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Advances in gene-editing technology have important implications for the treatment and prevention of disease. Accordingly, it is important to understand public perceptions towards gene editing, as the public’s willingness to endorse gene editing may be as important as technological breakthroughs themselves. Previous research has almost exclusively examined attitudes towards gene editing on specific issues, but has not addressed how attitudes towards gene editing across a range of issues coalesce in individuals: that is, the degree to which discrete, heterogeneous attitudinal profiles exist versus a simple support/oppose continuum. Here, we addressed this issue using latent class analysis on data from The Pew Research Center ( N = 4726; US residents) across a wide range of gene-editing topics. We found that attitudes towards gene editing cohere into 10 distinct latent classes that showed some evidence of a support/oppose continuum, but also for clear qualitative differences between each class, even with support or oppose classes, on a number of issues. The most opposed classes significantly differed from the supporter classes in age, sex, political ideology and self-rated knowledge. These findings provide evidence that attitudes towards gene editing are heterogeneous and public discourse, as well as policy making need to consider a range of arguments when evaluating this technology.

Alexithymia is a personality construct characterised most notably by a difficulty in identifying and expressing feelings. Although the emotional difficulties in alexithymia are well established, to date little work has examined its relationship to broader cognitive abilities, such as general intelligence. Across three independent, healthy adult samples (Ns = 389, 318,273), we examined whether alexithymia was associated with general intelligence. In all three samples, we observed a significant negative association between alexithymia and general intelligence. In two of the samples, general intelligence was a significant predictor of alexithymia even when accounting for performance on tests of facial emotion recognition ability and supramodal emotion recognition ability (measured with faces, bodies, and voices). From a theoretical perspective, these results suggest that models of alexithymia need to incorporate a role for more generalised cognitive functioning. From a practical perspective, studies examining links between alexithymia and clinical disorders, many of which have known links to general intelligence, should consider including a measure of general intelligence in order to adjust for this potentially confounding factor.

Recent advances in gene editing technology promise much for medical advances and human well-being. However, in parallel domains, there have been objections to the use of such biotechnologies. Moreover, the psychological factors that govern the willingness to use gene editing technology have been underexplored to date. In this registered report, we sought to test whether pathogen disgust sensitivity is linked with opposition to gene editing. U.K.-based adult participants (N = 347) were recruited to this study. Gene editing attitudes reflected two largely distinct latent factors concerning enhancing human traits and treating medical disorders. In contrast to prediction, pathogen disgust sensitivity was related to greater support for gene editing in both of these domains. This result suggests that gene editing, at least in the current study, is not viewed as pathogenic, or that the perceived benefits of gene editing outweigh any perceived pathogen risk.

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. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Vaccines are a powerful and relatively safe tool to protect against a range of serious diseases. Nonetheless, a sizeable minority of people express ‘vaccination hesitancy’. Accordingly, understanding the bases of this hesitancy represents a significant public health opportunity. In the present study we sought to examine the role of Big Five personality traits and general intelligence as predictors of vaccination hesitancy across two vaccination types in a large (N = 9667) sample of UK adults drawn from the Understanding Society longitudinal household study. We found that lower levels of general intelligence were associated with COVID-19 and seasonal flu vaccination hesitancy, and lower levels of neuroticism was associated with COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy. Although the self-reported reasons for being vaccine hesitant indicated a range of factors were important to people, lower general intelligence was associated with virtually all of these reasons. In contrast, Big Five personality traits showed more nuanced patterns of association.

It is well-documented that face perception – including facial expression and identity recognition ability – declines with age. To date, however, it is not yet well understood whether this age-related decline reflects face-specific effects, or instead can be accounted for by well-known declines in general intelligence. We examined this issue using a relatively large, healthy, age-diverse (18-88 years) sample (N = 595) who were assessed on well-established measures of face perception and general intelligence. Replicating previous work, we observed that facial expression recognition, facial identity recognition, and general intelligence all showed declines with age. Of importance, the age-related decline of expression and identity recognition was present even when the effects of general intelligence were statistically controlled. Moreover, facial expression and identity ability each showed significant unique associations with age. These results indicate that face perception ability becomes poorer as we age, and that this decline is to some extent relatively focal in nature. Results are in line with a hierarchical structure of face perception ability, and suggest that age appears to have independent effects on the general and specific face processing levels within this structure.

Accurate recognition of others' emotions is an important skill for successful social interaction. Unsurprisingly, it has been an enduring topic of interest, and notable individual differences have been observed. Despite this focus, the underlying functional architecture of this ability has not been thoroughly investigated, particularly concerning emotion recognition across different sensory domains and stimulus modalities. Using a structural equation modelling approach, Study 1 (N = 284) established the structure of emotion recognition ability across three expressive domains – face, body and voice – and observed strong evidence for a superordinate ‘supramodal’ emotion recognition factor, over and above domain-specific factors. Additionally, we observed a significant moderate negative association between this superordinate factor and alexithymia. In Study 2 (N = 218), findings indicated that supramodal emotion recognition ability and face identity recognition are two related but independent constructs. In Study 3 (N = 249), we examined links from both supramodal emotion recognition and face identity recognition to broader cognitive ability, and observed that general intelligence was a significant predictor of supramodal emotion recognition ability. In contrast, there was no association between intelligence and face identity recognition ability. Across three independent samples, then, our findings offer strong support for an emotion recognition ability factor existing across visual and auditory domains encompassing social signals conveyed by face, body and voice, and outline its associations to broader cognitive and affective traits.

