Did I Inherit My Moral Compass?

The development of virtuous character (e.g., social responsibility) has generally been assumed to be due to environmental influences (i.e., social interactions). However, there is support for genetic influences on virtuous... [ view full abstract ]

The development of virtuous character (e.g., social responsibility) has generally been assumed to be due to environmental influences (i.e., social interactions). However, there is support for genetic influences on virtuous character during adolescence and young adulthood. Therefore, studies need to consider how virtuous character can develop not only due to environmental influences (i.e., parenting), but genetic influences to expand how philosophers and researchers understand moral development. Using the Nonshared Environment in Adolescent Development (NEAD; Neiderhiser, J. M., Reiss, D., & Hetherington, E. M. 2007. The Nonshared Environment in Adolescent Development (NEAD) Project: A longitudinal family study of twins and siblings from adolescence to young adulthood. Twin Research and Human Genetics, 10(1), 74-83), a longitudinal twin/sibling family study (N = 720; Time 1 (T1) Mage = 14.8 for older siblings and 12.9 for younger siblings, Time 3 (T3) Mage = 26.8 for older siblings and 25.5 for younger siblings), we examined genetic and environmental influences on associations among negative parenting and adolescent self-responsibility at T1, and virtuous character at T3. Negative parent-adolescent relationship was comprised of parent-reports on the Parent-Child Relationships scale, Child Rearing Issues, and Conflict Tactics Scale at T1. Self-responsibility was comprised of adolescent and parent report on the Harter and California Personality Inventory at T1. Virtuous character was assessed by self-report on the NEO Personality Inventory at T3. A trivariate Cholesky decomposition indicated that negative parenting was associated with the development of virtuous character for both genetic and environmental reasons. Specifically, negative parenting was associated with both adolescent self-responsibility and young adult virtuous character due to shared genetic influences, while non-shared environmental influences accounted for associations between negative parenting and adolescent self-responsibility. Finally, genetic influences accounted for associations between adolescent self-responsibility and virtuous character. These findings help to clarify that the correlations among parenting and adolescent and young adult characteristics consistent with virtuous character are largely due to common genetic influences. Therefore, studies that focus only on the “environmental” causes of virtuous character development may miss an opportunity to understand the more complex mechanisms involved.