Gene–environment interactions and their impact on the development of personality traits

Although there is good reason to suspect that gene–environment interactions (GxE) contribute to the development of personality, there is relatively little research on this topic to date. This review examines available studies of GxE in personality, focusing specifically on the personality traits of negative emotionality (the propensity to experience aversive mood states) and impulsivity (difficulty inhibiting the expression of affect or impulse). Extant studies of impulsivity yield conflicting results, and thus do not allow for any clear conclusions. However, parenting does appear to hold promise as a moderator of genetic influences on negative emotionality. In particular, genetic influences appear to make important contributions to negative emotionality, but only in the absence of a negative parent–child relationship. By contrast, poor parenting appears to increase negative emotionality in offspring, regardless of the child’s genetic predispositions. Such findings represent an exciting, if somewhat unexpected, advance in the field, and highlight a clear need for additional research on this topic.