colin DeYoung Homepage

{{DEFAULTSORT:DeYoung, Colin G. University of Minnesota faculty Harvard College alumni University of Toronto alumni 21st-century American psychologists Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people)