The authors discuss issues related to the theoretical and research links between adult attachment and personality, with a focus on behavior genetics. A sizable portion of the review focuses on adult romantic or intimate attachment measured with questionnaire measures such as the Experiences in Close Relationships Inventory (Brennan et al (1998) Attachment theory and close relationships. Guilford, New York) since that has been a dominant arena for many studies. Adult anxious attachment toward romantic figures shows moderate levels of heritability; results are inconsistent for avoidant attachment. There are common genetic influences shared between measures of attachment with neuroticism and depressive symptoms; attachment, however, also has significant specific genetic influences. However, there are few behavior genetic studies of adult attachment. We then expand the discussion to examine findings on other types of possible attachment figures (e.g., siblings, twins) and also on larger-scale manifestations of attachment such as religion and intergroup bias that appear to play a similar function in increasing feelings of security and reducing anxiety and distress. We address limits to the current state of research on personality and adult attachment which include lack of research across the life course, limited assessment of non-romantic attachment figures, or the role of gene-by-environment interplay, and most studies are underpowered to examine complex dimensions of personality and attachment (McAdams and Olson, Annu Rev Psychol 61:517–542, 2010).

Longstanding interest has been directed toward the etiology of sociopolitical attitudes. Personality traits have been posited as antecedents; however, most work addressing such links has been limited to cross-sectional study designs. The current study used data from two large (both Ns > 8,700), longitudinal cohorts of individuals from the United Kingdom who were parent-assessed on a measure of temperament (assessing anxiety, conduct problems, and hyperactivity) at age 5 or 7 years and on a range of sociopolitical attitudes at age 30 or 33 years. In both cohorts, higher levels of childhood conduct problems predicted higher levels of economic and political discontent in adulthood. These associations were still evident when controlling for sex, childhood intelligence, and parental social class. In both cohorts, this pathway was partially mediated by educational attainment and achieved social class. These findings are consistent with the perspective that early-life temperament gives rise to adult political sentiment.

The issue of physician-assisted suicide is a highly contentious social issue and thus there is importance in understanding the factors that predict attitudes in this domain. In the current study we sought to examine individual differences in moral sentiment towards physician-assisted suicide with a particular focus on religion/religiosity, political ideology, authoritarianism, and Big Five personality traits, all of which were identified in an extensive review of previous studies as potentially relevant predictors. Based on N = 1598 respondents from the Baylor Religion Survey (US) our results indicated an independent role for each of the predictors: being a Protestant or a Catholic (vs. no religion), higher levels of religiosity, higher levels of conservativism (vs. liberalism), and higher levels of authoritarianism uniquely predicted lower levels of support for physician-assisted suicide. Moreover, higher levels of extraversion independently predicted greater support for physician-assisted suicide. These results confirm a set of previously described predictors in an independent data set and extend prior research by showing that they independently predict moral sentiment towards physician-assisted suicide when modelled jointly. In summary, moral sentiment towards physician-assisted suicide reflects individual differences in a broad range of social and psychological factors.

Hans Eysenck was a pioneer in many fields of psychological science and is widely recognised for his many outstanding achievements. One field, however, in which Eysenck contributed the important initial flagstones, although remains largely forgotten, is that of socio-political genetics. In this essay I outline Eysenck's early work (c. 1950s) on the structure of political attitudes, details how Eysenck used the classical twin design in order to examine whether genetic factors contributed to individual differences in social and political attitudes, as well as discuss the challenges of publishing such provocative findings amidst a 1970s scientific culture that tended to favour purely environmental explanations of human behaviour. Finally, I provide an overview of the development of the field of socio-political genetics over the last 40 years and briefly note some of the challenges that lie ahead for the field.

Drawing on uncertainty-identity theory, we investigated how people respond differently to identity uncertainty at a superordinate (i.e., UK) or subgroup (i.e., Scottish) level depending on the subjective self-conceptual centrality of subgroup relative to superordinate group; altering superordinate and subgroup identification and attitude toward subgroup relations to the superordinate group in the context of Scotland’s bid for independence from the UK ( N = 115). Hierarchical regression analyses confirmed our prediction. Where the subgroup was self-conceptually more central than the superordinate group, subgroup identity uncertainty strengthened superordinate identification (H1) and weakened subgroup identification. Strengthened superordinate identification weakened support for subgroup separation. However, where the superordinate group was self-conceptually more central than the subgroup, superordinate identity uncertainty was not associated with superordinate and subgroup identification (H2).

Previous research has indicated that faces with higher levels of skin carotenoid colouration are perceived as healthier and more attractive. However, it is not known whether this preference is specific to faces or reflects a more generalised preference in biological stimuli: for example, non-face body parts. Moreover, it is not yet well established whether the preference for carotenoid colouration extends beyond Caucasian populations. Three studies were conducted to address these issues. In Studies 1 and 2, Caucasian and Hong Kong Chinese participants, respectively, selected the more attractive image in pairs of high and low carotenoid colouration versions of images of Caucasian faces and body parts, and also for non-face/body-part control stimuli (scrambled faces). In Study 3, a similar study protocol was used with an independent sample of Hong Kong Chinese participants using stimuli generated from Chinese individuals. The results showed that high carotenoid colouration was preferred across all the three studies in faces and body parts, but not in the control stimuli. In addition, there was a stronger preference for high carotenoid colouration in faces compared with body parts in Studies 1 and 2—although this preference was not observed in Study 3. Overall, these findings demonstrate that higher levels of skin carotenoid colouration are preferred both in face and body parts, but not in non-face stimuli, and that these preferences are evident in Caucasian and Hong Kong Chinese individuals.

