Behavioral Genetic Influences in Families

When meeting a friend’s dad or encountering a particularly annoying classmate’s mom in public, it can be painfully obvious that their lineages are connected. It is not derived from the same furrowed brow or scowl either—in fact, genetic influences can take a much larger role than previously expected in personality development. Analyzing and tracing how exactly behavioral concepts are passed down from parent to child can play a divisive role in determining familial relationships and understanding how personality is shaped through development.

One trait that has clearly been proven to exert genetic influence is temperament. Genetics can account for up to 20-60% of the variation that occurs when referring to mood disposition in populations (Mullineaux & DiLalla, 2015). This trend becomes increasingly more relevant as children age, reaching its peak in late adolescence. Thus, a teenager with a monstrous attitude likely has one of their parental figures to blame. Intelligence has also been correlated with the traits that a parent possesses. 

Why exactly does this occur? This is answered by a trend denoted as an ‘evocative gene-environment correlation,’ which refers to how these trends continue to occur. Due to the parent’s predisposition to the traits that a child inherited, the communication of such traits generally triggers a stronger reaction from the parent, leading to the traits being further cemented in the child’s mind since they react to attention (Deater-Deckard & Petrill, 2004). As researchers Sara R. Jaffee and Thomas S. Price posit, the gene-environment correlation proceeds as follows: “Although arguing with a spouse may result in someone becoming depressed, it is equally plausible that individuals who are prone to depression tend to provoke arguments with significant others” (2008, para. 3).

A combination of environmental and parental influences plays a significant role in development, but nurture aspects of behavioral development can have an influence on children. For instance, the repercussions of the death of a close loved one or the loss of a home cannot easily be inherited because of the lack of control involved (Jaffee & Price, 2008). However, personal crises, such as the loss of a job, can hold a heavy influence, since “environments less amenable to behavioural modification tend to be less heritable” (Jaffee & Price, 2008).

The idea of this gene heritability and environmental pressure is exacerbated in situations involving mental illness and other potential disorders. Parents who suffer from depression may pass on the depressogenic tendencies to their children in the form of genetic inheritance. Once the parent takes on the job of raising the child, they likely will not offer adequate emotional support or openness due to their depressive tendencies (Wilkinson et al., 2013). This in turn perpetuates a cycle of hindered emotional intelligence. In situations involving abusive households, this tendency is exacerbated as well; the common idea of ‘the abused becomes the abuser’ does not exist without reason.

Thus, the class clown’s father resembling the jokester you’re familiar with is not at all a coincidence. It is based on a series of influences that reach the microscopic level. DNA accounts for almost every aspect of our lives, including how we behave. Inheriting your mom’s laugh or your dad’s reaction to a cute image can establish a close familial relationship and explain inherent behavioral patterns. My grandpa acts like my dad who also acts like my brother, so there is no way it happened due to a coincidence. Genetics have a powerful role in practically every aspect of life, but the influences of behavior from parental figures do not seal the deal. 

Works Cited

Deater-Deckard, K., & Petrill, S. A. (2004). Parent-child dyadic mutuality and child behavior problems: an investigation of gene-environment processes. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45(6), 1171–1179. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2004.00309.x

Jaffee, S. R., & Price, T. S. (2008). Genotype–environment correlations: implications for determining the relationship between environmental exposures and psychiatric illness. Psychiatry, 7(12), 496-499. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mppsy.2008.10.002.

Mullineaux, P. Y., & DiLalla, L. F. (2015). Genetic Influences on Peer and Family Relationships Across Adolescent Development: Introduction to the Special Issue. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 44(7), 1347–1359. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-015-0306-0

Wilkinson, P. O., Trzaskowski, M., Haworth, C. M. A., & Eley, T. C. (2013). The role of gene–environment correlations and interactions in middle childhood depressive symptoms. Development and Psychopathology, 25(1), 93–104. doi:10.1017/S0954579412000922