How much is the variability in personality traits among people explained by genetics quizlet?

conceptions of heritability and the environment
Carey notes that genetic heritability and the influence of the environment are largely
-Abstract concepts - That is, they are generally theoretical (not applied or practical) concepts. he numerical estimates of either genetic or environmental influences, they provide us with little information about the specific genes or specific environmental variables that influence personality.

-Population concepts-estimates refer to is any group of people that is considered a population; they tell us very little about any single individual.

different types of genetic variance;
Thomas Bouchard and M. McGue note that genetic influence does not simply comprise one aspect (genes --> personality), but in fact three aspects:
1. additive genetic variance
-is genetic variation in behaviour that is the total of the individual's genes inherited from their parents.
2. dominant genetic variance (non-additive genetic variance) is part of a process by which certain genes are expressed (dominant genes) and other genes are not expressed (recessive genes). eye colour from parents, the dominant one gets chosen.
3. epistatic genetic variance (non-additive genetic variance) refers to a process by which genes interact. It is now known that several different genes not only influence physical characteristics and behaviour on their own, but work and interact together.

--> all three are thought to make up total genetic variance of personality.

shared versus non-shared environmental influences;
-Shared environments are environments that are shared between two individuals, while non-shared environments are environments that are not shared between two individuals.
-how non- shared environmental factors develop:
(1) within the family; three ways in which inherited genes form phenotypes (behaviours) based on the family environment:
a) the passive model: suggests that personality is generally explained by the 50 per cent overlap between a child and their parent. behaviour may occur in the child as the result of the child and parent sharing the same genes that influence a particular type of behaviour.

B) child-effects model: the genes cause a behaviour in the child, which in turn causes the same or similar behaviour in the parent.the parent does not matter in the development of the behaviour, as the child's development of the behaviour is the result of genes

c) parent-effects model: the behaviour of the child is responded to by the parent, which in turn brings out the behaviour in the child. how the parent responds does have an effect in the development of the behaviour.

-within-family effects: pose problems when considering genetic heritability. That is, child effects and parent effects can lead to overestimations and underestimations of heritability.

(2) outside the family.
-group socialisation theory to explain the importance of non-shared environmental factors in determining personality.
-how social groups can influence people's personalities and how these non-shared environments that occur in children of the same family can have a huge effect on personality. five aspects that are important to consider in how non-shared characteristics might influence our personality
a)Context-specific socialisation.: the fact that children learn behaviours not only at home but also outside the home, and that, as children get older, they become less influenced by their family life and more influenced by their life outside the family

B)Outside the home socialisation: children may identify with a number of social groups, based on people's age, gender, ethnicity, abilities, interests and personality.

C) Transmission of culture via group processes. your parents' values, abilities and personality are not the result of their parents' norms, but rather of their social identity, their identification with their own social groups. AND our individual norms, which we have developed from our family, are shared with other people only if they are accepted

D)Group processes that widen differences between social groups. within your personality norms are based not just on how you identify with your in-group but also on how you do not identify with, or reject, the out-groups.

E) Group processes that widen differences among individuals within the group.within all our social circles we play different roles that might influence, or bring out, different aspects of our personality. our position in groups changes, and that our personality - and influences on our personality - change as a result of the hierarchies within a group.

the representativeness of twin and adoption studies;
twin and adoption studies- these families are not necessarily representative of the general population, this natural bias in sampling may lead researchers to underestimate or overestimate the genetic heritability across the whole population.
-for adoption: the children always placed in good families. so environment is different to the rest of the population.

assortative mating;
-when couples mate, they either have traits in common or contrast widely in their traits.
-assumption that two individuals mate quite randomly with random people, and therefore any genetic similarity between them occurs by chance. But we know that this is not true.
-positive assortative mating: people are similar
-negative assortative mating: people are opposites.

the changing world of genetics.
-there is no major gene for personality, research has suggested that multiple genes (rather than a single one) are related to traits.
-multiple genes are referred to as quantitative trait loci (QTL).

How much influence does genetics play on the personality of a biological child?

Scientists estimate that 20 to 60 percent of temperament is determined by genetics. Temperament, however, does not have a clear pattern of inheritance and there are not specific genes that confer specific temperamental traits.

How much influence does genetics play on the personality and temperament of a biological child quizlet?

Numerous twin studies have subsequently found that genetic influence accounts for approximately half the variance (40-60%) between individuals for all personality traits.

What are the heritability estimates for personality traits quizlet?

Summaries of behavioral genetic data yield heritability estimates for major personality traits(OCEAN) of about 20-40%.

What has the largest influence on personality?

Overall, genetics has more influence than do parents on shaping our personality. Molecular genetics is the study of which genes are associated with which personality traits. The largely unknown environmental influences, known as the nonshared environmental effects, have the largest impact on personality.