Environmental and Genetic Influences on Sex-Typed Behaviors and Attitudes of Male and Female Adolescents

Abstract

This study uses behavioral genetics to examine the contributions of environmental and genetic influences to the sex-typed behaviors and attitudes of adolescent males and females. Data were drawn from 1,301 sibling pairs ranging from monozygotic twins to half-sibling pairs from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. The measure used was a probability score of being a male based on responses to 16 behavioral and attitudinal items. Using this scale, separate covariance matrices were computed across different levels of zygosities and fit to behavioral genetic models. It was estimated that for males, 25% of the variance was accounted for by genetic influences and 75% by nonshared environmental influences and measurement error. For females, 38% of the variance was accounted for by genetic influences and the remaining 62% by nonshared environmental influences and measurement error. No shared environmental influences were found for either sex’s sex-typed behaviors and attitudes.

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