Rainer Riemann

Bielefeld University · Department of Psychology

Behavior genetic methods are useful for examining mechanisms underlying the interaction between genetic and family environmental factors of internalizing problem behavior (INT). Previous twin studies, however, have shown little consistency in interaction patterns, depending on type and operationalization of measured environments. The aim of the cur...

This study examines the aetiology of the relationship between personality traits and perceived parenting in light of cross-cultural differences. The sample consisted of 188 Serbian and 394 German twin pairs. Personality traits were measured using the NEO-personality inventory. A Blocks Environmental Questionnaire (BEQ) was applied to measure two di...

Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) and Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) are often regarded as two basic dimensions of individual differences in socio-political attitudes. Since both RWA and SDO are powerful predictors of various kinds of political beliefs and prejudices, a fair amount of prior research has been conducted to examine etiological fac...

The major aim of the German TwinLife study is the investigation of gene-environment interplay driving educational and other inequalities across developmental trajectories from childhood to early adulthood. TwinLife encompasses an 8-year longitudinal, cross-sequential extended twin family design with data from same-sex twins of four age cohorts (5,...

Although there is evidence for non-shared environmental links between parenting and problem behavior, so far, age-, informant-, and parent-specific patterns for both internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors have not been examined within one study yet. Using the twin differences design, the present study aimed to test how maternal and pater...

Early exposure to home chaos relates to poor school performance. This is often interpreted as a causal influence in educational research, however underlying common genetic and environmental factors might affect both constructs, thus confound the effect. Genetics explain about 60% of variation in school performance, while (non-) shared environment c...

Personal characteristics (e.g., cognitive ability (CA), conscientiousness, self-perceived abilities (SPA)) predict differences in school performance. While genetic influences on CA and conscientiousness are unequivocal, origins of SPA have long been assumed to be environmental, however substantial genetic contributions have been detected in behavio...

Two studies examined genetic and environmental influences on traits proposed by the revised Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (rRST) of personality. Both quantitative and molecular behavioral genetic methods were applied considering the effects of COMT, DRD2, HTR1A and TPH2 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Study one included 274 monozygotic a...

School performance in childhood and adolescence is an important indicator for social inequality and various life outcomes in adulthood. Previous research confirmed genetic as well as environmental influences on individual differences in school grades, yet little is known on what lies behind the environmental influences. The aim of this study is to...

It is the task of political psychology to examine political behaviour from a psychological or socio-psychological perspective. Its topics include the analysis of political elites, especially their personalities, motives and actions, political leadership, foreign policy decision-making processes, international and ethnic conflicts and their pacifica...

It is the task of political psychology to examine political behaviour from a psychological or socio-psychological perspective. Its topics include the analysis of political elites, especially their personalities, motives and actions, political leadership, foreign policy decision-making processes, international and ethnic conflicts and their pacifica...

Background: Educational attainment is connected to many important life outcomes, and the previous research has already focused on identifying its genetic and environmental components. However, most of these studies used twin data only and did not incorporate information from other family members. Twin studies typically decompose the phenotypic var...

Objective Self‐esteem and life satisfaction are highly correlated but little is known about the sources of this association. Both characteristic adaptations are negatively correlated with Neuroticism. We investigated the relationship between self‐esteem, life satisfaction, and Neuroticism and the degree to which shared variance was explained by Neu...

How can the development of individual differences in humans’ characteristic patterns of feeling, thinking, striving, and behaving be understood within a behavior genetic framework? How do genes and environments unfold and combine their influences? And how can the development of personality similarity and differences between twin siblings help us to...

This study examines cultural differences in genetic and environmental influences on Five-Factor Model (FFM) across Croatian, German and Serbian cultures. Participants were 1021 monozygotic and 722 dizygotic twin pairs and NEO Five-Factor Inventory– NEO-FFI is used to assess FFM personality traits. Results show a similar pattern of genetic and envir...

We examined the association between intelligence, party identification, and political orientations using genetically informative data gathered from German twins and their families (n = 9553 individuals including 1524 adolescent and young-adult twin pairs). The results indicated that supporters of the Pirate Party and the Green Party had levels of i...

Internalizing and externalizing behavior problems are established risk factors for many unpleasant outcomes and psychopathology in adulthood, and understanding the interplay between genes and environment is important for deducing implications for therapeutic interventions. Among genetic studies on internalizing and externalizing problem behavior, t...

As academic achievement can have a major impact on the development of social inequalities we set out to explore how performance differences arise. Using data of the German twin study TwinLife, genetic and environmental effects on school grades in mathematics, German and the grade point average in two age cohorts (11 and 17 years old) were identifie...

