Expecting parents spend a lot of time wondering what their baby might look like. Will their baby have curly hair like dad or dimples like mom? But what about their personality? Most parents don't explore much beyond hoping for an "easy" baby. After taking time to understand how inheritance plays a role in forming a baby's personality, expecting parents may be more thoughts like: "I hope my baby has a great sense of humor like their dad," or "I hope my baby will be carefree and spontaneous like me." Where do these traits come from? Are they inherited, or are they influenced by their environment as they grow?
The answer to this question is both. We hope this information will help you understand the nature of personality, where it comes from, and how it develops.
Inheritance of Personality Traits
To understand more, let's review some of the basics of genetics. Children get their genes from both their mother and father. Genes carry information determining features and characteristics that make you who you are.
How does it work? Every person has 23 pairs of chromosomes. Chromosomes are thread-like structures made of DNA that live within every one of our cells. DNA is made up of segments known as genes. So, when parents have a child, they give one chromosome from each pair to their child. Therefore, their child will get 23 chromosomes from their father and 23 chromosomes from their mother.
Okay, now that we are grounded in the basics of genetics, does this mean babies are a perfect blend of personality and physical characteristics of both their mother and father? Well, not exactly. While some traits are genetic, it could take several different genes to result in a particular personality. And even if your child has a genetic tendency to have a particular personality trait, environmental influences can play a part as well.
Personality traits are different characteristics that make our personality unique. They are categorized into five main categories: extraversion (sociability and assertiveness), neuroticism (moodiness and emotional instability), agreeableness (trust and kindness), conscientiousness (thoughtfulness and impulsivity), and openness (creativeness).
But personality is not that cut and dry. When it comes to explaining personality traits that appear to not come from either parent, all fingers point to the environment.
Genetic and Environmental Differences in Personality
Personality is a multifactorial trait, which means multiple things influence it. In this case, it's genetics and the environment. Environmental influences can include education and nurturing patterns from parents. It seems to make sense that personality is influenced by both genetics and environment, but how much?
To help answer this question, a number of studies have been conducted on twins over the years to get a better understanding of just that. One study in Minnesota looked at groups of identical and fraternal twins who were raised together and separately. Results showed that identical twins raised apart from one another had a varying degree of similar personality traits suggesting the influence of both genetics and the environment. Other studies with twins determined that identical twins share about 50% of the same personality traits, while fraternal twins share only about 20% of the same traits. This study doesn't quantify the impact of genetic vs. environmental, but does point out the significant influence of both.
Temperament is the Start of Personality
Now that you have a better understanding of how personality is determined, you might be wondering more about what your baby's personality will be like. Will they be fussy and stay up all night? Or will they be easy-going? You can get an early glimpse of their personality based on their temperament at birth.
Babies are born with different temperaments, which are the beginning stages of personality development. The three types of temperaments are categorized as easy, difficult, or slow-to-warm-up. Scientists believe that genetics determines 20-60% of temperament.
Temperament is a determining factor in how your baby will react to the people and environment around them. It can influence how active they are and how regular they are with eating and sleeping. Temperament also influences if they are easily distracted, adapt to new situations, level of persistence, intensity of reactions, and mood.
Regardless of what temperament your child is born with, as a parent, you will teach them coping strategies to handle certain situations as they grow, which can positively influence their reactions in the future despite their genetic disposition. No matter what parts of their personality and temperament that they inherit or how the environment may shape it throughout the years, their personality is the reason why you love them for who they are.
And, if you're wondering if your baby will have your partner's stubbornness or your enthusiastic energy, they very well may.
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Disclaimer: PerkinElmer and ViaCord do not endorse or make recommendations with respect to research, medications, or treatment. All information is provided for informational purposes only.
Resources:
Kids Health. What is a Gene? https://kidshealth.org/en/kids/what-is-gene.html
NIH. Chromosomes Fact Sheet. https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/fact-sheets/Chromosomes-Fact-Sheet
Simply Psychology. The Big Five Personality Traits. https://www.simplypsychology.org/big-five-personality.html
Science. Sources of human psychological differences: the Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart. https://science.sciencemag.org/content/250/4978/223
Med Line Plus. Is temperament determined by genetics? https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/understanding/traits/temperament/