Emotion recognition has been a focus of considerable attention for several decades. However, despite this interest, the underlying structure of individual differences in emotion recognition ability has been largely overlooked and thus is poorly understood. For example, limited knowledge exists concerning whether recognition ability for one emotion (e.g., disgust) generalizes to other emotions (e.g., anger, fear). Furthermore, it is unclear whether emotion recognition ability generalizes across modalities, such that those who are good at recognizing emotions from the face, for example, are also good at identifying emotions from nonfacial cues (such as cues conveyed via the body). The primary goal of the current set of studies was to address these questions through establishing the structure of individual differences in visual emotion recognition ability. In three independent samples (Study 1: n = 640; Study 2: n = 389; Study 3: n = 303), we observed that the ability to recognize visually presented emotions is based on different sources of variation: a supramodal emotion-general factor, supramodal emotion-specific factors, and face- and within-modality emotion-specific factors. In addition, we found evidence that general intelligence and alexithymia were associated with supramodal emotion recognition ability. Autism-like traits, empathic concern, and alexithymia were independently associated with face-specific emotion recognition ability. These results (a) provide a platform for further individual differences research on emotion recognition ability, (b) indicate that differentiating levels within the architecture of emotion recognition ability is of high importance, and (c) show that the capacity to understand expressions of emotion in others is linked to broader affective and cognitive processes.

Establishing the neural bases of individual differences in personality has been an enduring topic of interest. However, while a growing literature has sought to characterise grey matter correlates of personality traits, little attention to date has been focused on regional white matter correlates of personality, especially for the personality traits agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness. To rectify this gap in knowledge we used a large sample (n>550) of older adults who provided data on both personality (International Personality Item Pool: IPIP) and white matter tract-specific fractional anisotropy (FA) from diffusion tensor MRI. Results indicated that conscientiousness was associated with greater FA in the left uncinate fasciculus (β = .17, p < .001). We also examined links between FA and the personality meta-trait ‘stability’, which is defined as the common variance underlying agreeableness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism/emotional stability. We observed an association between left uncinate fasciculus FA and stability (β = .27, p

Recognising identity and emotion conveyed by the face is important for successful social interactions and has thus been the focus of considerable research. Debate has surrounded the extent to which the mechanisms underpinning face emotion and face identity recognition are distinct or share common processes. Here we use an individual differences approach to address this issue. In a well-powered (N = 605) and age-diverse sample we used structural equation modelling to assess the association between face emotion recognition and face identity recognition ability. We also sought to assess whether this association (if present) reflected visual short-term memory and/or general intelligence (g). We observed a strong positive correlation (r = .52) between face emotion recognition ability and face identity recognition ability. This association was reduced in magnitude but still moderate in size (r = .28) and highly significant when controlling for measures of g and visual short-term memory. These results indicate that face emotion and face identity recognition abilities in part share a common processing mechanism. We suggest that face processing ability involves multiple functional components and that modelling the sources of individual differences can offer an important perspective on the relationship between these components.

A number of studies have reported that higher intelligence is associated with socially liberal attitudes. Less clear, however, is whether this link extends to economic attitudes, although there are indications that higher intelligence is associated with economically conservative attitudes. Here in two large, longitudinal UK cohorts (each N > 7100) we assessed whether childhood intelligence predicted adulthood economic attitudes. In both cohorts we saw that higher levels of childhood (age 10–11) intelligence were related to higher levels of economic conservatism in adulthood (age 30–33). These effects were robust to the inclusion of potential confounders (sex, parental social class, childhood conduct problems). Moreover, this pathway was at least partially mediated by educational attainment and achieved social class/income. These findings confirm the importance of intelligence as an important phenotype for understanding the origins of economic attitudes. Implications for self-interest and rational-interest theories are discussed.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and autism-like traits are associated with deficits in face memory ability, although it is not yet clear whether this deficit reflects a specific aspect of the ASD/autism-like phenotype. We addressed this issue using a neurotypical sample of adolescent twins (Ncomplete pairs = 782) drawn from the Twins Early Development Study who were assessed on face and object memory performance alongside two core aspects of autism-like traits: (i) difficulties with social behavior/interactions, and (ii) attention to detail. We observed a negative association between face memory ability and difficulties with social behavior/interactions. This association reflected an overlapping genetic etiology: heritable influences acting on face memory ability are associated with the social difficulties aspects of autism-like traits.

