Mueller Ida M, Spinath Frank M, Friese Malte, Hahn Elisabeth
Department of Psychology, Saarland University, Saarbruecken, Germany.
J Pers. 2023 Apr;91(2):332-353. doi: 10.1111/jopy.12723. Epub 2022 Jun 7.
Self-control is a meaningful predictor of crucial life outcomes. Knowingly, genes contribute substantially to differences in self-control, but behavioral genetic findings are often misinterpreted regarding environmental influences. Therefore, we reinvestigate the heritability of self-control as well as potential environmental influences, namely parenting and a chaotic home environment.
We used cross-sectional and longitudinal data from the German twin family study TwinLife (N = 3354 individuals), structured in a multicohort design in which 13-, 19-, and 25-year-old twins rated their self-control, parents' behavior, and home environment.
Results showed increasing mean levels and 1-year stabilities for self-control accompanied by substantial genetic influences, increasing particularly from ages 19 to 25 (53% to 76%). While chaotic home environments and negative parenting were phenotypically associated with lower self-control, twin difference models revealed that differences in these individually perceived "environments" directly predicted self-control differences (β = -0.16 to -0.28) within families when controlling for genetic and environmental similarities.
In addition to the genetic anchoring of self-control, results indicate that environmental factors such as negative family environments are meaningful and depend on individual perceptions within families. Interventions for enhancing self-control should, therefore, rely on individual perspectives rather than objective characteristics of home environments.
自我控制是重要生活结果的一个有意义的预测指标。众所周知，基因在很大程度上导致了自我控制方面的差异，但行为遗传学研究结果在环境影响方面常常被误解。因此，我们重新研究自我控制的遗传力以及潜在的环境影响，即养育方式和混乱的家庭环境。
我们使用了来自德国双胞胎家庭研究“双胞胎生活”（TwinLife，N = 3354人）的横断面和纵向数据，该研究采用多队列设计，其中13岁、19岁和25岁的双胞胎对他们的自我控制、父母行为和家庭环境进行了评分。
结果显示自我控制的平均水平和1年稳定性都在增加，同时伴随着显著的遗传影响，这种影响在19岁至25岁期间尤其增加（从53%增至76%）。虽然混乱的家庭环境和负面的养育方式在表型上与较低的自我控制相关，但双胞胎差异模型显示，在控制了遗传和环境相似性后，这些个体所感知的“环境”差异直接预测了家庭内部的自我控制差异（β = -0.16至-0.28）。
除了自我控制的遗传基础外，结果表明诸如负面家庭环境等环境因素是有意义的，并且取决于家庭内部的个体认知。因此，增强自我控制的干预措施应依赖个体视角，而非家庭环境的客观特征。
