Bounty

Neurotic women and extrovert men are naturally more likely to give birth to a larger number of children, a study has revealed.

However, the research by the University of Sheffield also found this could be counteracted by women with higher levels of neuroticism being more likely to have children with a decreased body mass index (BMI), reflecting malnutrition.

The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, focused on societies with traditionally high birth rates in Africa before reaching its conclusion that the reproductive success of both men and women is influenced by personality traits.

The researchers gathered data from four villages in rural Senegal to launch investigations into the effects of personality for both partners on the number and health of their offspring. This was done using the Big Five personality dimensions - openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism - which psychologists consider to be the five fundamental personality traits present in all humans.

Women with above-average levels of neuroticism, prone to be anxious, depressive, and moody, had 12% more children than those with below average levels. This relationship was stronger among women with a higher social status

The research was conducted by Dr Virpi Lummaa, from the University of Sheffield's Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, Dr Alexandra Alvergne, from the Department of Anthropology, University College London, and Markus Jokela from the University of Helsinki, Finland.

Dr Virpi Lummaa said: "Our results show that personality predicts family size differently in men and women, and those men with largest families have personality aspects different from the women with the largest families."

Copyright Press Association 2010