The German Twin Family Panel (TwinLife) is a German longitudinal study of monozygotic and dizygotic same-sex twin pairs and their families that was designed to investigate the development of social inequalities over the life course. The study covers an observation period from approximately 2014 to 2023. The target population of the sample are reare...

Political orientation is often assumed to be shaped by socialization processes; however, previous studies have shown substantial genetic variance components in party affiliation, political attitudes and behaviors, or closely related personality traits. The majority of these studies have relied on the Classical Twin Design, which comes with restrict...

We investigate the link between genes, psychological traits, and political engagement using a new data set containing information on a large sample of young German twins. The TwinLife Study enables us to examine the predominant model of personality, the Big Five framework, as well as traits that fall outside the Big Five, such as cognitive ability,...

In two studies, we examined the genetic and environmental sources of the unfolding of personality trait differences from childhood to emerging adulthood. Using self-reports from over 3,000 representative German twin pairs of three birth cohorts, we could replicate previous findings on the primary role of genetic sources accounting for the unfolding...

Although many previous studies have emphasized the role of environmental factors, such as parental home and school environment, on achievement motivation, classical twin studies suggest that both additive genetic influences and non-shared environmental influences explain interindividual differences in achievement motivation. By applying a Nuclear T...

What basic personality traits characterize the psychologically healthy individual? The purpose of this article was to address this question by generating an expert-consensus model of the healthy person in the context of the 30 facets (and 5 domains) of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (Costa & McCrae, 1992) system of traits. In a first set of...

We adopted an expert-rating approach to generate a consensus Five Factor Model (FFM) profile of the psychologically healthy person. In addition, we collected ratings from scholars with expertise in positive psychology and two samples of undergraduate psychology students to examine the agreement within and between different groups of raters. We then...

A new paradigm has emerged in which both genetic and environmental factors are cited as possible influences on sociopolitical attitudes. Despite the increasing acceptance of this paradigm, several aspects of the approach remain underdeveloped. Specifically, limitations arise from a reliance on a twins-only design, and all previous studies have used...

Twin-cotwin correlations for all cohorts and constructs divided by participant sex. Note. MZ = monozygotic twins; DZ = dizygotic twins; C17 = younger cohort; C23 = older cohort; Values in bold print differ between the sexes at p ≤ .05. (DOCX)

Unstandardized path estimates and 95% confidence intervals for model parameters derived from the best fitting, most parsimonious ETFD model. Note. p-values in parentheses. 95% confidence intervals in square brackets. SOP = Social Participation; POP = Political Participation; PI = Political Interest; C17 = younger cohort; C23 = older cohort; a = add...

(Tables A-C). Model fitting results. Note. Best fitting, most parsimonious model is indicated by bold print. i = non-additive-genetic effects; f = father-specific environmental effects; m = mother-specific environmental effects; cs = sibling-specific shared environmental effects; ct = twin-specific environmental effects. (DOCX)

(Tables A-C). χ2-difference tests for cohort model comparisons. Note. For cohort comparisons, the baseline model cs = 0 was used. a = additive genetic effects; i = non-additive epistasis; e = non-shared environmental effects including error of measurement; m = mother-specific environmental effects; f = father-specific environmental effects; cs = si...

Political participation (POP), social participation (SOP), and political interest (PI) are important indicators of social status and social inequality. Previous studies on related trait differences yielded genetic and environmental contributions. However, focusing on adult samples, classical twin designs, and convenience samples often restricts par...

This study investigated the association between different experiences of parenting and individual right‐wing authoritarianism (RWA) using twin family data comprising self‐ and informant reports. We applied a design that allowed us to examine whether the link between retrospective assessments of parenting and current RWA is effectively environmental...

Twin studies suggest that both genes and environments influence the emergence and development of individual differences in self-esteem. However, different lines of research have emphasized either the role of genes or of environmental influences in shaping self-esteem, and the pathways through which genes and environments exert their influence on se...

The German twin family study ‘TwinLife’ was designed to enhance our understanding of the development of social inequalities over the life course. The interdisciplinary project investigates mechanisms of social inequalities across the lifespan by taking into account psychological as well as social mechanisms, and their genetic origin as well as the...

Right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) and social dominance orientation (SDO) are widely used constructs in research on social and political attitudes. This study examined their hierarchical and correlative structure (across sexes, generations, and rater perspectives), as well as how genetic and environmental factors may contribute to individual differe...

It has been argued that facets do not represent the bottom of the personality hierarchy—even more specific personality characteristics, nuances, could be useful for describing and understanding individuals and their differences. Combining two samples of German twins, we assessed the consensual validity (correlations across different observers), ran...

This multitrait multimethod twin study examined the structure and sources of individual differences in creativity. According to different theoretical and metrological perspectives, as well as suggestions based on previous research, we expected 2 aspects of individual differences, which can be described as perceived creativity and creative test perf...

