Abstract
Some life events appear heritable due to the genetic influence on related behaviours. Shared genetic influence between negative behaviours and negative life events has previously been established. This study investigated whether subjective wellbeing and positive life events were genetically associated. Participants in the Twins Early Development Study (aged 16.32 ± .68 years) completed subjective wellbeing and life events assessments via two separate studies (overlapping N for wellbeing and life events measures ranged from 3527 to 9350). We conducted bivariate twin models between both positive and negative life events with subjective wellbeing and related positive psychological traits including subjective happiness, life satisfaction, optimism, hopefulness and gratitude measured at 16 years. Results suggested that the heritability of life events can partially be explained by shared genetic influences with the wellbeing indicators. Wellbeing traits were positively genetically correlated with positive life events and negatively correlated with negative life events (except curiosity where there was no correlation). Those positive traits that drive behaviour (grit and ambition) showed the highest genetic correlation with life events, whereas the reflective trait gratitude was less correlated. This suggests that gene–environment correlations might explain the observed genetic association between life events and wellbeing. Inheriting propensity for positive traits might cause you to seek environments that lead to positive life events and avoid environments which make negative life events more likely.
Highlights
Environments do not act independently upon an individual; genes shape our environments beyond the way they shape our bodies [1]
Events were summed for each individual to create a life events score separately for positive and negative life events
Twin correlations for life events suggested the use of an ACE twin model, due to MZ correlations being less than twice the dizygotic twins (DZ) correlations [29]
Summary
Environments do not act independently upon an individual; genes shape our environments beyond the way they shape our bodies [1]. Genes influence our environments through their effects on behaviour [2], personality [3] and parenting or socialisation [4]. A meta-analysis of the heritability of environments found an average estimate of 27% [3]. This does not mean that certain genes code for environments. The intermediate step is genetic influence on behaviours and personality traits that guide our experience. This is known as gene–environment correlation [5,6,7,8]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
