How Genetic and Environmental Variance in Personality Traits Shift Across the Life Span: Evidence From a Cross-National Twin Study

Christian Kandler*, Denis Bratko, Ana Butkovic, Tena Vukasovic Hlupic, Joshua M. Tybur, Laura W. Wesseldijk, Reinout E. de Vries, Patrick Jern, Gary J. Lewis

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

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Abstract

Decades of research have shown that about half of individual differences in personality traits is heritable. Recent studies have reported that heritability is not fixed, but instead decreases across the life span. However, findings are inconsistent and it is yet unclear whether these trends are because of a waning importance of heritable tendencies, attributable to cumulative experiential influences with age, or because of nonlinear patterns suggesting Gene × Environment interplay. We combined four twin samples (N = 7,026) from Croatia, Finland, Germany, and the United Kingdom, and we examined age trends in genetic and environmental variance in the six HEXACO personality traits: Honesty-Humility, Emotionality, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness. The cross-national sample ranges in age from 14 to 90 years, allowing analyses of linear and nonlinear age differences in genetic and environmental components of trait variance, after controlling for gender and national differences. The amount of genetic variance in Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Openness followed a reversed U-shaped pattern across age, showed a declining trend for Honesty-Humility and Conscientiousness, and was stable for Emotionality. For most traits, findings provided evidence for an increasing relative importance of life experiences contributing to personality differences across the life span. The findings are discussed against the background of Gene × Environment transactions and interactions.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1079-1094
Number of pages16
JournalJournal of Personality and Social Psychology
Volume121
Issue number5
Early online date24 Sept 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The present research used data from the longitudinal study ?SPEADY ? Study of Personality Architecture and Dynamics,? which is supported by grants from the German Research Foundation awarded to Christian Kandler (KA-4088/2-1 and KA-4088/2-2). TwinsUK is funded by the Wellcome Trust, Medical Research Council, European Union, Chronic Disease Research Foundation (CDRF), Zoe Global Ltd and the United Kingdom National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)-funded BioResource, Clinical Research Facility and Biomedical Research Centre based at Guy?s and St Thomas? NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with King?s College London. The present research used data from the Croatian twin project, which is supported by grants from the University of Zagreb, Croatia, awarded to Denis Bratko. Data collection for the Genetics of Sexuality and Aggression project was supported by a European Research Council Grant [(ERC) StG-2015 680002-HBIS] awarded to Joshua M. Tybur and Grants 274521, 319493 and 284385 from the Academy of Finland awarded to Patrick Jern. Open Science Framework link for additional material: https://osf.io/jmz84/.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020. American Psychological Association

Funding

The present research used data from the longitudinal study ?SPEADY ? Study of Personality Architecture and Dynamics,? which is supported by grants from the German Research Foundation awarded to Christian Kandler (KA-4088/2-1 and KA-4088/2-2). TwinsUK is funded by the Wellcome Trust, Medical Research Council, European Union, Chronic Disease Research Foundation (CDRF), Zoe Global Ltd and the United Kingdom National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)-funded BioResource, Clinical Research Facility and Biomedical Research Centre based at Guy?s and St Thomas? NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with King?s College London. The present research used data from the Croatian twin project, which is supported by grants from the University of Zagreb, Croatia, awarded to Denis Bratko. Data collection for the Genetics of Sexuality and Aggression project was supported by a European Research Council Grant [(ERC) StG-2015 680002-HBIS] awarded to Joshua M. Tybur and Grants 274521, 319493 and 284385 from the Academy of Finland awarded to Patrick Jern. Open Science Framework link for additional material: https://osf.io/jmz84/.

FundersFunder number
Zoe Global Ltd
Sveučilište u Zagrebu
Wellcome Trust
Chronic Disease Research Foundation
Medical Research Council
National Institute for Health and Care Research
European Commission
European Research Council274521, 319493, StG-2015 680002-HBIS, 284385
Deutsche ForschungsgemeinschaftKA-4088/2-1, KA-4088/2-2
Academy of Finland

    Keywords

    • Cross-national twin study
    • Heritability
    • Hexaco personality traits
    • Life experiences
    • Life span

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