The Genetics of Well-Being

Research into well-being and well-functioning has gained increasing interest across various disciplines in recent years. Within genetically-informative research, wellbeing is now studied with increasingly advanced... [ view full abstract ]

Research into well-being and well-functioning has gained increasing interest across various disciplines in recent years. Within genetically-informative research, wellbeing is now studied with increasingly advanced multivariate and longitudinal designs as well as molecular genetic methods. This symposium features five different authors and presents the most recent findings from genetically-informative studies of well-being. The first presentation gives an overview of the main findings and explores the genetic and environmental commonality and specificity underpinning different components of well-being and ill-being. The second paper presents a genetically-informative approach, including molecular genetics, to elucidate one of the main discussions in the field of positive psychology, namely overlap and distinction between hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. The third presentation features two multivariate genome-wide meta-analyses (multivariate GWAMA’s) of life satisfaction, positive affect, neuroticism, and depressive symptoms. The fourth paper presents findings from a longitudinal twin study exploring phenotypic and genotypic associations between anxiety, depression and life satisfaction after midlife. The last presents a discordant MZ twin analysis on associations between a number of somatic diseases and overall satisfaction with life.