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Review
. 2015 Mar;45(2):137-56.
doi: 10.1007/s10519-015-9713-y. Epub 2015 Feb 26.

Genetics of wellbeing and its components satisfaction with life, happiness, and quality of life: a review and meta-analysis of heritability studies

Meike Bartels  1
Affiliations
Review

Genetics of wellbeing and its components satisfaction with life, happiness, and quality of life: a review and meta-analysis of heritability studies

Meike Bartels. Behav Genet. 2015 Mar.

Abstract

Wellbeing is a major topic of research across several disciplines, reflecting the increasing recognition of its strong value across major domains in life. Previous twin-family studies have revealed that individual differences in wellbeing are accounted for by both genetic as well as environmental factors. A systematic literature search identified 30 twin-family studies on wellbeing or a related measure such as satisfaction with life or happiness. Review of these studies showed considerable variation in heritability estimates (ranging from 0 to 64 %), which makes it difficult to draw firm conclusions regarding the genetic influences on wellbeing. For overall wellbeing twelve heritability estimates, from 10 independent studies, were meta-analyzed by computing a sample size weighted average heritability. Ten heritability estimates, derived from 9 independent samples, were used for the meta-analysis of satisfaction with life. The weighted average heritability of wellbeing, based on a sample size of 55,974 individuals, was 36 % (34-38), while the weighted average heritability for satisfaction with life was 32 % (29-35) (n = 47,750). With this result a more robust estimate of the relative influence of genetic effects on wellbeing is provided.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Scatterplot representing the association between variance in heritability estimate and sample size separated by cohort
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
a Heritability estimates and 95 % confidence intervals for the studies used in the meta-analysis of wellbeing. The bottom line (Meta-Analysis) shows the weighted heritability estimate and confidence interval. *CI’s estimated based on the other studies; **heritability estimated by author after receiving data from PI of Finnish Twin Cohort; ^ the heritability is the average heritability of the 6 Ryff’s dimensions. b Heritability estimates and 95 % confidence intervals for the studies used in the meta-analysis of satisfaction with life. The bottom line (Meta-analysis) shows the weighted heritability estimate and confidence interval. *CI’s estimated based on the other studies; **heritability estimated by author after receiving data from PI of Finnish Twin Cohort
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