TY - JOUR
T1 - Genetic influences on psychological well-being
T2 - A nationally representative twin study
AU - Archontaki, Despina
AU - Lewis, Gary J
AU - Bates, Timothy C
N1 - © 2012 The Authors. Journal of Personality © 2012, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - 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 multi-group, multivariate structural equation modeling framework. Subjects were 837 pairs of adult US 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 6-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 non-significant. Unique-environment 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.
AB - 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 multi-group, multivariate structural equation modeling framework. Subjects were 837 pairs of adult US 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 6-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 non-significant. Unique-environment 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.
KW - Personality
KW - Well-being
KW - Twin study
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84875544314&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/j.1467-6494.2012.00787.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1467-6494.2012.00787.x
M3 - Article
C2 - 22432931
SN - 1467-6494
JO - Journal of Personality
JF - Journal of Personality
ER -