Introduction to Psychology

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Table 11.6 Data From Twin and Adoption Studies on the Heritability of Various Characteristics
Correlation between
children raised together

Correlation between

children raised apart Estimated percent of total due to

Identical

twins

Fraternal

twins

Identical

twins

Fraternal

twins

Heritability

(%)

Shared

environment

(%)

Nonshared

environment

(%)

Age of
puberty
45 5 50

Aggression 0.43 0.14 0.46 0.06

Alzheimer^
disease 0.54 0.16

Fingerprint^
patterns 0.96 0.47 0.96 0.47 100 0 0

General
cognitive
ability
56 0 44

Likelihood of
divorce 0.52 0.22

Sexual^
orientation 0.52 0.22
18– 39 0– 17 61– 66

Big Five
dimensions
40– 50
This table presents some of the observed correlations and heritability estimates for various characteristics.^

Sources: Långström, N., Rahman, Q., Carlström, E., & Lichtenstein, P. (2008). Genetic and environmental effects on
same-sex sexual behavior: A population study of twins in Sweden. Archives of Sexual Behavior, doi:10.1007/s10508-
008-9386-1; Loehlin, J. C. (1992). Genes and environment in personality development. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Publications, Inc; McGue, M., & Lykken, D. T. (1992). Genetic influence on risk of divorce. Psychological Science,
3 (6), 368–373; Plomin, R., Fulker, D. W., Corley, R., & DeFries, J. C. (1997). Nature, nurture, and cognitive
development from 1 to 16 years: A parent-offspring adoption study. Psychological Science, 8(6), 442–447; Tellegen,
A., Lykken, D. T., Bouchard, T. J., Wilcox, K. J., Segal, N. L., & Rich, S. (1988). Personality similarity in twins reared
apart and together. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(6), 1031–1039.