Genetic and Environmental Influences on Religious Interests, Attitudes, and Values: A Study of Twins Reared Apart and Together

Abstract

The role of genetic and environmental factors in the expression of religious interests, attitudes, and values was examined using data from adult twins reared apart and adult twins reared together.

Is our brain hardwired to produce God, or is our brain hardwired to perceive God? A systematic review on the role of the brain in mediating religious experience

“…This research is in line with Waller et al (1990) who studied the relationship between heredity and environment on the religiosity in 53 pairs of monozygotic twins (identical) and 31 pairs of dizygotic twins (fraternal) who had been reared apart and 458 pairs of identical and 363 pairs of fraternal twins who were raised together and found that about 50% of the variation in the religiosity was a function of genetic influences. Their analyses suggested that familial-environmental factors played at most a minor role in their religiosity dimensions.…”

“…Studies of identical versus fraternal twins have suggested a genetic contribution to the tendency of a human to have a religious experience (Waller et al 1990;D'Onofrio et al 1999a,b;Eaves et al 1990;Eaves 2004). For example, in study by Truett et al (1992) who used 3.810 pairs of twins found that about 16% of the variance in their religiosity was due to heredity.…”

Religion, psychopathology, and substance use and abuse; a multimeasure, genetic-epidemiologic study

“…In a large twin-family study, Truett et al (10) reported that resemblance in relatives for frequency of church attendance is substantially influenced by familial-environmental factors. By contrast, Waller et al (58) examined five measures of religiosity in adult twins reared together and apart and reported substantial heritability for all scales, including an MMPI-based measure of religious fundamentalism. Their analyses suggested that familial-environmental factors played at most a minor role in their religiosity dimensions.…”

The heritability of life history strategy: The k‐factor, covitality, and personality

“…Bouchard, Segal, Tellegen, McGue, Keyes, and Krueger (2004) review and discuss several studies that demonstrate the heritability of social attitudes. Research that used several measures of religiosity to compare MZ and DZ twins reared apart or reared together found that about 50 percent of the variance could be accounted for by genetic contributions (Waller, Kojetin, Bouchard, Lykken, and Tellegen, 1990). Intrinsic and Extrinsic religiousness scales were used to determine heritability coefficients utilizing MZ and DZ twins reared apart.…”