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Genetic and Environmental Influences on Adult Personality: Evaluating the Evidence

  • Chapter
Foundations of Personality

Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASID,volume 72))

Abstract

This paper is made up of two parts. In the first part we outline a frame of reference (the Big Five) for organizing the data from Behavior Genetic studies of adult personality and then briefly review methods (model fitting) used by behavior geneticists to analyze genetic and environmental influences on personality. We then proceed to summarize the major model fitting findings from twin, adoption, extended family, and twin reared apart studies. Part two critiques non-behavioral genetic approaches to the study of environmental influences on personality. With regard to part one we conclude that a) genetic factors account for about 40-50% of the variance in the Big Five personality traits as measured by standard instruments, and b) that non-additive variance contributes significantly to most of these traits (in the range.02 to.17). The hypothesis of a more modest heritability based on only additive variance (28-46%) and special monozygotic and sibling environments cannot, however, be completely ruled out. There are inconsistencies in the findings and failures to replicate the details of studies. We argue that this is due to the use of poor quality instruments, and that unlike scientists in other domains who push the limits of their instrumentation to test theoretical ideas, behavior geneticists have failed to implement the broad array advances in our understanding of the measurement of psychological traits that have occurred over the last forty years. With regard to part two we find that a) critiques of the twin method are largely unfounded, b) the methodologies and assumptions of the various environmental (non-behavior genetic) approaches to explaining variance in adult personality traits are largely untenable, c) the results of experimental studies have often been inappropriately extrapolated to domains to which they do not apply, and d) studies of a number of “so called” environmental variables (birth order, divorce, physical attractiveness, etc.) simply do not explain the phenomena they have been postulated to explain. We conclude that the non-behavior genetic approach to the study of environmental influences on personality has generated few if any credible findings. We further argue that studies of environmental influences on adult personality that do not impose genetic controls are uninterpretable with regard to explaining individual differences in adult personality.

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  1. Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Elliot Hall, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA

    Thomas J. Bouchard Jr.

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  1. Tilburg University, The Netherlands

    Joop Hettema

  2. University of Edinburgh, UK

    Ian J. Deary

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Bouchard, T.J. (1993). Genetic and Environmental Influences on Adult Personality: Evaluating the Evidence. In: Hettema, J., Deary, I.J. (eds) Foundations of Personality. NATO ASI Series, vol 72. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-1660-2_2

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