Colin G. DeYoung is a professor of

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

(

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

).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: * Describing what per ...

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 university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

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 university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

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 In personality psychology and psychometrics, the Big 5 or five-factor model (FFM) is a widely-used scientific model for describing how personality traits differ across people using five distinct factors: * ''openness'' (''O'') measures creat ...

." 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 observe ...

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 the trait theory, personality trait of being kind, Sympathy, sympathetic, cooperative, warm, honest, straightforward, and considerate. In personality psychology, agreeableness is one of the Big Five personality traits, five major ...

Conscientiousness Conscientiousness is the personality trait of being responsible, :wikt:careful, careful, or :wikt:diligent, diligent. Conscientiousness implies a desire to do a task well, and to take obligations to others seriously. Conscientious people tend to ...

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

Extraversion Extraversion and introversion are a central trait dimension in human personality theory. The terms were introduced into psychology by Carl Jung, though both the popular understanding and current psychological usage are not the same as Jung's ...

and Openness/Intellect (commonly referred to as

Openness to Experience Openness to experience is one of the domains which are used to describe personality psychology, human personality in the Big Five personality traits, Five Factor Model. Openness involves six Facet (psychology), facets, or dimensions: active imagina ...

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

serotonin Serotonin (), also known as 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), is a monoamine neurotransmitter with a wide range of functions in both the central nervous system (CNS) and also peripheral tissues. It is involved in mood, cognition, reward, learning, ...

, 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 chemical of the catecholamine and phenethylamine families. It is an amine synthesized ...

. 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 Neuroticism is a personality trait associated with negative emotions. It is one of the Big Five traits. Individuals with high scores on neuroticism are more likely than average to experience such feelings as anxiety, worry, fear, anger, shame ...

: **''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, 1 ...

, 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. It is the association cortex in the frontal lobe. The PFC contains the Brodmann areas BA8, BA9, BA10, BA11, BA12, ...

and posterior

hippocampus The hippocampus (: hippocampi; via Latin from Ancient Greek, Greek , 'seahorse'), also hippocampus proper, is a major component of the brain of humans and many other vertebrates. In the human brain the hippocampus, the dentate gyrus, and the ...

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 cin ...

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

emotional dysregulation Emotional dysregulation is characterized by an inability to flexibly respond to and manage emotional states, resulting in intense and prolonged emotional reactions that deviate from social norms, given the nature of the environmental stimuli enc ...

. 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 mammalian brain. A sulcus (plural sulci) is a deep groove that curves into the largest part of ...

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 ...

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 ...

volume were associated with

and have been shown to be involved in the 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 cerebral cortex The cerebral cortex, also known as the cerebral mantle, is the outer la ...

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 the 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)