Anger is a commonly experienced emotion, although marked individual differences in the expression of anger are observed. Basic dimensions of personality (e.g., Big Five traits) have been shown to predict the experience of trait anger; however, little work has addressed the personality correlates of broader conceptualisations of trait anger (e.g., inward or outward expressions). Additionally, while some recent work has suggested that basic personality traits may show interactive influences on anger expression this work has yet to be independently confirmed. In a large sample of adults we examined, firstly, how Big Five traits associated with several components of anger as measured by the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory. Secondly, we examined whether these associations were further qualified by interactions between Big Five traits. Results indicated neuroticism and, to a lesser extent, (low) agreeableness, were the traits most associated with components of trait anger. Conscientiousness and extraversion were also noted to show links to more focal components of anger. Moderation was observed: conscientiousness moderated neuroticism’s relationship with anger control, and agreeableness and conscientiousness, in a three-way interaction, moderated neuroticism’s relationship with trait anger. These observations help to further clarify the role of Big Five personality traits as a foundation for the experiences of anger, demonstrating how anger style varies across personality configuration.

Scottish independence has been a topic of considerable political debate for some time, with the 2014 referendum concerning whether Scotland should remain a part of the United Kingdom testament to this fact. Numerous economic and political factors have been noted as determinants of the referendum vote. However, the role of psychological factors as a predictor of the desire for independence has not been well explored despite much work demonstrating the importance of specific traits and values on a range of socio-political attitudes. In the current study, using a sample of Scottish adults ( n = 271), we sought to examine how two core constructs capturing moral sentiment – binding (reflecting concern for group cohesion and norms) and individualizing (reflecting concern over individual rights) – predicted the desire for independence during the build-up to the referendum. Results indicated that lower binding and higher individualizing predicted a desire for independence, with evidence for mediation via Scottish identification. These findings are consistent with the notion that the Scottish independence movement can be viewed as a broadly left-wing phenomenon. More generally, these results provide novel evidence in a charged political debate that moral sentiments concerning how individual and group life should be structured play a significant role in explaining individual differences in political sentiment.

Recent work has indicated that individual differences in facial structure are linked to perceptions of aggressiveness. In particular, the relative width of a face [facial width–to–height ratio (fWHR)] has been suggested to be a reliable cue to aggressive behaviour, at least in men. Additionally, facial masculinity has been associated with perceptions of dominance, a close proxy of aggressiveness. In two studies, we assessed the robustness of this link using faces transformed along these vectors in men (Studies 1 and 2) and women (Study 2). Additionally, we examined whether individual differences in self–reported dominance of perceivers moderated this association in order to extend previous work indicating that own dominance affects perception of such behaviour in others. Results indicated that both male and female faces with increased fWHR and increased facial masculinity were perceived as more aggressive. However, we found no systematic evidence for moderating effects of self–reported dominance on the perception of aggression in others. Taken together, these results further support the robustness of fWHR and facial masculinity as cues to aggressiveness but question whether observers’ own dominance moderates their perception of these cues in others. Copyright © 2013 European Association of Personality Psychology

Twin studies of in-group favoritism have reported roughly equal influences of genetic and environmental factors. All, however, have solely relied on cross-sectional approaches, leaving open the question of whether genetic and environmental factors have similar roles on stability and change for in-group favoritism across time. While in-group favoritism is commonly perceived to reflect environmental influences, stable environmental effects are rare for psychological traits, thus suggesting that genetic influences may play the major role in the stability of favoritism. Here, we used addressed this issue using a 10-year (two waves) longitudinal twin design. In-group favoritism showed high rank-order stability ( r = .67). Seventy four percent of this rank-order stability was attributable to genes. A broadly similar pattern was observed for race, ethnic, and religious favoritism. By contrast, changes in favoritism almost entirely reflected nonshared environmental influences. These findings indicate that environmental influences underpin change in favoritism, while the stability of favoritism mostly reflects genetic influences.

Pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors show substantial individual differences, and exploring their predictors can help reveal the origins of pro-environmental behavior. Basic personality traits may provide a partial explanation, but it is unclear which personality traits are reliably associated with pro-environmental behaviors. This article uses a specific type of environmental behavior, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, to clarify which personality correlates are most robustly associated with behavior, and to test mediation of those effects through attitudes. A large ( N = 345) sample of United States adults representative in age, gender, and ethnicity completed the 100-item HEXACO personality inventory, a novel self-report measure of behaviors that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and scales of environmental and political attitudes. Accounting for demographics, emissions-reducing behaviors were most strongly predicted by Openness, Conscientiousness, and Extraversion, and these effects of personality were mediated by attitudes toward the natural environment. These observations broaden the understanding of the etiology of environmental attitudes and behavior.

BackgroundUnderstanding the etiology of adolescent problem behavior has been of enduring interest. Only relatively recently, however, has this issue been examined within a normal personality trait framework. Research suggests that problem behaviors in adolescence and beyond may be adequately explained by the taxonomy provided by the basic dimensions of normal personality: Such problem behaviors are suggested to be extreme points on a distribution of the full range of the underlying traits. We extend work in this field examining the extent to which genetic factors underlying the five-factor model of personality are common with genetic influences on adolescent behavior problems (namely, anxiety, peer problems, conduct, hyperactivity, and low prosociality).MethodA nationally representative twin sample (Twins Early Development Study) from the general population of England and Wales, including 2031 pairs of twins aged 16 years old, was used to decompose variation into genetic and environmental components. Behavioral problems in adolescence were assessed by self-report with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire.ResultsAdolescent behavior problems were moderately associated with normal personality: Specifically, a fifth to a third of phenotypic variance in problem behaviors was accounted for by five-factor model personality traits. Of central importance here, genetic influences underpinning personality were entirely overlapping with those genetic factors underlying adolescent behavior problems.ConclusionsThese findings suggest that adolescent behavior problems can be understood, at least in part, within a model of normal personality trait variation, with the genetic bases of these behavior problems the same as those genetic influences underpinning normal personality.

