Genetic and Environmental In‘uences on Personality in Adult Russian Twins

Abstract

The present study explored genetic and environmental contributions to personality in a sample of twins participating in the Adult Russian Twin Study (ARTS). Subjects included 79 monozygotic (MZ) and 51 dizygotic (DZ) twin-pairs residing in the metropolitan Moscow area, Russia (mean age 42.2 years). Twins completed self-report questionnaires assessing the personality dimensions of neuroticism, extraversion, monotony avoidance, and impulsivity. For all four dimensions, model-”tting analyses yielded estimates of heritability consistent with previous behavioural genetic findings (h ² ranging from .49 to .59). Also consistent with previous research is the finding that shared environmental variance is negligible for each dimension. These results suggest that the factors that influence individual differences in personality in the Russian culture do not substantially differ from those that influence personality in more Western cultures.

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