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The Heritability of happiness

The Heritability of happiness. ‘Happiness depends, as Nature shows, less on exterior things than most suppose. ‘ - William Cowper . What is ‘happiness’?. Studied at various levels and has several parts Positive emotion can be experienced at the same time as negative emotion

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The Heritability of happiness

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  1. The Heritability of happiness ‘Happiness depends, as Nature shows, less on exterior things than most suppose. ‘ - William Cowper

  2. What is ‘happiness’? • Studied at various levels and has several parts • Positive emotion can be experienced at the same time as negative emotion • Subjective happiness • Objective happiness • ‘Life satisfaction’ • ‘Happiness’ – often used interchangeably with ‘subjective well-being’

  3. Is happiness heritable? • Lykken and Tellegen (1996) • Longitudinal, twin study • Happiness measure: Well Being scale of the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (a self-report inventory) • Twins raised together: correlations = 0.44 MZ, 0.08 DZ • Twins separated and reared apart: correlations = 0.52 MZ, -0.02 DZ • Broad heritability of Well Being = 40-50% • Very similar results at Time 2, revealing that stability in happiness is 80% attributable to genetic factors. Lykken and Tellegen (1996). Happiness is a stochastic phenomenon. Psychological Science 7(3), 186-189.

  4. Genetic Influences • Other studies have found that genetic influences usually account for 35-50% of the variance in happiness measures (Roysamb et al., 2002; Stubbe et al., 2005; Nes et al, 2005, 2006). • Genetic influences on happiness and well-being appear to reflect both additive and non-additive genetic effects. • The location of the ‘happiness gene’ is still unknown.

  5. Happiness and personality: a common genetic background? • Edinburgh psychologists • Found no genetic effects that were specific to subjective well-being. • Instead they identified common genes that result in certain personality traits, which in turn predispose people to happiness. • Those who have the right mix of personality genes build an ‘affective reserve’ of happiness. Weiss, Bates & Luciano (2008) Happiness is a personal(ity) thing. Psychological Science, 19(3), 205-210.

  6. Environmental influences • Non-genetic influences on well-being and happiness mostly reflect non-shared environmental effects. • Effects from shared environmental factors appear to be minor or entirely negligible.

  7. Implications • Evidence for considerable and stable genetic contributions suggests that societal changes and therapeutic interventions may produce mainly transitory or minor effects • This is not true, high heritability does not limit chances for raising happiness. • Genes effect long-term happiness, environment affects the here and now.

  8. Conclusions • Happiness is influenced by genes. • Short-term happiness is affected by environmental factors. • Long-term happiness is predominantly influenced by genes.

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