Specific personality traits and poor social support are risk factors for anxiety and depression. Little work, however, has considered the effects of social support and personality on these aspects of psychopathology simultaneously. We examined whether perceived social support mediates the effects of core personality domains on symptoms of anxiety and depression. Measures of personality (based on the Five-Factor Model [FFM]), perceived social support, and symptoms of depression and anxiety were collected in a large Dutch adult population-based sample (n = 555), and, except for depression symptoms, in an independent U.S. adult population-based sample (n = 511). Path modeling was used to test the effects of FFM traits on symptoms of depression and anxiety, with and without the mediation of perceived social support. Social support showed no link to symptoms of anxiety and only modest links to symptoms of depression when controlling for the FFM traits. Neuroticism had the strongest effect on symptoms of both depression and anxiety, with Extraversion also showing links to symptoms of depression. Social support has limited influence on symptoms of depression, and no effects on anxiety, over and above the effects of personality. Links between social support and anxiety/depression may largely reflect influences of Neuroticism and Extraversion.

Studies of intelligence in children reveal significantly higher heritability among groups with high socioeconomic status (SES) than among groups with low SES. These interaction effects, however, have not been examined in adults, when between-families environmental effects are reduced. Using 1,702 adult twins (aged 24–84) for whom intelligence assessment data were available, we tested for interactions between childhood SES and genetic effects, between-families environmental effects, and unique environmental effects. Higher SES was associated with higher mean intelligence scores. Moreover, the magnitude of genetic influences on intelligence was proportional to SES. By contrast, environmental influences were constant. These results suggest that rather than setting lower and upper bounds on intelligence, genes multiply environmental inputs that support intellectual growth. This mechanism implies that increasing SES may raise average intelligence but also magnifies individual differences in intelligence.

Research has shown that in-group favoritism is associated with concerns over the maintenance of social norms. Here we present two studies examining whether genetic factors underpin this association. A classical twin design was used to decompose phenotypic variance into genetic and environmental components in two studies. Study 1 used 812 pairs of adult U.S. twins from the nationally representative MIDUS II sample. Study 2 used 707 pairs of middle-age twins from the Minnesota Twin Registry. In-group favoritism was measured with scales tapping preferences for in-group (vs. out-group) individuals; norm concerns were measured with the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire–Traditionalism (Study 1) and Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA; Study 2) scales. In Study 1, heritable effects underlying traditionalism were moderately (c. 35%) overlapping with the genetic variance underpinning in-group favoritism. In Study 2, heritable influences on RWA were entirely shared with the heritable effects on in-group favoritism. Moreover, we observed that Big Five Openness shared common genetic links to both RWA and in-group favoritism.These results suggest that, at the genetic level, in-group favoritism is linked with a system related to concern over normative social practices, which is, in turn, partially associated with trait Openness. Studies of both implicit and explicit attitudes in diverse settings show that preferences for members of one’s in-group, and negative sentiment toward out-group individuals, are widespread (Fiske, 2002; LeVine & Campbell, 1972; Sumner, 1907; Tajfel, Billig, Bundy, & Flament, 1971; Vanman, Saltz, Nathan, & Warren, 2004; Wittenbrink, Judd, & Park, 1997). While environmental factors are commonly believed to underpin in-group favoritism and out-group derogation, including parental rearing environment (Adorno, Frenkel-Brunswik, Levinson, & Sanford, 1950) or scarcity of key resources (Sherif, 1966), recent research shows that genetic factors also influence individual differences concerning in-group sentiment (Lewis & Bates, 2010; Orey & Park, 2012; Weber, Johnson, & Arceneaux, 2012). However, whether these heritable effects are specific for in-group bias or overlap with more general psychological systems is currently unclear. Here, using two independent, genetically informative samples, we test the hypothesis that genetic variation underlying in-group favoritism reflects more general differences in concerns for norm maintenance—the tendency to adopt prevailing norms and to be concerned when others violate these norms (Altemeyer, 1981; Duckitt, 2006). In addition, we examine the extent to which basic dimensions of personality—the Big Five traits— overlap with heritable aspects of norm concerns and in-group favoritism (Study 2), in line with work positing that both of these constructs reflect basic personality traits (Ekehammar & Akrami, 2007; Sibley & Duckitt, 2008).

Although genetic factors underpin individual differences in religiosity, the psychological mechanisms through which such influences are manifested are presently unknown. Religiosity is associated with concerns for community integration and existential certainty, suggesting that heritable influences underlying such sentiments may overlap with heritable influences underpinning religiosity. Here we tested this hypothesis within a genetically informative design, using a large, nationally-representative twin sample. As predicted, heritable effects underlying community integration and existential uncertainty were strongly overlapping with the heritable influences on religiosity. These findings are consistent with the position that individual differences in religiosity are mediated through biological systems involved in meeting both social and existential needs, although further work is required to determine directions of causal action.

High facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR) has been associated with a cluster of behavioural traits in men, including aggression and status-striving. This association between face structure and behaviour may be caused by testosterone. Here we investigated the relationship of both baseline and reactive testosterone levels to fWHR. In addition, we investigated the link between testosterone and three well-characterised sexually dimorphic facial metrics. Testosterone was measured in one sample of males (n=185) before and after a speed-dating event. An additional sample provided only baseline testosterone measures (n=92). fWHR was positively associated with testosterone reactions to potential mate exposure and marginally associated with baseline testosterone in Sample 1. We found a positive association with baseline testosterone and fWHR in Sample 2. In addition, face-width-to-lower-height ratio was positively associated with testosterone in both samples, suggesting that, in particular, facial width (scaled by two measures of facial height) is associated with testosterone. Importantly, our results also indicate that there is no association between adult testosterone and the sexual dimorphism of face shape. Thus, while our findings question the status of sexual dimorphism as a proxy measure of testosterone, they do provide evidence that testosterone is linked to fWHR and might underlie the relationship between fWHR and behaviour.

Eudaimonic well-being reflects traits concerned with personal growth, self-acceptance, purpose in life and autonomy (among others) and is a substantial predictor of life events, including health. Although interest in the aetiology of eudaimonic well-being has blossomed in recent years, little is known of the underlying neural substrates of this construct. To address this gap in our knowledge, here we examined whether regional gray matter (GM) volume was associated with eudaimonic well-being. Structural magnetic resonance images from 70 young, healthy adults who also completed Ryff’s 42-item measure of the six core facets of eudaimonia, were analysed with voxel-based morphometry techniques. We found that eudaimonic well-being was positively associated with right insular cortex GM volume. This association was also reflected in three of the sub-scales of eudaimonia: personal growth, positive relations and purpose in life. Positive relations also showed a significant association with left insula volume. No other significant associations were observed, although personal growth was marginally associated with left insula, and purpose in life exhibited a marginally significant negative association with middle temporal gyrus GM volume. These findings are the first to our knowledge linking eudaimonic well-being with regional brain structure.

Objective:Psychological well-being,or eudaimonia,features strongly in theories of human development and thriving.However, the factors of eudaimonia are debated, and their genetic architecture has not been studied in detail. Method: A classical twin design was used to decompose behavioral variance into genetic and environmental components implemented in a multigroup,multivariate structural equation modeling framework.Subjects were 837 pairs of adult U.S.twins from the nationally representative MIDUS II sample.Psychological well-being was measured using the 42-item Ryff Psychological Well-Being Scale,which assesses autonomy,environmental mastery,personal growth,positive relations with others,purpose in life, and self-acceptance. Results: Substantial genetic influences were observed on all components of well-being.Attempts to model these six factors as reflecting a single common psychological mechanism gave a poor fit to the data.The best-fitting model supported the existence of five distinct genetic effects. Effects of shared environment were weak and nonsignificant. Unique environmental effects for all measures were mostly trait specific. Conclusions: These results indicate that psychological well-being is underpinned by a general genetic factor influencing self-control, and four underlying biological mechanisms enabling the psychological capabilities of purpose, agency, growth, and positive social relations.

Sexual dimorphism in physical appearance may be an important cue in both intra- and intersex competition. Recently, the facial width-toheight ratio (fWHR) has been proposed as a novel sexually dimorphic morphologic measure, with men suggested to have a higher fWHR than women. Currently, however, the status of fWHR as a sexually dimorphic trait is unclear. Here we tested for sexual dimorphism in fWHR, as well as in three additional, previously reported facial measures, in four (three Caucasian and one African) independent samples. In three of the four samples, no significant sex differences in fWHR were observed. In one sample, males showed a significantly lower (rather than higher) fWHR than females (this effect was no longer significant after controlling for body mass index). By contrast, significant and large sex differences were observed in all four samples for each of the three previously validated facial metrics, namely, (a) lower face/face height, (b) cheekbone prominence, and (c) face width/lower face height. These results provide strong evidence against the claim that fWHR, at least as measured from the surface of the face, is sexually dimorphic.

Background Childhood behavior problems predict subsequent educational achievement; however, little research has examined the etiology of these links using a longitudinal twin design. Moreover, it is unknown whether genetic and environmental innovations provide incremental prediction for educational achievement from childhood to adolescence. Methods We examined genetic and environmental influences on parental ratings of behavior problems across childhood (age 4) and adolescence (ages 12 and 16) as predictors of educational achievement at age 16 using a longitudinal classical twin design. Results Shared‐environmental influences on anxiety, conduct problems, and peer problems at age 4 predicted educational achievement at age 16. Genetic influences on the externalizing behaviors of conduct problems and hyperactivity at age 4 predicted educational achievement at age 16. Moreover, novel genetic and (to a lesser extent) nonshared‐environmental influences acting on conduct problems and hyperactivity emerged at ages 12 and 16, adding to the genetic prediction from age 4. Conclusions These findings demonstrate that genetic and shared‐environmental factors underpinning behavior problems in early childhood predict educational achievement in midadolescence. These findings are consistent with the notion that early‐childhood behavior problems reflect the initiation of a life‐course persistent trajectory with concomitant implications for social attainment. However, we also find evidence that genetic and nonshared‐environment innovations acting on behavior problems have implications for subsequent educational achievement, consistent with recent work arguing that adolescence represents a sensitive period for socioaffective development.

