Is your personality more influenced by genetics, upbringing, or something else?
Tuesday, June 4, 2024.
Have you ever wondered why you're the way you are?
A recent study suggests we might share more personality traits with our parents than we previously thought.
Genetics and personality: A stronger link than believed
According to this study, up to 40% of our personality traits could be inherited from our parents, much higher than the previously estimated 25%. However, even with this higher figure… the overall influence remains relatively low.
Interestingly, the likelihood of sharing personality traits with our parents isn't much higher than sharing them with a complete stranger.
So, while genetics play a role, our parents can still feel like 'strangers' in terms of personality similarities.
Dr. René Mõttus, the study’s first author, explains, "This is why the genes that a parent passes on to their children are not sufficient to make most of their personality traits similar."
The Five Major Personality Traits
The study estimates that the chance of a parent and child having roughly similar scores on all five major personality traits—conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness to experience, and extraversion—is just 1%.
Moreover, the genetic influence on our personalities seems to fade with age, making us less like our parents over time.
Is it Upbringing?
When analyzing more distant relatives, researchers found no evidence that a shared upbringing resulted in more similar personalities. This indicates that the traits we share with our parents are due to genetics rather than how we were raised.
Dr. Mõttus adds, "About two-thirds of the reasons people have different personality traits have something to do with their genes. But this is not enough to make parents and children much more similar than strangers."
Intelligence vs. Personality
Unlike personality traits, cognitive abilities such as intelligence are much more heritable. We are more likely to be similar to our parents in terms of cognitive abilities than personality traits.
What Shapes Our Personality?
So, if shared experiences with our families and genetics don't fully shape our personalities, what does? The simple answer is: we don't know for sure.
Genetics is the strongest factor identified, but it cannot explain most of our personality development.
Experiences outside the home may interact with our evolving personalities, pushing us in various directions.
Habits of thought, shaped and reinforced by our environments, could also play a role.
The relative lack of genetic influence leaves room for the idea that our personalities can change. The power to make some of these changes might just be in our own hands.
Final thoughts
While genetics do influence our personalities more than previously thought, they don't dominate.
Our upbringing seems to play a lesser role than our individual experiences and interactions outside the home.
So, whether it's nature or nurture, it seems there's still a lot of room for individuality and change.
Be Well, Stay Kind, and Godspeed.
REFERENCES:
Mõttus, R., Kandler, C., Luciano, M., Esko, T., & Vainik, U. (2024, April 9). Familial Transmission of Personality Traits and Life Satisfaction Is Much Higher Than Shown in Typical Single-Method Studies. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/7ygp6
