Skip to main content
Journal cover image

Worldwide Well-Being: Simulated Twins Reveal Genetic and (Hidden) Environmental Influences.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Røysamb, E; Moffitt, TE; Caspi, A; Ystrøm, E; Nes, RB
Published in: Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science
November 2023

What are the major sources of worldwide variability in subjective well-being (SWB)? Twin and family studies of SWB have found substantial heritability and strong effects from unique environments but virtually no effects from shared environments. However, extant findings are not necessarily valid at the global level. Prior studies have examined within-countries variability but did not take into account mean differences across nations. In this article, we aim to estimate the effects of genetic factors, individual environmental exposures, and shared environments for the global population. We combine a set of knowns from national well-being studies (means and standard deviations) and behavioral-genetic studies (heritability) to model a scenario of twin studies across 157 countries. For each country, we simulate data for a set of twin pairs and pool the data into a global sample. We find a worldwide heritability of 31% to 32% for SWB. Individual environmental factors explain 46% to 52% of the variance (including measurement error), and shared environments account for 16% to 23% of the global variance in SWB. Worldwide, well-being is somewhat less heritable than within nations. In contrast to previous within-countries studies, we find a notable effect of shared environments. This effect is not limited to within families but operates at a national level.

Duke Scholars

Altmetric Attention Stats
Dimensions Citation Stats

Published In

Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science

DOI

EISSN

1745-6924

ISSN

1745-6916

Publication Date

November 2023

Volume

18

Issue

6

Start / End Page

1562 / 1574

Related Subject Headings

  • Twins, Monozygotic
  • Twins, Dizygotic
  • Social Psychology
  • Humans
  • Genetics
  • Gene-Environment Interaction
  • Environmental Exposure
  • 52 Psychology
  • 1702 Cognitive Sciences
  • 1701 Psychology
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Røysamb, E., Moffitt, T. E., Caspi, A., Ystrøm, E., & Nes, R. B. (2023). Worldwide Well-Being: Simulated Twins Reveal Genetic and (Hidden) Environmental Influences. Perspectives on Psychological Science : A Journal of the Association for Psychological Science, 18(6), 1562–1574. https://doi.org/10.1177/17456916231178716
Røysamb, Espen, Terrie E. Moffitt, Avshalom Caspi, Eivind Ystrøm, and Ragnhild Bang Nes. “Worldwide Well-Being: Simulated Twins Reveal Genetic and (Hidden) Environmental Influences.Perspectives on Psychological Science : A Journal of the Association for Psychological Science 18, no. 6 (November 2023): 1562–74. https://doi.org/10.1177/17456916231178716.
Røysamb E, Moffitt TE, Caspi A, Ystrøm E, Nes RB. Worldwide Well-Being: Simulated Twins Reveal Genetic and (Hidden) Environmental Influences. Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. 2023 Nov;18(6):1562–74.
Røysamb, Espen, et al. “Worldwide Well-Being: Simulated Twins Reveal Genetic and (Hidden) Environmental Influences.Perspectives on Psychological Science : A Journal of the Association for Psychological Science, vol. 18, no. 6, Nov. 2023, pp. 1562–74. Epmc, doi:10.1177/17456916231178716.
Røysamb E, Moffitt TE, Caspi A, Ystrøm E, Nes RB. Worldwide Well-Being: Simulated Twins Reveal Genetic and (Hidden) Environmental Influences. Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. 2023 Nov;18(6):1562–1574.
Journal cover image

Published In

Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science

DOI

EISSN

1745-6924

ISSN

1745-6916

Publication Date

November 2023

Volume

18

Issue

6

Start / End Page

1562 / 1574

Related Subject Headings

  • Twins, Monozygotic
  • Twins, Dizygotic
  • Social Psychology
  • Humans
  • Genetics
  • Gene-Environment Interaction
  • Environmental Exposure
  • 52 Psychology
  • 1702 Cognitive Sciences
  • 1701 Psychology