Neuroticism and extraversion share genetic and environmental effects with negative and positive mood spillover in a nationally representative sample

Work-family spillover research focuses on how negative and positive moods in one life domain carry over to another. Domain-specific etiologies (e.g., family conflict) are often emphasized to explain spillover. Yet, strong correlations exist between spillover variables of the same emotional valence but originating from different domains, suggesting individual differences in the tendencies to prolong mood-states. The current study (N = 1143 individuals) examined whether these general tendencies are associated with neuroticism and extraversion and how genetic and environmental effects contribute to these associations. Findings revealed that neuroticism and extraversion are related to these tendencies through both genetic and environmental pathways.     

Relationships between parenting and adolescent adjustment over time: genetic and environmental contributions.

The predictive association between parenting and adolescent adjustment has been assumed to be environmental; however, genetic and environmental contributions have not been examined. This article represents one effort to examine these associations in which a genetically informative design was used. Participants were 395 families with adolescent siblings who participated in the Nonshared Environment in Adolescent Development (D. Reiss et al., 1994) project at 2 times of assessment, 3 years apart. There were 5 sibling types in 2 types of families: 63 identical twins, 75 fraternal twins, and 58 full siblings in nondivorced families and 95 full, 60 half, and 44 genetically unrelated siblings in stepfamilies. Results indicate that the cross-lagged associations between parental conflict-negativity and adolescent antisocial behavior and depressive symptoms can be explained primarily by genetic factors. These findings emphasize the need to recognize and examine the impact that adolescents have on parenting and the contribution of genetic factors to developmental change.     

Depression and internally directed aggression: genetic and environmental contributions

This study uses behavior genetic (BG) methodology to investigate Freud's theory of depression as aggression directed toward the self (1930) and the extent to which genetically and environmentally influenced aggressive tendencies contribute to depressive symptoms. Data from the Twin and Offspring Study in Sweden (TOSS) is used to demonstrate how, in estimating shared and unique environmental influences, BG methods can inform psychoanalytic theory and practice, particularly because of their shared emphasis on the importance of individual experience in development. The TOSS sample consists of 909 pairs of adult twins, their partners, and one adolescent child per couple. The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (Radloff 1977) was used to measure depressive symptoms and the Karolinska Scales of Personality (Schalling and Edman 1993) to measure internally directed aggression. Genetic analyses indicated that for both men and women, their unique experiences as well as genetic factors contributed equally to the association between internally directed aggression and depressive symptoms. These findings support Freud's theory that constitutionally based differences in aggression, along with individual experiences, contribute to a person's depressive symptoms. Establishing that an individual's unique, not shared, experiences and perceptions contribute to depressive symptoms and internally directed aggression reinforces the use of patient-specific treatment approaches implemented in psychoanalytic psychotherapy or psychoanalysis.     

Happiness and health: environmental and genetic contributions to the relationship between subjective well-being, perceived health, and somatic illness

The aim was to identify genetic and environmental influences on the covariances between subjective well-being (SWB), perceived health, and somatic illness. Analyses were based on 6576 Norwegian twins aged 18-31. Heritabilities ranged from .24 to.66. SWB correlated .50 with perceived health, -.25 with musculoskeletal pain, and -.07 with allergy. Common genetic factors accounted for 45%-60% of associations. SWB and perceived health was to a high extent influenced by the same genes (r(g)=.72 and.82 for males and females, respectively). For SWB and musculoskeletal pain, r-sub(g) =-.29 and -.42 for males and females, respectively. Effects were partly sex specific. Environmental factors shared by twins did not affect the covariances. Results support a differentiated view of SWB-health relations, and imply that both genes and environment play important roles in the associations between well-being and health.     

Informant impressions of retardate personality: reliability with extraversion, emotionality, toughmindedness

To assess extraversion, emotionality and toughmindedness among retarded persons with limited linguistic skills the 18-item Personal Reactions and Habits Questionnaire (PRHQ) was created. The responses of 2 interviewed informants, each well acquainted with a target person, are summed to obtain scores for each of the personality factors identified by Eysenck and Eysenck (1975). To establish the reliability of this procedure 4 interviewers inquired of 35 informants about a total of 54 target Ss of a wide range of mental retardation and living variously in the natural home, a group home or in a large state-operated institution. One-week test-retest reliability coefficients, e.g. r=0.93 for Extraversion, r=0.86 for Emotionality and r=0.92 for Toughmindedness, suggest the PRHQ to be a promising instrument for research on personality of Ss unable to provide self-reports. The possible use of the PRHQ to assess concordance of self-reports with personality impressions of others is also discussed.     