Although self-reports are often distorted by response biases, nearly all knowledge about interests rely on self-reports. This multiplerater twin study investigated the degree to which interest self-reports reflect substance. Specifically, we examined whether genetic variance in interest self-reports reflect substance in terms of genetically based m...

Since the pioneering work of Eaves and Eysenck (1974) appeared in Nature some 40 years ago, psychologists, sociologists, political scientists, and behavioral geneticists have investigated the effects of nature and nurture on the formation of social attitudes. It has consistently been found that manifestations of social attitudes (i.e., preferences,...

This study quantified genetic and environmental roots of variance in prejudice and discriminatory intent toward foreign nationals and examined potential mediators of these genetic influences: right-wing authoritarianism (RWA), social dominance orientation (SDO), and narrow-sense xenophobia (NSX). In line with the Dual Process Motivational (DPM) mod...

The experience of expecting and parenting twins is associated with many challenges for parents and families, for which they can often not rely on experiences from their environment. Compared to singleton pregnancy, medical and health care services and questions related to the socio-emotional and educational development are of special importance. Th...

The experience of expecting and parenting twins is associated with many challenges for parents and families, for which they can often not rely on experiences from their environment. Compared to singleton pregnancy, medical and health care services and questions related to the socio-emotional and educational development are of special importance. Th...

The present study focused on genetic and environmental influences on appreciation of structure and content of humor. Monozygotic (n = 135) and dizygotic (n = 60) adult twin pairs rated their trait-like humor appreciation using the 3 WD humor test (Ruch, 1992) which assesses three basic humor stimuli (incongruity-resolution humor; nonsense humor; se...

Background: Although self-reports are often distorted by response biases, nearly all

In-group favoritism has often been conceptualized as the flip side of out-group derogation. Whereas research has dissociated these attitudes at the phenotypic level, it is currently unknown whether such dissociation is also evident at the biological level. Here, using an adult German twin sample, which provided ratings on patriotism, nationalism, a...

Social inequality is a social phenomenon which varies across cultures. However, it does not only depend on social and cultural influences (e.g., public ideological opinion), but also on basic individual attitudes and values that promote socio-political decisions and behaviour. Behaviour genetic studies across several nations have found that individ...

Since the pioneering work of Eaves and Eysenck (1974) appeared in Nature some 40 years ago, psychologists, sociologists, political scientists, and behavioral geneticists have investigated the effects of nature and nurture on the formation of social attitudes. It has consistently been found that manifestations of social attitudes (i.e., preferences,...

Soziale Ungleichheit ist aufgrund der wachsenden Unterschiede zwischen Bevölkerungsgruppen als gesellschaftliches Problem aktueller denn je. Ungleichheit muss per se noch kein Problem sein. Jedoch kann aus Ungleichheit leicht Ungerechtigkeit werden, wenn es etwa um Bildungschancen und soziale Partizipation geht. Daher ist soziale Ungleichheit eines...

Since the pioneering work of Eaves and Eysenck (1974), it has consistently been found that socio-political attitudes are genetically influenced. More recently, researchers have sought to clarify the nature of those genetic effects. In particular, they have examined the role of basic personality traits (Kandler et al. 2012; Verhulst et al. 2012). In...

This study investigated the mean-level and individual-level trends as well as the genetic and environmental sources of rank-order continuity and change in temperament traits (Briskness, Perseveration, Sensory Sensitivity, Emotional Reactivity, Endurance, and Activity). We analyzed self-reports and peer ratings from 2 adult age groups of twins, aged...

In the current study, we examined the genetic and environmental sources of the links between individual religiousness and individual personality traits, perceived parental religiousness, and perceived peer religiousness. Data from 870 individuals (incl. 394 twin pairs) were analyzed. Variance in individual religiousness was significantly influenced...

The Bielefeld Longitudinal Study of Adult Twins (BiLSAT) is a German longitudinal study of monozygotic and dizygotic twins reared together, including more than 1,100 twin pairs aged between 14 and 80 who participated in the first wave. Data were collected at five waves of assessment between 1993 and 2009. Initially, the study focused on genetic and...

Konservativ oder progressiv? Hierarchie oder Gleichheit? In unserem politischen Denken und Handeln werden wir durch Medien, Bildung und vor allem durch wichtige Bezugspersonen wie Familie und Freunde beeinflusst. Doch kann es sein, dass es schon genetisch zu einem gewissen Grad angelegt ist, welche politischen Ansichten wir vertreten und für welche...

