Did I Inherit My Moral Compass? Examining Socialization and Evocative Mechanisms for Virtuous Character Development

Abstract

Virtuous character development in children is correlated with parenting behavior, but the role of genetic influences in this association has not been examined. Using a longitudinal twin/sibling study (N = 720; Time 1 (T1) M_age = 12-14 years, Time 3 (T3) M_age = 25-27 years), the current report examines associations among parental negativity/positivity and offspring responsibility during adolescence, and subsequent young adult conscientiousness. Findings indicate that associations among parental negativity and offspring virtuous character during adolescence and young adulthood are due primarily to heritable influences. In contrast, the association between concurrent parental positivity and adolescent responsibility was due primarily to heritable and shared environmental influences. These findings underscore the contributions of heritable influences to the associations between parenting and virtuous character that have previously been assumed to be only environmentally influenced, emphasizing the complexity of mechanisms involved in the development of virtuous character.

Keywords: Heritability; Moral development; Parenting; Responsibility; Virtuous character.

Figure 1.

An illustration of the multivariate Cholesky model. Unstandardized parameter estimates (95% confidence intervals) for the best fitting model. The latent factors A1, C1, and E1 refer to the respective genetic, shared, and nonshared environmental influences on parental negativity. A2, C2, and E2 refer to the respective unique genetic, shared, and nonshared environmental influences on parental positivity, or the genetic, shared, and nonshared environmental influences on parental positivity that are not shared with negative parenting A3 and E3 refer to the respective unique genetic and nonshared environmental influences on adolescent responsibility not in common with parental negativity or positivity. A4 and E4 refer to the respective unique genetic and nonshared environmental influences on conscientiousness in young adulthood, not in common with either parental negativity, positivity, or adolescent responsibility.