Subjective well-being is heritable and genetically correlated with dominance in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes).

A Weiss, JE King, RM Enns - Journal of Personality and Social …, 2002 - psycnet.apa.org
A Weiss, JE King, RM Enns
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2002psycnet.apa.org
The hypothesis that subjective well-being (SWB) is heritable and genetically correlated with
Dominance was tested using 128 zoo chimpanzees. Dominance was a chimpanzee-specific
personality factor including items reflecting Extraversion and low Neuroticism. SWB was
measured with a 4-item scale. The best behavior genetic model included additive genetic
and nonshared environmental effects for SWB and Dominance, marginal maternal effects for
SWB, a high genetic correlation, and a low nonshared environmental correlation. Results …
Abstract
The hypothesis that subjective well-being (SWB) is heritable and genetically correlated with Dominance was tested using 128 zoo chimpanzees. Dominance was a chimpanzee-specific personality factor including items reflecting Extraversion and low Neuroticism. SWB was measured with a 4-item scale. The best behavior genetic model included additive genetic and nonshared environmental effects for SWB and Dominance, marginal maternal effects for SWB, a high genetic correlation, and a low nonshared environmental correlation. Results indicated that the shared variance between SWB and Dominance was a consequence of common genes and that the unique variance between SWB and Dominance was a consequence of the nonshared environment. These findings indicate that common genes may underlie the correlation between human personality factors and SWB.
American Psychological Association