Our level of happiness throughout life is strongly influenced
by the genes with which we were born, say experts. An Edinburgh University study
of identical and non-identical twins suggests genes may control half the
personality traits keeping us happy. The other half is linked to lifestyle,
career and relationships. However, another expert said despite the research in
the journal Psychological Science, we can still train ourselves to be more
content. Psychologists have developed several methods to assess
a person’s personality type—and even their level of happiness. The Edinburgh
study, in conjunction with researchers at the Institute for Medical Research in
Queensland, Australia, looked at results from 900 pairs of twins.
The idea behind twin studies is that, because identical twins are
genetically exactly the same, while fraternal (异卵的) twins are not, it is
possible, by comparing the results from the two groups, to calculate how
strongly influenced a particular trait is by genetics. In this case, the
researchers looked for people who tended not to worry, and who were sociable and
conscientious. All three of these separate characteristics have been linked by
other research to an overall sense of happiness or well-being. The differences
between the results from the identical and fraternal twins suggested that these
traits were influenced up to 50% by genetic factors. Dr
Alexander Weiss, from Edinburgh’s School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language
Sciences, who led the research, said: "Together with life and liberty, the
pursuit of happiness is a core human desire. Although happiness is subject to a
wide range of external influences, we have found there is a heritable component
of happiness which can be entirely explained by genetic architecture of
personality." The science of happiness is a growing field, with
demand from both the public and industry for insights into emotional well-being.
The Centre for Applied Positive Psychology promotes research into techniques for
boosting personal contentment. Dr Alex Linley, from the Centre, said that even
though other studies supported the genetic argument, it was wrong for anyone to
think that nature had dealt them a fixed hand in happiness terms. He said: "What
it means is that, rather than a single point, people have a range of possible
levels of happiness—and it is perfectly possible to influence this with
techniques that are empirically proven to work. Simple things, like listing your
strengths and using them in new ways every day, or keeping a journal where you
write down, every night, three things that you are grateful for, have been shown
to deliver improvements." Simple things like writing the things that you are grateful for ha the journal can influence ______ .