If you're convinced your personality is 'born, not made,' your genes actually end up having a way bigger impact on who you become.
March 25, 2026
Original Paper
Self-Attributed Innateness Beliefs Moderate the Heritability of Psychological Traits
PsyArXiv · q6ths_v1
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The Takeaway
The study suggests that our beliefs about innateness act as a 'gatekeeper' for our DNA. If you believe your traits are fixed by biology, your genetic variation is expressed more freely, whereas believing you can change may actually suppress the influence of your genes.
From the abstract
People vary in how strongly they believe their psychological traits are innate. Using a twin/sibling design (N = 5,844; 1,043 MZ and 2,607 DZ families), I tested whether such beliefs moderate the heritability of 11 traits spanning sexuality, personality, attitudes, and health behavior. Innateness beliefs significantly moderated heritability for all traits: individuals who considered a trait more innate showed higher heritability for that trait. The effect was more trait-specific than indica