Question

How important do you think behavior genetic studies are - have they made a valuable contribution to the study of personality? If so, what do you think are their most important contributions?; if not, what do you think are their limitations?

Answer 1

Behaviour genetic studies provide important insights into when and how genes and environments shape human nature. Studies following over many years have shown that the importance of genes can change dramatically with development. Genetic influence tends to increase with age for many characteristics – for example, body weight and intelligence.
Human behavioural genetics has contributed greatly to our understanding of human behavioural development. The unique ability of behavioural genetic methods to separate genetic from environmental effects has also led to important discoveries about how the environment works in development and to the elucidation of the complex ways environments and genes interact across the lifespan.