Familial Transmission of Personality Is Higher Than Shown in Typical Studies

Genetic vs Environmental Influences on Personality

• Many commenters see strong genetic influence as “obvious,” citing twin and adoption studies where separated twins and adopted children resemble biological relatives more than adoptive families.
• Others stress environment and learned habits, especially parental modeling and peer influence, and argue personality-like behaviors can change with effort over time.
• Several conclude it’s clearly “both,” but disagree on the size of each contribution.

Measurement and Definition of Personality

• The article’s use of Big Five traits is discussed: supporters note good test–retest reliability and extensive use in psychology.
• Critics find Big Five shallow or culturally biased, and point to existing critiques; some emphasize that all psychological trait boundaries are to some extent arbitrary and culture-dependent.

Anecdotes of Familial Similarity and Bidirectional Influence

• Many describe clear personality and behavioral echoes between themselves and parents or children, sometimes in highly specific “quirks.”
• People often only recognize this with age (“I sound like my dad”), or after having kids and seeing patterns repeat.
• Some speculate traits also flow child → parent, but most feel parent → child is much stronger.

Free Will, Accountability, and Cycles of Abuse

• A long subthread debates whether strong genetic and environmental determination undermines free will and moral responsibility.
• One side argues free will is a “necessary fiction” for legal and moral systems; without it, punishment looks unjust.
• Others counter that deterrence, incapacitation, and rehabilitation can be justified even if choices are fully caused.
• Cycles of abuse are discussed as likely involving both environmental learning and possible genetic predispositions; causality is acknowledged as hard to untangle ethically.

Taboo Topics and Social Implications

• Several say genetic influences on personality, behavior, test scores, or criminality are socially and academically “taboo,” especially when they intersect with race, class, or abuse.
• Others dispute how taboo it really is, but agree the topic is rhetorically fraught and easily linked to eugenics or discrimination.

Statistical and Methodological Skepticism

• A strong minority argues much of behavioral genetics is near-pseudoscience: correlations are small (~0.2), systems are nonlinear, and observational data can fit many incompatible causal models.
• They distinguish “heritability” (a population statistic) from true genetic causation and warn that heritability can be high for clearly non-genetic traits (e.g., accents) in structured populations.
• Defenders reply that, even if causality is limited, genetic data can still improve behavioral studies by explaining variance, and completely dismissing the field is unwarranted.

Class, Wealth, and Role Models

• Commenters generalize from personality heritability to socioeconomic outcomes:
  • Some emphasize that rich kids inherit both genes and modeled habits that sustain advantage.
  • Others say wealth is mostly “having money,” not superior traits; counterarguments cite data on social mobility, conscientiousness, and differing financial habits.
• Role models (parents or others) are seen as crucial, especially for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.