Researchers agree that heritable effects influence almost all traits of interest for social science. A corollary of ubiquitous heritability is that measurement and control of genetic differences is essential for basic and applied social science. Despite this, remarkably few studies in the social sciences use genetically informative samples. Here we discuss how complex-trait behavior genetics can be used more effectively to address a range of social science questions, including multivariate genetic modeling, discordant twin designs, studies of gene-environment interaction, and adoption studies. We next advocate a concerted effort to build a new openly accessible resource to increase the utilization of genetically informative designs in social science research. Specific criteria for this proposed resource are defined and include full coverage of socio-economic status, multiple and complementary family, environmental, and genetic relationships, an open and extensible method for low–cost testing, and an open-access data repository. We suggest the cost would be moderate and returns high, generating benefits for many hundreds of researchers, maximizing impact for funders, and increase the rate of scientific progress in social science.

High levels of religiosity have been linked to lower levels of intelligence in a number of recent studies. These results have generated both controversy and theoretical interest. Here in a large sample of US adults we address several issues that restricted the generalizability of these previous results. We measured six dimensions of religiosity (rather than just one or two), along with a multi-scale instrument to assess general intelligence. We also controlled for the influence of the personality trait openness on facets of religious belief and practice. The results indicated that lower intelligence is most strongly associated with higher levels of fundamentalism, but also modestly predicts central components of religiosity such as a sense of religious identification and private religious practice. Secondly, we found that a higher level of openness – often assumed to lead to lower religiosity – is weakly associated with reduced fundamentalism but with increased religious mindfulness, private religious practice, religious support, and spirituality. These new results provide a framework for understanding the links between reasoning and faith. © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Research on the association of personality to political orientation has suggested that direct influences are modest. Here we used a personality system model in which direct influences on political behaviour flow from moral values, with personality mostly acting on these characteristic moral adaptations, rather than directly affecting political attitudes. Study 1 in 447 subjects supported this model, with significant effects on political orientation flowing from four of the five-factor model personality domains, but largely mediated through moral values concerning the importance of group order and individual rights. This personality system model was replicated in an independent study (n= 476) using a US sample and including a different measure of politics. Both studies support predictions that personality has significant effects on political attitudes, but that these are exerted largely via moral values. These findings help to explain inconsistencies in previous studies attempting to link personality to political orientation that have not included the intermediary level of values.

In-group favoritism is ubiquitous and associated with intergroup conflict, yet is little understood from a biological perspective. A fundamental question regarding the structure of favoritism is whether it is inflexibly directed toward distinct, “essentialist” categories, such as ethnicity and race, or is deployed in a context-sensitive manner. In this article, we report the first study (to our knowledge) of the genetic and environmental structure of in-group favoritism in the religious, ethnic, and racial domains. We contrasted a model of favoritism based on a single domain-general central affiliation mechanism (CAM) with a model in which each domain was influenced by specific mechanisms. In a series of multivariate analyses, utilizing a large, representative sample of twins, models containing only the CAM or essentialist domains fit the data poorly. The best-fitting model revealed that a biological mechanism facilitates affiliation with arbitrary groups and exists alongside essentialist systems that evolved to process salient cues, such as shared beliefs and ancestry.

BackgroundAlthough behavioural problems (e.g. anxiety, conduct, hyperactivity, peer problems) are known to be heritable both in early childhood and in adolescence, limited work has examined prediction across these ages, and none using a genetically informative sample.MethodWe examined, first, whether parental ratings of behavioural problems (indexed by the Strengths and Difficulties questionnaire) at ages 4, 7, 9, 12, and 16 years were stable across these ages. Second, we examined the extent to which stability reflected genetic or environmental effects through multivariate quantitative genetic analysis on data from a large (n > 3000) population (UK) sample of monozygotic and dizygotic twins.ResultsBehavioural problems in early childhood (age 4 years) showed significant associations with the corresponding behavioural problem at all subsequent ages. Moreover, stable genetic influences were observed across ages, indicating that biological bases underlying behavioural problems in adolescence are underpinned by genetic influences expressed as early as age 4 years. However, genetic and environmental innovations were also observed at each age.ConclusionThese observations indicate that genetic factors are important for understanding stable individual differences in behavioural problems across childhood and adolescence, although novel genetic influences also facilitate change in such behaviours.

This study quantified genetic and environmental roots of variance in prejudice and discriminatory intent toward foreign nationals and examined potential mediators of these genetic influences: right-wing authoritarianism (RWA), social dominance orientation (SDO), and narrow-sense xenophobia (NSX). In line with the dual process motivational (DPM) model, we predicted that the two basic attitudinal and motivational orientations-RWA and SDO-would account for variance in out-group prejudice and discrimination. In line with other theories, we expected that NSX as an affective component would explain additional variance in out-group prejudice and discriminatory intent. Data from 1,397 individuals (incl. twins as well as their spouses) were analyzed. Univariate analyses of twins' and spouses' data yielded genetic (incl. contributions of assortative mating) and multiple environmental sources (i.e., social homogamy, spouse-specific, and individual-specific effects) of variance in negativity toward strangers. Multivariate analyses suggested an extension to the DPM model by including NSX in addition to RWA and SDO as predictor of prejudice and discrimination. RWA and NSX primarily mediated the genetic influences on the variance in prejudice and discriminatory intent toward foreign nationals. In sum, the findings provide the basis of a behavioral genetic framework integrating different scientific disciplines for the study of negativity toward out-groups.

