Premium
An Exploration of the Independent Contributions of Genetics, Shared Environment, Specific Environment, and Adult Roles and Statuses on Perceived Control
Author(s) -
Bullers Susan,
Prescott Carol A.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
sociological inquiry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.446
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1475-682X
pISSN - 0038-0245
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-682x.2001.tb01106.x
Subject(s) - control (management) , psychology , construct (python library) , developmental psychology , personality , social psychology , earnings , behavioural genetics , latent variable , big five personality traits , social environment , marital status , perceived control , demography , sociology , social science , population , business , accounting , artificial intelligence , computer science , programming language , management , economics
Perceived‐control ‘describes individuals’generalized beliefs about their abilities to influence their life courses and circumstances. Most research concerning this construct has viewed perceived control as a developmentally acquired, stable personality characteristic. Others argue that perceived control is determined by current social status, with more privileged social positions contributing to increased control over life circumstances. This study analyzes data from the Virginia Twin Registry to determine the independent contributions of genetics, shared environment, and nonshared environment, including adult roles and statuses, on women's perceived control. Findings from latent variable twin models suggest that there are modest but significant effects of shared environment and genetics on perceived control but that the majority of individual variation in perceived control is due to nonshared environmental factors on perceived control among adult women. Analyses of measured individual‐level variables indicate significant effects from education, income, earnings, marital quality, age, and single‐parent status.