Is personality inherited? This is what science says

Is personality inherited? Do we perhaps have some traces of our parents’ way of being? What’s more… Can our children develop our introversion, insecurity or that self-sufficiency that defines us? Many people have asked themselves this question. Above all, when they see themselves reflected in some aspect with their own parents.

So, something that First of all, we must be clear that personality is a multifactorial trait. Multiple variables enter into it, both environmental and social, as well as those related to our experiences and, of course, genetics. Therefore, the answer to this question, a priori, is affirmative: yes we inherit the personality of our family, but only some traits, only some brushstrokes.

No one is a sticker of their mother or a clone of their father. We are people who shape their personalities over the years. taking as reference, above all, the accumulated experience. Let’s delve a little deeper into this aspect.

Personality is inherited, yes, but there are nuances

There will be those who feel proud to have the perseverance of their mother. Others, for their part, appreciate having that social openness from their father, that people skills and ease of connecting with others. However, given these characteristics, there will be those who wonder: Are these factors really “genetic” or are we just imitating what we have been seeing during our early years?

Indeed, when it comes to building our personality, our parents often serve as a model for us. That is, we integrate what we see, we often behave in the same way as them because that is what children do: imitate what they see. Now, there are nuances. It is estimated that personality is inherited and that this probability (not determination) is between 40 and 50%.

The rest of the factors are in the social environment and the accumulation of experience.. In this sense, there is a study carried out by the University of Minnesota in the 90s that delves into this idea. The research was done on separate monozygotic twins. The objective was to understand if, even having grown up in different environments, they had similarities in their personality.

The answer was yes. Not only did they share the same temperament and personality, they also had similar hobbies and even a very similar IQ. That is to say, The genetic component is always very present in our personality.

Creativity, cordiality, neuroticism… Factors that can be inherited

We inherit from our parents the color of our eyes, skin, being tall or short or vulnerability to certain threats. At the same time, we know that personality is inherited, but what We were not clear about the factors that most condition this inheritance, as well as the traits most likely to be inherited..

It seems that creativity is one of them. As well as, the dimensions that appear in the theory of the Five Factors (Big Five) of McCrae and Costa, that is, extraversion, neuroticism, cordiality, openness to experience and responsibility. Thus, one of those variables that is frequently appreciated is that related to neuroticism.

Emotional instability or the tendency to experience states such as anxiety more frequently is something that we (sometimes) inherit from our parents.

Personality is inherited, but the environmental factor has more impact

We know that genetics are important. Every day we learn more about this area, about our genome and its mysteries. However, when it comes to understanding how the human personality is built Environmental variables are more important than genetic ones. Genes do not determine us 100%, but the environment in which we grow does.

What does this mean, then? It means that everything that happens to us makes us unique. It implies that The place where we live, what happens to us and how we interpret what happens to us, sculpts our personality year after year.. Likewise, from a study carried out at the University of Zagreb, they also tell us something remarkable.

Sometimes, genetic factors that inherited from our parents’ personality can intensify or weaken over time. This reminds us once again that personality is not a stable and permanent entity. People evolve and this may involve getting closer to how our parents are (or were) or, on the contrary, leaving aside many traits and patterns.

If genetics are important, does it mean that we are already born with the foundations of our personality?

Personality is inherited, we are already clear that we can show some characteristics of our parents. Does that mean that every baby comes into the world with the foundations of a specific personality? Not really. When a baby is born what is evidenced is temperament, not a type of personality.

These temperaments define and explain the way they react to their environment: they adapt to routines, are more or less energetic, cry more frequently, way of reacting to stimuli, be more or less demanding, etc. There are, therefore, children with easier (adaptable) temperaments and others who react with greater anxiety, apprehension, etc.

These characteristics can later lay the foundations of your personality. However, the way we raise them, how we help them manage emotions and guide them in their daily lives, is what will build—in part—their way of being.

We conclude by highlighting something important: although we inherit our parents’ genes, we do not 100% inherit their way of being, feeling, acting and reacting to things. It is experience and environment that determine us the most.

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