Abstract
Psychological researchers typically distinguish five major domains of individual differences in human behavior: cognitive abilities, personality, social attitudes, psychological interests, and psychopathology (Lubinski, 2000). In this article we: discuss a number of methodological errors commonly found in research on human individual differences; introduce a broad framework for interpreting findings from contemporary behavioral genetic studies; briefly outline the basic quantitative methods used in human behavioral genetic research; review the major criticisms of behavior genetic designs, with particular emphasis on the twin and adoption methods; describe the major or dominant theoretical scheme in each domain; and review behavioral genetic findings in all five domains. We conclude that there is now strong evidence that virtually all individual psychological differences, when reliably measured, are moderately to substantially heritable.
| Language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages | 4-45 |
| Number of pages | 42 |
| Journal | Journal of Neurobiology |
| Volume | 54 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 1 2003 |
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Keywords
- Adoption
- Attitudes
- Behavior genetics
- Cognitive abilities
- Genetics
- Heritability
- Personality
- Psychological interests
- Psychopathology
- Twins
Cite this
Genetic and environmental influences on human psychological differences. / Bouchard, Thomas J.; McGue, Matt.
In: Journal of Neurobiology, Vol. 54, No. 1, 01.01.2003, p. 4-45.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Genetic and environmental influences on human psychological differences
AU - Bouchard,Thomas J.
AU - McGue,Matt
PY - 2003/1/1
Y1 - 2003/1/1
N2 - Psychological researchers typically distinguish five major domains of individual differences in human behavior: cognitive abilities, personality, social attitudes, psychological interests, and psychopathology (Lubinski, 2000). In this article we: discuss a number of methodological errors commonly found in research on human individual differences; introduce a broad framework for interpreting findings from contemporary behavioral genetic studies; briefly outline the basic quantitative methods used in human behavioral genetic research; review the major criticisms of behavior genetic designs, with particular emphasis on the twin and adoption methods; describe the major or dominant theoretical scheme in each domain; and review behavioral genetic findings in all five domains. We conclude that there is now strong evidence that virtually all individual psychological differences, when reliably measured, are moderately to substantially heritable.
AB - Psychological researchers typically distinguish five major domains of individual differences in human behavior: cognitive abilities, personality, social attitudes, psychological interests, and psychopathology (Lubinski, 2000). In this article we: discuss a number of methodological errors commonly found in research on human individual differences; introduce a broad framework for interpreting findings from contemporary behavioral genetic studies; briefly outline the basic quantitative methods used in human behavioral genetic research; review the major criticisms of behavior genetic designs, with particular emphasis on the twin and adoption methods; describe the major or dominant theoretical scheme in each domain; and review behavioral genetic findings in all five domains. We conclude that there is now strong evidence that virtually all individual psychological differences, when reliably measured, are moderately to substantially heritable.
KW - Adoption
KW - Attitudes
KW - Behavior genetics
KW - Cognitive abilities
KW - Genetics
KW - Heritability
KW - Personality
KW - Psychological interests
KW - Psychopathology
KW - Twins
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0037220581&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0037220581&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/neu.10160
DO - 10.1002/neu.10160
M3 - Review article
VL - 54
SP - 4
EP - 45
JO - Developmental Neurobiology
T2 - Developmental Neurobiology
JF - Developmental Neurobiology
SN - 1932-8451
IS - 1
ER -