While many studies have reported that individual differences in personality traits are genetically influenced, the neurobiological bases mediating these influences have not yet been well characterized. To advance understanding concerning the pathway from genetic variation to personality, here we examined whether measures of heritable variation in neuroanatomical size in candidate regions (amygdala and medial orbitofrontal cortex) were associated with heritable effects on personality. A sample of 486 middle-aged (mean=55 years) male twins (complete MZ pairs=120; complete DZ pairs=84) underwent structural brain scans and also completed measures of two core domains of personality: positive and negative emotionality. After adjusting for estimated intracranial volume, significant phenotypic (r(p)) and genetic (r(g)) correlations were observed between left amygdala volume and positive emotionality (r(p)=.16, p

Facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR) has been associated with aggression, unethical behavior, company profit, and dominance; however, it is currently unclear whether this facial trait relates to politically relevant character traits. Here we examine fWHR in an elite sample of political leaders, former US presidents (n = 29), who were rated for forcefulness, pacifism, inflexibility, and achievement drive; traits potentially linked to fWHR. The first three of these traits were unrelated to fWHR, but we found a positive association between fWHR and achievement drive (r = .58, p

Much of the variation in human personality is described by five to six dimensions. Less clear, however, is whether these dimensions are underpinned by similarly coherent and unified biological bases. Using the HEXACO traits, we tested whether genetic covariance within each dimension was underpinned by a single common genetic factor using three distinct classes of multivariate model. For each of the six factors, only a single common genetic basis was required to explain genetic covariation among the facets, along with facet-specific genetic effects. These findings provide support for personality models positing that the major dimensions of personality are each underpinned by a unified and coherent biological architecture.

In-group favoritism has often been conceptualized as the flip side of out-group derogation. Whereas research has dissociated these attitudes at the phenotypic level, it is currently unknown whether such dissociation is also evident at the biological level. Here, using an adult German twin sample, which provided ratings on patriotism, nationalism, and prejudice, we tested whether common or distinct heritable influences best explained variation in in-group love and out-group derogation. Results indicated that independent genetic effects accounted for individual differences in in-group love (i.e., patriotism) and out-group derogation (i.e., prejudice). In addition, we observed that nationalism showed common genetic links to both patriotism and prejudice, albeit through distinct pathways. These findings suggest that in-group sentiment is complex at the genetic level as well as at the behavioral level. Future work is recommended to further delineate the specific biological processes underlying these heritable effects.

Specific personality traits and poor social support are risk factors for anxiety and depression. Little work, however, has considered the effects of social support and personality on these aspects of psychopathology simultaneously. We examined whether perceived social support mediates the effects of core personality domains on symptoms of anxiety and depression. Measures of personality (based on the Five-Factor Model [FFM]), perceived social support, and symptoms of depression and anxiety were collected in a large Dutch adult population-based sample (n = 555), and, except for depression symptoms, in an independent U.S. adult population-based sample (n = 511). Path modeling was used to test the effects of FFM traits on symptoms of depression and anxiety, with and without the mediation of perceived social support. Social support showed no link to symptoms of anxiety and only modest links to symptoms of depression when controlling for the FFM traits. Neuroticism had the strongest effect on symptoms of both depression and anxiety, with Extraversion also showing links to symptoms of depression. Social support has limited influence on symptoms of depression, and no effects on anxiety, over and above the effects of personality. Links between social support and anxiety/depression may largely reflect influences of Neuroticism and Extraversion.

Psychological well-being, or eudaimonia, features strongly in theories of human development and thriving. However, the factors of eudaimonia are debated, and their genetic architecture has not been studied in detail.A classical twin design was used to decompose behavioral variance into genetic and environmental components implemented in a multigroup, multivariate structural equation modeling framework. Subjects were 837 pairs of adult U.S. twins from the nationally representative MIDUS II sample. Psychological well-being was measured using the 42-item Ryff Psychological Well-Being Scale, which assesses autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relations with others, purpose in life, and self-acceptance.Substantial genetic influences were observed on all components of well-being. Attempts to model these six factors as reflecting a single common psychological mechanism gave a poor fit to the data. The best-fitting model supported the existence of five distinct genetic effects. Effects of shared environment were weak and nonsignificant. Unique environmental effects for all measures were mostly trait specific.These results indicate that psychological well-being is underpinned by a general genetic factor influencing self-control, and four underlying biological mechanisms enabling the psychological capabilities of purpose, agency, growth, and positive social relations.

Behaviour on even simple experimental games shows considerable individual differences, but previous attempts to link these preferences to stable personality traits have had mixed results. Here we address three limitations of earlier studies, namely: (1) uncertainties concerning the reliability of preferences; (2) use of personality instruments with limited cross-study comparability; and (3) confounds where more than one psychological motive can lead to a particular choice. Sixty-seven participants completed 12 distinct real-money games twice over a two-week interval along with 6 measures concerning their expectations about other players' choices. Personality was measured using the full NEO-PI-R. Choices were highly stable across time (r = .84). Moreover, choices on the 12 games and 6 expectations reflected a single underlying dimension of "prosocial orientation", measuring concern for the payoffs received by other players. Scores on the prosocial orientation dimension were related to personality, with openness, (low) neuroticism, and (low) extraversion retained as significant predictors. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.