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Psychiatrists at King’s College in London say that confidence and the ability to perform under pressure are characteristics with which people are born. They may even have a hereditary component. As psychiatry professor Robert Plomin says, “Everyone has assumed self-confidence is a matter of environment. Our research shows that it is certainly genetically influenced.”
Professor Plomin and his team found that how children view themselves and their abilities is clearly based on genetics. This viewpoint will even predict a child’s level of achievement when he or she begins school. Students with high self-confidence tend to have better grades than those without. To reach this conclusion, Professor Plomin and his team performed a study involving 3,700 twin pairs. In this study, they tested the twins and rated their abilities in several core academic subjects.
Studies using twins are important because twins have the same genetic makeup. They are usually reared in the same environment, too. Children who are not twins may be reared in the same environment, but they are not genetically identical. Therefore, twin studies have been found to be especially relevant when looking at the role genetics plays in a child’s psychological makeup.
In addition to Dr. Plomin’s work, neuropsychologist Steve Suomi of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has worked with rhesus monkeys and studied their personalities. His research has also supported the idea that genetics influences self-confidence.
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