Children Quote by Jerome Kagan
“All the work on heritability was never based on looking at genes; it was based on the similarity between identical twins or between parents and children. Now that geneticists can look at genes, they can't find genes that account for more than 10 percent of the variation in any human trait.”
About This Quote
Source Lecture: Developmental psychology course, 1995
Genetic influence on traits is modest; most variation arises from environmental and non‑genetic factors.
In simple terms: Genes explain little of human differences.
Key Takeaway
Focus on environment and experience.
Themes
nature vs nurture
genetics
psychology
development
research
Mood
analytical
thoughtful
educational
Type
scientific
informative
When to use this quote
- parenting strategies
- education policy
- health interventions
- personal habit formation
Key Concepts
behavior genetics
heritability
environmental influence
Questions to Reflect On
- What environmental factors shape your traits most?
- How can you mitigate genetic limitations?
A Different Perspective
Genetic explanations can be overemphasized.
![“As you study the trait in more environments, the heritability score will decrease. This is recognized by Bouchard: “These conclusions [derived from a behavior genetics study] can be generalized, of course only to new populations exposed to a range of environments similar to those studied.”31” quote by Robert M. Sapolsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/511/robert-m-sapolsky-1166_education_as-you-study-the-trait-in-more-environme_396497.jpg)