This study investigated the phenotypic, genetic, and environmental relationships between Big Five personality traits and temperamental traits on the basis of the regulative theory of temperament (RTT) using a multitrait-multimethod twin dataset. This allowed us to test specific hypotheses of the five factor theory (FFT) and the RTT. The Big Five pe...

This study estimates genetic and environmental effects on parent–offspring relationship quality. In addi- tion, we tested to what degree offsprings’ and parents’ personality characteristics affect relationship qual- ity. In a sample of 226 monozygotic and 168 dizygotic twin pairs we collected self-report relationship quality data for relationships...

The present study is the first to disentangle the genetic and environmental influences on personality profile stability. Spanning a period of 10 years, we analyzed the etiology of 3 aspects of profile stability (overall profile stability, distinctive profile stability, and profile normativeness) using self- and peer reports from 539 identical and 2...

Rankings of countries on mean levels of self-reported Conscientiousness continue to puzzle researchers. Based on the hypothesis that cross-cultural differences in the tendency to prefer extreme response categories of ordinal rating scales over moderate categories can influence the comparability of self-reports, this study investigated possible effe...

Our knowledge on the personality basis of ideological attitudes and prejudice, while based on a substantial body of research, suffers from a potentially serious methodological limitation: an overreliance on the method of self-reports. Across 2 studies (Ns = 193, 424), we examined associations between the Big Five personality dimensions, Right-Wing...

In this study, we used an extended twin family design to investigate the influences of genetic and cultural transmission as well as different sources of nonrandom mating on 2 core aspects of political orientation: acceptance of inequality and rejecting system change. In addition, we studied the sources of phenotypic links between Big Five personali...

Accession Number: 2011-24608-015. First Author & Affiliation: Renner, Walter; Dept. of Psychology, University of Klagenfurt, Klagenfurt, Austria. Release Date: 20111128. Publication Type: Journal, (0100); Peer Reviewed Journal, (0110); . Media Covered: Electronic. Document Type: Journal Article. Language: English. Major Descriptor: Environmental Ef...

Whereas a substantial genetic component of Conservatism and Religiosity is well documented, there is little evidence with respect to the behavior genetics of other aspects of human values. A sample of 157 monozygotic and 74 dizygotic twins reared together received the Austrian Value Questionnaire (AVQ), which measures a broad variety of value domai...

This editorial introduces the current special issue on the validation of the regulative theory of temperament (RTT). The Pavlovian theory of the basic properties of the central nervous system (Pavlov, 1928) and Strelau’s psychological interpretation of these properties provided the basis for the RTT. The RTT postulates a structure of temperament co...

This is the first genetically informative study in which multiple informants were used to quantify the genetic and environmental sources of individual differences in general interests as well as the phenotypic and genetic links between general interests and Big Five personality traits. Self-reports and two peer ratings from 844 individuals, includi...

The occurrence of many life events is not entirely random but genetically influenced. The current study examined the sources underlying the stability or recurrence of life events and the developmental interplay between personality traits and life events. In a longitudinal study of 338 adult twin pairs we estimated (1) the genetic and environmental...

In cross-national studies, mean levels of self-reported phenomena are often not congruent with more objective criteria. One prominent explanation for such findings is that people make self-report judgements in relation to culture-specific standards (often called the reference group effect), thereby undermining the cross-cultural comparability of th...

Johnson, Penke, and Spinath (2011) thoughtfully examine the meaning of quantitative behavioural genetics and especially heritability estimates with respect to psychometric effects on heritability estimates and the information that heritability estimates provide on genetic processes underlying complex behavioural traits in humans. We critically exam...

Consumer food choice behaviour in post-industrial countries is complex and influenced by a multitude of interacting variables. This study looked at the antecedents of behaviour and examined salient food-related values and attitudes. To discover personal meanings and patterns of everyday food choices across different situations we used a qualitative...

This study considered the validity of the personality structure based on the Five-Factor Model using both self- and peer reports on twins' NEO-PI-R facets. Separating common from specific genetic variance in self- and peer reports, this study examined genetic substance of different trait levels and rater-specific perspectives relating to personalit...

Modern personality theories differ in their assumptions about the structure and etiology of the interplay between personality traits and motivational constructs. The present study examined the genetic and environmental sources of the interplay between the Big Five and major life goals concurrently and across time in order to provide a more decisive...

This study analyzed the etiology of rank-order stability and change in personality over a period of 13 years in order to explain cumulative continuity with age. NEO- five factor inventory self- and peer report data from 696 monozygotic and 387 dizygotic twin pairs reared together were analyzed using a combination of multiple-rater twin, state-trait...

A long tradition of research on life events has shown that occurrence of many life events is not entirely random. Most measures of life events show genetic influences that can be attributed largely to genetic influences on personality. Longitudinal studies have reported on continuity of individual differences in the frequencies of certain life even...