Genetic Influence on Human Psychological Traits A Survey
01 Aug 2004-Current Directions in Psychological Science (SAGE Publications)-Vol. 13, Iss: 4, pp 148-151
TL;DR: There is a large body of evidence that supports the conclusion that individual differences in most, if not all, reliably measured psychological traits, normal and abnormal, are substantively influenced by genetic factors.
Abstract: There is now a large body of evidence that supports the conclusion that individual differences in most, if not all, reliably measured psychological traits, normal and abnormal, are substantively influenced by genetic factors. This fact has important implications for research and theory building in psychology, as evidence of genetic influence unleashes a cascade of questions regarding the sources of variance in such traits. A brief list of those questions is provided, and representative findings regarding genetic and environmental influences are presented for the domains of personality, intelligence, psycho- logical interests, psychiatric illnesses, and social attitudes. These findings are consistent with those reported for the traits of other species and for many human physical traits, suggesting that they may represent a general biological phenomenon. KEYWORDS—behavior genetics; heritability; individual differ- ences
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Book•
08 Sep 2020TL;DR: A review of the comparative database from across the behavioral sciences suggests both that there is substantial variability in experimental results across populations and that WEIRD subjects are particularly unusual compared with the rest of the species – frequent outliers.
Abstract: Behavioral scientists routinely publish broad claims about human psychology and behavior in the world's top journals based on samples drawn entirely from Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) societies. Researchers - often implicitly - assume that either there is little variation across human populations, or that these "standard subjects" are as representative of the species as any other population. Are these assumptions justified? Here, our review of the comparative database from across the behavioral sciences suggests both that there is substantial variability in experimental results across populations and that WEIRD subjects are particularly unusual compared with the rest of the species - frequent outliers. The domains reviewed include visual perception, fairness, cooperation, spatial reasoning, categorization and inferential induction, moral reasoning, reasoning styles, self-concepts and related motivations, and the heritability of IQ. The findings suggest that members of WEIRD societies, including young children, are among the least representative populations one could find for generalizing about humans. Many of these findings involve domains that are associated with fundamental aspects of psychology, motivation, and behavior - hence, there are no obvious a priori grounds for claiming that a particular behavioral phenomenon is universal based on sampling from a single subpopulation. Overall, these empirical patterns suggests that we need to be less cavalier in addressing questions of human nature on the basis of data drawn from this particularly thin, and rather unusual, slice of humanity. We close by proposing ways to structurally re-organize the behavioral sciences to best tackle these challenges.
6,370 citations
Cites background from "Genetic Influence on Human Psycholo..."
...Research on IQ using analytical tools from behavioral genetics has long shown that IQ is highly heritable, and not strongly influenced by shared family environment (Bouchard, 2004)....
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4,204 citations
TL;DR: Following a cohort of 1,000 children from birth to the age of 32 y, it is shown that childhood self-control predicts physical health, substance dependence, personal finances, and criminal offending outcomes, following a gradient of self- control.
Abstract: Policy-makers are considering large-scale programs aimed at self-control to improve citizens’ health and wealth and reduce crime. Experimental and economic studies suggest such programs could reap benefits. Yet, is self-control important for the health, wealth, and public safety of the population? Following a cohort of 1,000 children from birth to the age of 32 y, we show that childhood self-control predicts physical health, substance dependence, personal finances, and criminal offending outcomes, following a gradient of self-control. Effects of children's self-control could be disentangled from their intelligence and social class as well as from mistakes they made as adolescents. In another cohort of 500 sibling-pairs, the sibling with lower self-control had poorer outcomes, despite shared family background. Interventions addressing self-control might reduce a panoply of societal costs, save taxpayers money, and promote prosperity.
3,622 citations
Cites background from "Genetic Influence on Human Psycholo..."
...Behavioral geneticists have shown that self-control is under both genetic and environmental influences (4) and are now searching for genes associated with self-control (5)....
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3,213 citations
TL;DR: Across 4 studies using multiple methods, liberals consistently showed greater endorsement and use of the Harm/care and Fairness/reciprocity foundations compared to the other 3 foundations, whereas conservatives endorsed and used the 5 foundations more equally.
Abstract: How and why do moral judgments vary across the political spectrum? To test moral foundations theory (J. Haidt & J. Graham, 2007; J. Haidt & C. Joseph, 2004), the authors developed several ways to measure people's use of 5 sets of moral intuitions: Harm/care, Fairness/reciprocity, Ingroup/loyalty, Authority/respect, and Purity/sanctity. Across 4 studies using multiple methods, liberals consistently showed greater endorsement and use of the Harm/care and Fairness/reciprocity foundations compared to the other 3 foundations, whereas conservatives endorsed and used the 5 foundations more equally. This difference was observed in abstract assessments of the moral relevance of foundation-related concerns such as violence or loyalty (Study 1), moral judgments of statements and scenarios (Study 2), "sacredness" reactions to taboo trade-offs (Study 3), and use of foundation-related words in the moral texts of religious sermons (Study 4). These findings help to illuminate the nature and intractability of moral disagreements in the American "culture war."
2,990 citations
Cites methods from "Genetic Influence on Human Psycholo..."
