Premium
The Heritability of Personality Is Not Always 50%: Gene‐Environment Interactions and Correlations Between Personality and Parenting
Author(s) -
Krueger Robert F.,
South Susan,
Johnson Wendy,
Iacono William
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of personality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.082
H-Index - 144
eISSN - 1467-6494
pISSN - 0022-3506
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-6494.2008.00529.x
Subject(s) - heritability , personality , psychology , moderation , twin study , behavioural genetics , big five personality traits , variance (accounting) , developmental psychology , gene–environment interaction , social psychology , nature versus nurture , evolutionary biology , genetics , biology , gene , accounting , genotype , business
Twin studies of personality are consistent in attributing approximately half of the variance in personality to genetic effects, with the remaining variance attributed to environments that make people within the same families different. Such conclusions, however, are based on quantitative models of human individual differences that estimate genetic and environmental contributions as constants for entire populations. Recent advances in statistical modeling allow for the possibility of estimating genetic and environmental contributions contingent on other variables, allowing the quantification of phenomena that have traditionally been characterized as gene‐environment interaction and correlation. We applied these newer models to understand how adolescents' descriptions of their relationships with their parents might change or moderate the impact of genetic and environmental factors on personality. We documented notable moderation in the domains of positive and negative emotionality, with parental relationships acting both to enhance and diminish both genetic and environmental effects. We discuss how genetic and environmental contributions to personality might be more richly conceptualized as dynamic systems of gene‐environment interplay—systems that are not captured by classical concepts, such as the overall heritability of personality.