Sources of structure: genetic, environmental, and artifactual influences on the covariation of personality traits

The phenotypic structure of personality traits has been well described, but it has not yet been explained causally. Behavior genetic covariance analyses can identify the underlying causes of phenotypic structure; previous behavior genetic research has suggested that the effects from both genetic and nonshared environmental influences mirror the phenotype. However, nonshared environmental effects are usually estimated as a residualterm that may also include systematic bias, such as that introduced by implicit personality theory. To reduce that bias, we supplemented data from Canadian and German twin studies with cross-observer correlations on the Revised NEO Personality Inventory. The hypothesized five-factor structure was found in both the phenotypic and genetic/familial covariances. When the residual covariance was decomposed into true nonshared environmental influences and method bias, only the latter showed the five-factor structure. True nonshared environmental influences are not structured as genetic influences are, although there was some suggestion that they do affect two personality dimensions, Conscientiousness and Love. These data reaffirm the value of behavior genetic analyses for research on the underlying causes of personality traits.     

Trait as default: extraversion, subjective well-being, and the distinction between neutral and positive events

On the basis of prior work suggesting that trait self-knowledge serves a "fill-in" function when event-specific information is missing (M.D. Robinson & G. L. Clore, 2002a), we sought to demonstrate that extraversion is a more reliable predictor of subjective well-being (SWB) judgments among certain individuals than among others. Four studies involving a total of 260 participants revealed that the extraversion-SWB relation was relatively weaker among those quick to appreciate the distinction between neutral and positive events in a choice reaction-time task; by contrast, it was stronger among those slow to recognize this distinction. The findings suggest that extraversion scales measure (among other things) beliefs about SWB that differentially contribute to judgments among those less capable of making evaluative distinctions at encoding.     

The dynamic role of personality States in mediating the relationship between extraversion and positive affect

One of the most noteworthy and robust findings in personality psychology is the relationship between extraversion and positive affect. Existing theories have debated the origins and nature of this relationship, offering both structural/fixed and environmental/dynamic explanations. We tested the novel and straightforward dynamic hypothesis that part of the reason trait extraversion predicts trait positive affect is through an increased propensity to enact extraverted states, which in turn leads to experiencing more positive affect states. We report 5 experience sampling studies (and a meta‐analysis of primary studies) conducted in natural environments and laboratory settings in which undergraduate participants (N = 241) provided ratings of trait extraversion, trait positive affect, extraversion states, and positive affect states. Results of primary studies and the meta‐analysis showed that relationships between trait extraversion and trait positive affect were partially mediated by aggregated extraversion states and aggregated positive affect states. The results supported our dynamic hypothesis and suggested that dynamic explanations of the relationship between trait extraversion and trait positive affect are compatible with structural explanations. An important implication of these findings is that individuals might be able to increase their happiness by self‐regulating their extraverted states.     

Neuroticism and extraversion as mediators between positive/negative life events and resilience

Positive and negative life events have been demonstrated to play an important role regarding the development of resilience. However, it is less clear how life events interact with personality factors in forming individual resilience. Thus, the present study investigates the mediating effects of the two main complementary personality dimensions extraversion and neuroticism on the relationship between life events and resilience in adulthood. Traumatic Antecedent Questionnaire (TAQ), NEO-Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) and Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) were administered to 201 healthy subjects. Results from path analyses (AMOS) revealed that the personality factors neuroticism and extraversion (measured by NEO-FFI) fully mediated the association between positive life events and resilience. This is the first study to date using psychometric assessment to explore the possible pathways from positive/negative life experiences to resilience.     

Understanding child-based effects on parenting: temperament as a moderator of genetic and environmental contributions to parenting

The degree to which child temperament moderates genetic and environmental contributions to parenting was examined. Participants were drawn from the Nonshared Environment and Adolescent Development project and included 720 sibling pairs, ages 13.5 + 2.0 years (Sibling 1) to 12.1 + 1.3 years (Sibling 2). The sample consisted of 6 sibling types: 93 monozygotic twin pairs, 99 dizygotic twin pairs, and 95 full sibling pairs from never-divorced families and 182 full-sibling, 109 half-sibling, and 130 unrelated-sibling pairs residing in stepfamilies. Composite child temperament ratings (negative emotionality, activity, shyness, and sociability) were derived from mothers' and fathers' reports. Composite parenting ratings (negativity, warmth) for mothers and fathers were generated from children's and parents' reports. Analyses indicated that at higher levels of negative emotionality and sociability, child-based genetic contributions to mothers' and fathers' negativity increased, whereas the contributions of environmental factors declined. The opposite pattern was observed for child shyness. These same characteristics had less impact on parental warmth. For fathers only, nonshared environmental contributions to fathers' warmth increased in the presence of high child activity and sociability but declined when children were very shy. Overall these findings indicate that child-based effects on negative parenting are enhanced when children demonstrate potentially challenging characteristics but are weaker in the absence of such characteristics.     