...We apply Marcus’s metaphor to moral development by assuming that human beings have the five foundations as part of their evolved first draft, but that, as for nearly all traits, there is heritable variation (Bouchard, 2004; Turkheimer, 2000)....
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References
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TL;DR: Evidence of a gene-by-environment interaction is provided, in which an individual's response to environmental insults is moderated by his or her genetic makeup.
Abstract: In a prospective-longitudinal study of a representative birth cohort, we tested why stressful experiences lead to depression in some people but not in others. A functional polymorphism in the promoter region of the serotonin transporter (5-HT T) gene was found to moderate the influence of stressful life events on depression. Individuals with one or two copies of the short allele of the 5-HT T promoter polymorphism exhibited more depressive symptoms, diagnosable depression, and suicidality in relation to stressful life events than individuals homozygous for the long allele. This epidemiological study thus provides evidence of a gene-by-environment interaction, in which an individual's response to environmental insults is moderated by his or her genetic makeup.
7,210 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1996
TL;DR: This book discusses the genetic Basis of Quantitative Variation, Properties of Distributions, Covariance, Regression, and Correlation, and Properties of Single Loci, and Sources of Genetic Variation for Multilocus Traits.
Abstract: I. The Genetic Basis of Quantitative Variation - An Overview of Quantitative Genetics - Properties of Distributions - Covariance, Regression, and Correlation - Properties of Single Loci - Sources of Genetic Variation for Multilocus Traits - Sources of Environmental Variation - Resemblance Between Relatives - Introduction to Matrix Algebra and Linear Models - Analysis of Line Crosses - Inbreeding Depression - Matters of Scale - II. Quantitative-Trait Loci - Polygenes and Polygenic Mutation - Detecting Major Genes - Basic Concepts of Marker-Based Analysis - Mapping and Characterizing QTLs: Inbred-Line Crosses - Mapping and Characterizing QTLs: Outbred Populations - III. Estimation Procedures - Parent-Offspring Regression - Sib AnalysisTwins and Clones - Cross-Classified Designs - Correlations Between Characters - Genotype x Environment Interaction - Maternal Effects Sex Linkage and Sexual Dimorphism - Threshold Characters - Estimation of Breeding Values - Variance-Component Estimation with Complex Pedigrees - Appendices - Expectations, Variances and Covariances of Compound Variables - Path Analysis - Matrix Algebra and Linear Models - Maximum Likelihood Estimation and Likelihood-Ratio Tests - Estimation of Power of Statistical Tests -
6,530 citations
3,213 citations
"Genetic Influence on Human Psycholo..." refers background in this paper
...All the questions addressed in quantitative genetics (Lynch & Walsh, 1998) and genetic epidemiology (Khoury, 1998) becomeAddress correspondence to Thomas J. Bouchard, Jr., Psychology Department, University of Minnesota, 75 East River Rd., Minneapolis, MN 55455-0344; e-mail: bouch001@umn.edu....
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...Lynch and Walsh (1998) pointed out that genetic influence on most traits, as indexed by estimates of heritability, is found for all species and observed that ‘‘the interesting questions remaining are, How does the magnitude of h2 differ among characters and species and why?’’...
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...Lynch and Walsh (1998) pointed out that genetic influence on most traits, as indexed by estimates of heritability, is found for all species and observed that ‘‘the interesting questions remaining are, How does the magnitude of h(2)...
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01 Jan 2005
TL;DR: Evidence of a gene-by-environment interaction is provided, in which an individual's response to environmental insults is moderated by his or her genetic makeup.
Abstract: In a prospective-longitudinal study of a representative birth cohort, we tested why stressful experiences lead to depression in some people but not in others. A functional polymorphism in the promoter region of the serotonin transporter (5-HTT) gene was found to moderate the influence of stressful life events on depression. Individuals with one or two copies of the short allele of the 5-HTT promoter polymorphism exhibited more depressive symptoms, diagnosable depression, and suicidality in relation to stressful life events than individuals homozygous for the long allele. This epidemiological study thus provides evidence of a gene-by-environment interaction, in which an individual’s response to environmental insults is moderated by his or her genetic makeup.
2,541 citations
"Genetic Influence on Human Psycholo..." refers background in this paper
...Individuals who carry a specific genetic variant are more susceptible to depression when exposed to stressful life events than individuals who do not carry the genetic variant (Caspi et al., 2003)....
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01 Jan 2006
TL;DR: The accumulation of multiple environmental risks rather than singular risk exposure may be an especially pathogenic aspect of childhood poverty.
Abstract: Poor children confront widespread environmental inequities. Compared with their economically advantaged counterparts, they are exposed to more family turmoil, violence, separation from their families, instability, and chaotic households. Poor children experience less social support, and their parents are less responsive and more authoritarian. Low-income children are read to relatively infrequently, watch more TV, and have less access to books and computers. Low-income parents are less involved in their children's school activities. The air and water poor children consume are more polluted. Their homes are more crowded, noisier, and of lower quality. Low-income neighborhoods are more dangerous, offer poorer municipal services, and suffer greater physical deterioration. Predominantly low-income schools and day care are inferior. The accumulation of multiple environmental risks rather than singular risk exposure may be an especially pathogenic aspect of childhood poverty.
1,933 citations