Parents know all too well what it’s like when their child can’t seem to find the motivation to stay focused in school. It might be even more true now that kids are learning school at home virtually due to the pandemic. With the right amount of nurturing and enthusiasm, it can be easy to get them back on track. But what if your child is still struggling with motivation to learn despite all that nurturing and enthusiasm? Could genetics be to blame? We hope that you find this study on genetics interesting and informational.
Uncovering the Connection Between Motivation and Genetics
There are so many things we inherit from our parents. It only makes sense that we might also inherit characteristics like the willingness and motivation to learn.
A study from Ohio State University looked at data from more than 13,000 sets of fraternal and identical twins. The siblings resided in 6 different countries and ranged in age from 9 to 16 years old.
Researchers asked the twins to measure how much they enjoyed doing different academic activities such as reading, writing, and spelling. They also asked them to give themselves a score on how well they think they do in various academic subjects. Researchers compared the siblings' answers to one another and compared answers between fraternal twins and identical twins.
Researchers thought the study would show that the twins' shared environment, like family and having the same teacher, would play a larger role in determining motivation than genetics. They found that genetics and a non-shared environment had a more consistent impact on learning motivation instead.
Results from the study showed that 40% – 50% of the differences in the children's motivation to learn were due to genetics. Another exciting discovery was that the same percent of difference in motivation was related to their nonshared environment. Nonshared environments can include differential parenting (which is when parents treat each child differently) or that the twins had different teachers than one another. A shared environment influenced only 3% of the difference in motivation.
A Complex Process of Genes
This study helps show that the motivation to learn isn't as straightforward as we might have thought. Differences in learning motivation aren't necessarily associated with the efforts or lack thereof from parents and teachers.
If a child struggles with the motivation to learn, it doesn't mean that they are stuck with a particular gene that keeps them from enjoying learning new things. Based on what we know about the body, there are many genes and interactions with genes and the environment that influence the motivation to learn.
While achievements in academics still depend on an individual’s cognitive abilities, like being able to use logic and reason, this study shows that traits can play a role in driving motivation and learning. The more we learn about learning and genetic differences, the closer we can get to tailoring education to individuals with more precise methods of education.
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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: NCBI. The high heritability of educational achievement reflects many genetically influenced traits, not just intelligence. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4210287/?tool=pmcentrez
