HERITABILITY OF HOSTILITY-RELATED EMOTIONS, ATTITUDES, AND BEHAVIORS

Hostility-related variables have been categorized as to kinds of emoti ons, attitudes, and behaviors. Relatively few studies have explored wh ether genetic factors contribute to individual differences in these va riables. Moreover, the majority of this research has involved male sub jects. The present study utilized the twin method to evaluate the infl uence of genetic factors on hostility-related emotions, namely, trait anger and irritability, hostility-related attitudes, namely cynical ho stility and suspiciousness, and hostility-related behaviors, namely, p hysical, verbal, and indirect aggression in adult women. Responses on the measure of trait anger showed evidence of significant heritability . However, evidence for a genetic component to responses on the irrita bility scale was less clear. There was no support for the notion of a genetic component to the measure of suspiciousness, and the evidence o f a genetic contribution for cynical hostility was not significant. It was expected that due to environmental influences for women, only cer tain forms of aggression would show genetic variance, namely, verbal a nd indirect as opposed to physical forms. The results were generally c ongruent with these expectations.