Genetic and environmental influences on Person x Situation profiles

Genetic and environmental influences on Person x Situation interactions were studied using data of the German Observational Study of Adult Twins. The performance of 168 monozygotic and 132 dizygotic twin pairs in 15 tasks was observed by 120 judges who never met the twins in person. Four judges observed one twin of each pair in one task. Twin similarities in Person x Situation profiles were analyzed via (a) correlations across tasks between co-twins' Person x Situation profiles (their personality signatures) and (b) common-pathway genetic models that partitioned genetic and environmental contributions to trait levels and to Person x Situation interactions. Genes accounted for about 25% of the reliable Person x Situation interactions, whereas shared environmental influences were negligible.