No one believes genes affect personality
I looked in the GSS, post at Secular Right. There isn’t that much deviation from the mean of ~25% who believe genes play a major role in personality. Interestingly, women are more accepting of the idea of genes effecting personality than men. Not surprisingly, the old are also more open to the idea of genes effecting personality than the young.
Labels: Behavior Genetics
This result must itself be genetically influenced, no?
I would guess that the women who accept the idea of personality being at least partly dependent on genes are women who have had more than one child. That is the “a-ha!” moment for many of us, when we notice that our children all have such dramatically different personalities despite all living in the same environment.
Genes don’t affect personality, hmmm. I wonder, can they have any significant effects on phenotype?
To corrupt Chesterton’s famous quote — When people stop believing in evolution, they’ll believe anything.
I am the father of twins (boy and girl). One of the first things I noticed about them was that they had individual personalities from the very start. I did not have to wait for another round of children, although my third is also distinct in interests and personality from both of his older sibs.
It was a glorious thing to realize from the beginning that their personalities are not my fault.
When the kids were in a rather progressive, cooperative nursery school, my wife became very ticked off about the mothers with one child, a girl. They were so sanctimonious about how ‘naughty’ the boys were, including our sons. It was wonderful when these women had a boy as kid number two.
“I would guess that the women who accept the idea of personality being at least partly dependent on genes are women who have had more than one child. That is the “a-ha!” moment for many of us, when we notice that our children all have such dramatically different personalities despite all living in the same environment.”
I doubt, because I suspect that most people see “dramatically different personalities between brothers” as an argument against genetic personality.
The reasoning “dramatically different personalities between brothers, then personality is genetic” could be logically true (or maybee not…), but it is much counter-intuitive.
Do people just tend to believe more in genes as they age? Were the youth always this silly or is it a recent development?
Do people just tend to believe more in genes as they age?
I imagine life experience has something to do with this. As you get older you probably realize that you have less *control* over your life outcomes. Contrast this when you’re young, naive, and overconfident in your abilities.
I think that a gut feeling that genes matters or that personality is innate is somewhat part of our folk psychology (Children feel this too ie. can feel that a fictional character who is a mean-hearted villain is who he is by nature. I mean, the villain can be changed, but he was born “bad”.)
and that the belief that environmental factors matter 100% is something one picks up through learning or socially acceptable beliefs.
Just a gut feeling though, no evidence.
The older you are the more kids and grandkids you have and so do your peers so you can just plain see the effects of the genes. Also, you have somewhat less faith in experts because you have lived long enough to see new experts come up with contradictory ideas. Finally many of us earn our own ‘expert’ status to a greater or lesser extent and face that what we know is not all there is to know. Millions of people can be wrong, and often have been.
Salamnder said: “I would guess that the women who accept the idea of personality being at least partly dependent on genes are women who have had more than one child. That is the “a-ha!” moment for many of us, when we notice that our children all have such dramatically different personalities despite all living in the same environment.”
Yes, and the maturing child’s emerging personality can develop the tastes, habits and perspective of a living or departed aunt or grandfather made flesh again. The maturation process is like watching the day-to-day transformation of a tadpole to frog. The process appears a miracle to us, but to the child or tadpole, its the path of least resistance, and contributed substantially to Man’s belief in reincarnation.
The reasoning “dramatically different personalities between brothers, then personality is genetic” could be logically true (or maybee not…), but it is much counter-intuitive.
Only to people with no understanding of basic biology (or in denial).