Genetics of Wellbeing and Its Components Satisfaction with Life, Happiness, and Quality of Life: A Review and Meta-analysis of Heritability Studies

Behavior Genetics - Tập 45 - Trang 137-156 - 2015
Meike Bartels1,2,3
1Department of Biological Psychology, Netherlands Twin Register, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University medical centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
3Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Tóm tắt

Wellbeing is a major topic of research across several disciplines, reflecting the increasing recognition of its strong value across major domains in life. Previous twin-family studies have revealed that individual differences in wellbeing are accounted for by both genetic as well as environmental factors. A systematic literature search identified 30 twin-family studies on wellbeing or a related measure such as satisfaction with life or happiness. Review of these studies showed considerable variation in heritability estimates (ranging from 0 to 64 %), which makes it difficult to draw firm conclusions regarding the genetic influences on wellbeing. For overall wellbeing twelve heritability estimates, from 10 independent studies, were meta-analyzed by computing a sample size weighted average heritability. Ten heritability estimates, derived from 9 independent samples, were used for the meta-analysis of satisfaction with life. The weighted average heritability of wellbeing, based on a sample size of 55,974 individuals, was 36 % (34–38), while the weighted average heritability for satisfaction with life was 32 % (29–35) (n = 47,750). With this result a more robust estimate of the relative influence of genetic effects on wellbeing is provided.

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