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Cited by 190Personality Traits and PsychologyAssisted Reproductive Technology and Twin PregnancyGenetic Associations and Epidemiology

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 47 of the 47 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

The Personalities of Twins: Just Ordinary Folks

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Johnson, Wendy, Krueger, Robert F., Bouchard, Thomas J., McGue, Matt·2002·Twin Research
DOI 10.1375/1369052022992
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Abstract

Twin studies have demonstrated that personality traits show moderate genetic influence. The conclusions drawn from twin studies rely on the assumptions that twins are representative of the population at large and that monozygotic and dizygotic twins are comparable in every way that might have bearing on the traits being studied. To evaluate these assumptions, we used Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ) data from three samples drawn from the Minnesota Twin Registry (totaling 12,971 respondents) to examine the effect sizes associated with mean differences on the 11 MPQ scales and 3 higher-order MPQ factors for singletons versus twins and MZ twins versus DZ twins. The singletons in the samples were family members of the participating twins. We also used ratios of scale variances to examine the significance of variance differences. The only mean or variance difference replicated across all three samples was greater Social Closeness (about.1 standard deviation) for twins than for singletons. This difference was obtained for both males and females. It would appear that, with respect to personality, twins are not systematically different from other people. Our results also highlight the importance of replication in psychological research because each of our large samples showed differences not replicated in other samples.

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Research works printed but not linked: 7

  1. Bouchard, Jr. T. J., & Loehlin, J. C. (in press). Genes, evolution, and personality. Behavior Genetics.
  2. Bryan, E. M. (1993). Prenatal and perinatal influences on twin children: Implications for twin studies. In J. T. J. Bouchard, & P. Popping (Eds.), Twins as a tool of behavioral genetics (pp. 218-25). Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
  3. In W. Damon, & N. Eisenberg (Eds.), Handbook of child psy- chology: Vol. 3; Social emotional, and personality development (311-388). New York: Wiley.
  4. Cunningham, F. G., McDonald, P. C., & Gant, N. F. (1989). Multifetal pregnancy. Williams Obstetrics (pp. 629-652).
  5. Hall, J. G. (1996). Twins and twinning. American Journal of Medical Genetics, 61, 202-204.
  6. Rutter, M., Simonoff, E., & Silberg, J. (1993). How informative are twin studies of child psychopathology? In T. J. Bouchard, Jr., & P. Popping, (Eds.), Twins as a tool of behavioral genetics (pp. 179-194). Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
  7. In A. H. Tuma, & J. D. Maser (Eds.), Anxiety and the anxiety disorders (pp. 681-706). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

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Metadata

Authors
Johnson, W., Krueger, R. F., Bouchard, T. J., & McGue, M.
Affiliations
University of Minnesota (US)
Corresponding author
Johnson, Wendy
ORCID
Venue
Twin Research
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Published
2002-04-01
Volume
5
Issue
2
Pages
125-131
ISSN
  • 1369-0523 (ISSN-L)
  • 0000-0000
DOI
10.1375/1369052022992
OpenAlex
W2103747583
Cited by
190
References
47
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 16 · 2012: 8
FWCI
18.10
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Twin Research (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • University of Minnesota
  • National Institutes of Health (2r01mh037860-07)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (MH37860, 5 R01 MH37860, MH65137, R21MH065137, R21 MH 65137)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Assisted Reproductive Technology and Twin Pregnancy
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic Associations and Epidemiology
Keywords
personality traits, twins, monozygotic twins, dizygotic twins, Minnesota Twin Registry, Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire, social proximity, replication, singletons
MeSH terms
Analysis of Variance, Female, Humans, Male, Personality, Personality Assessment, Surveys and Questionnaires, Twins, Twins, Dizygotic, Twins, Monozygotic

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