Masculine girls and feminine boys: genetic and environmental contributions to atypical gender development in early childhood

In this genetic study of atypical gender role development, parents of 5,799 twin pairs, ages 3 and 4, rated their twin children's masculinity and femininity. Boys were selected as gender atypical if they were highly feminine (top 5%, 10%, or 15%) relative to other boys, and girls were selected if they were highly masculine relative to other girls. Gender-atypical boys and girls were each divided into 2 groups: fully gender atypical (e.g., feminine boys also low on masculinity) and partially gender atypical (e.g., feminine boys who are not low on masculinity). DeFries-Fulker (DF; J. C. DeFries & D. W. Fulker, 1985, 1988) extremes analysis yielded moderate group heritability and substantial shared environment effects for atypical gender role behavior. However, for fully gender-atypical girls, group heritability accounted for most of the variance, and shared environment had no effect. The results are discussed in light of past studies and potential implications for atypical gender development.     

The assessment of behavioural activation—the relationship between positive emotionality and the behavioural activation system

Much personality research suggests that the variance in personality can be accounted for by a few dimensions, often hypothesized to be connected to neurological circuits. Gray's ( 1982 ) behavioural activation system (BAS) and behavioural inhibition system (BIS) in particular propose to explain for a variety of behaviour. This investigation sought to determine whether Positive Emotionality is an appropriate measure of the BAS, and how Tellegen's ( 1985 ) constructs are related to BAS activity. Measures of BAS and Positive Emotionality were administered to undergraduates. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed that, while Positive Emotionality can be used as an indicator of BAS activity, it is better conceived of as a distinct, correlated construct. In addition, not all components of Positive Emotionality were related to BAS activity, and BAS was further related to components of Negative Emotionality and Constraint. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The distinctiveness of hardiness, positive emotionality, and negative emotionality in National Guard soldiers

Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to investigate the distinctiveness of hardiness (using the Short Hardiness Scale; Bartone, 1995) from the broader personality traits of negative emotionality and positive emotionality (NEM and PEM; assessed with items from the MMPI-2 PSY-5 scales); in a sample of 981 Army National Guard soldiers. Exploratory factor analyses demonstrated that hardiness items loaded on a separate factor from PEM and NEM items, and confirmatory factor analysis suggested that hardiness is not simply a sub-facet of either PEM or NEM. However, subsequent regression analyses found that hardiness did not predict symptoms of PTSD or depression beyond the effects of PEM and NEM among combat exposed soldiers.     

Unveiling the link between facets of positive nonverbal communication and perceived leader effectiveness: A moderated mediation model

Previous experimental research has examined the important role of combined facets of kinesics and paralanguage in engendering perceived leader effectiveness. However, little is known about the distinct impact of these overarching forms of nonverbal communication and the underlying mechanisms that account for this relationship. Hence, conducting a scenario and a survey, we examined the affect of leader positive kinesics and paralanguage on perceived leader effectiveness through trust in leader. Furthermore, we investigated if these indirect effects are contingent on a novel personality trait--namely, suspicion. The present results demonstrated that suspicion moderated the mediating effect of trust in leader on the relationship between both kinesics and paralanguage and perceived leader effectiveness. Implications and future research are also discussed.     

Inwardness and Sociability: A Reply to Carter

Carter argues that Wittgensteinian moral philosophy – typified by the work of Raimond Gaita and Christopher Cordner – rests on shaky foundations because it vacillates between grounding moral judgements in grammar and in a form of life. In this article, I respond to Carter's criticism. I defend Wittgensteinian moral philosophy by showing that Gaita and Cordner specifically repudiate the purported dichotomy between grammar and a form of life. I then go on to explain why Wittgensteinian moral philosophers are right not to try to ground moral judgements in features of a shared form of life.     

Genetic and environmental contributions to the associations between intraindividual variability in reaction time and cognitive function

Intraindividual variability (IIV) in reaction time has been related to cognitive decline, but questions remain about the nature of this relationship. Mean and range in movement and decision time for simple reaction time were available from 241 individuals aged 51–86 years at the fifth testing wave of the Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Aging. Cognitive performance on four factors was also available: verbal, spatial, memory, and speed. Analyses indicated that range in reaction time could be used as an indicator of IIV. Heritability estimates were 35% for mean reaction and 20% for range in reaction. Multivariate analysis indicated that the genetic variance on the memory, speed, and spatial factors is shared with genetic variance for mean or range in reaction time. IIV shares significant genetic variance with fluid ability in late adulthood, over and above and genetic variance shared with mean reaction time.     

Sociability and susceptibility to the common cold

There is considerable evidence that social relationships can influence health, but only limited evidence on the health effects of the personality characteristics that are thought to mold people's social lives. We asked whether sociability predicts resistance to infectious disease and whether this relationship is attributable to the quality and quantity of social interactions and relationships. Three hundred thirty-four volunteers completed questionnaires assessing their sociability, social networks, and social supports, and six evening interviews assessing daily interactions. They were subsequently exposed to a virus that causes a common cold and monitored to see who developed verifiable illness. Increased sociability was associated in a linear fashion with a decreased probability of developing a cold. Although sociability was associated with more and higher-quality social interactions, it predicted disease susceptibility independently of these variables. The association between sociability and disease was also independent of baseline immunity (virus-specific antibody), demographics, emotional styles, stress hormones, and health practices.