René Mõttus Awarded the National Science Prize in the Field of Social Sciences

On February 6th, the government confirmed this year’s laureates of the national science awards. The award for the best research work completed over the past four years in the field of social sciences was presented to Professor René Mõttus from the University of Tartu and the University of Edinburgh for his research series titled “More Accurate Answers to the Big Questions in Personality Psychology.”

René Mõttus’ world-class research holds significant scientific and practical value and has already gained considerable attention both in Estonia and internationally. Under Mõttus’ leadership, personality traits associated with more than 250 occupations were mapped for the first time in the world, using questionnaire data from nearly 70,000 Estonian gene donors and their close relatives.

Based on the analysis results, a practical and publicly accessible tool was developed, allowing individuals to compare their personality traits with those of people working in various professions.

Additionally, René Mõttus’ research has shown that although income, relationships, health, and recent life events play a role in people’s satisfaction levels, their impact is smaller and shorter-lived than commonly believed. His studies highlight that life satisfaction is strongly linked to personality traits — in fact, nearly 80% of the variation in life satisfaction across the population can be attributed to personality characteristics.

In addition to local media, René Mõttus’ research has been covered by The Times, The Guardian, The Telegraph, Daily Mail, and BBC. He has also contributed blog posts for Psychology Today and hosts a podcast on personality psychology.

Read more about all the laureates on the Ministry of Education and Research’s website.