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Familial Transmission of Personality Is Higher Than Shown in Typical Studies

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Re: Familial Transmission of Personality Is Higher Than Shown in Typical Studies

#91

I feel this factor plays a huge role in rich/upper middle class/upper-class people staying rich or growing richer. Kids that grow up upper-class imitate their parent’s approach to work and life in general, giving them an upper-hand. Many poor kids are very smart and capable but end up imitating bad examples early on, making them handicapped. One of the best things a disadvantaged kid can get is a good role model. Doe…

Totally agree. When I grew up, I was friends with the son of the richest family in town. I was once invited to dinner with them and was totally shocked they had real conversations. My family had a stable income and house but my interactions with my dad were basically him ranting about somebody else or me. I don't recall any productive conversation I ever had with him. Even now in my 50s I still struggle to have conversations and constantly have to watch not to talk like my dad. On the other hand I also took on a lot of good traits of my parents like financial responsibility.

My sister always had a better relationship with her kids and they have way better social skills than me or my sisters.

Examples or mentors can have a huge influence on people, especially when they are young. Some are good, some are bad.

Re: Familial Transmission of Personality Is Higher Than Shown in Typical Studies

#92
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some of the richest people I've ever met have middle class or upper-middle class appearances. They do make good decisions, have good jobs, etc. We see some evidence in studies that wealthly grandparents are strong indicators of wealthly adult grandchildren. We also know that poor habits deplete wealth quickly (like with lotto winners). It seems reasonable at least some wealthy people have good habits and that at leas…

Liking the aesthetics of fitting in with the proles does not mean they could survive

Nothing in my comment was about survival in poverty. However, their ability to live within their means seems indicative that they have the discipline that they might be able do it. In fact, most people can survive in poverty - what other choice do they have?

Re: Familial Transmission of Personality Is Higher Than Shown in Typical Studies

#93
post #74
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>It is estimated that 70% of wealthy families will lose their wealth by the second generation and 90% will lose it by the third.[0] [0] https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/generational-wealth%3A-why-d...

This isn't a real statistic, it's an advertisement for wealth management.

I usually see this statistic about family businesses. In the USA a family business passing through 3 generations is rare.

My personal observation is that the 4 generation has so many better options than the family business is holding them back with responsibility and the family unity has broken down through generational grudges.

Re: Familial Transmission of Personality Is Higher Than Shown in Typical Studies

#94
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If people can argue they should not be held accountable for doing something bad, because they defacto had no choice (due to nature/nurture) - and people will take that seriously - then exactly the worse kind of people will never be held accountable. And folks on the fence will hop over it onto that side. Because consequences do matter for preventing most behavior (weighed by the rational and non-rational part of the…

This is conjecture. Why are the people on the fence choosing the dark side? Why does a lack of free will preclude the possibility of any kind of consequences?

[deleted]

Re: Familial Transmission of Personality Is Higher Than Shown in Typical Studies

#95

I feel this factor plays a huge role in rich/upper middle class/upper-class people staying rich or growing richer. Kids that grow up upper-class imitate their parent’s approach to work and life in general, giving them an upper-hand. Many poor kids are very smart and capable but end up imitating bad examples early on, making them handicapped. One of the best things a disadvantaged kid can get is a good role model. Doe…

This implies one's being upper class is a reflection of having better habits than the poor, which is incorrect. They just have more money. Rich people could not survive poverty.

Both can be true, if growing up with more money is a causal factor in having "better" habits (in terms of wealth generation/retention). I also agree that many rich people could not survive poverty. Both are adapted to their situations.

The problem is that this makes it harder to bring people out of poverty, because you're trying to pull them into a situation they're less adapted for. I actually am in favor of simply giving the poor (/everyone) money (e.g. basic income), but even I acknowledge that poverty-formed habits are going to be a barrier in that strategy's effectiveness.

We're not trying to pull rich people into poverty, so the fact that they wouldn't fare well there is moot.

Re: Familial Transmission of Personality Is Higher Than Shown in Typical Studies

#96
post #9

Of course this is anecdotal but it's obvious for me I do share several personality traits with my parents. I can see the same in many of my close acquaintances. Of course this warrants a lot of social issues we simply don't want to face, but I always felt we were just trying to make them a tabu to discuss.

Is it nature vs nurture? If, so, how does your anecdote untangle that?

More anecdotes incoming, but I'm regularly told that I share traits with my father, with whom I don't share DNA. To the point that people who aren't aware that we're not biologically related have remarked that we look alike - which is amusing considering we're different ethnicities.

Re: Familial Transmission of Personality Is Higher Than Shown in Typical Studies

#97
post #46

I feel this factor plays a huge role in rich/upper middle class/upper-class people staying rich or growing richer. Kids that grow up upper-class imitate their parent’s approach to work and life in general, giving them an upper-hand. Many poor kids are very smart and capable but end up imitating bad examples early on, making them handicapped. One of the best things a disadvantaged kid can get is a good role model. Doe…

>It is estimated that 70% of wealthy families will lose their wealth by the second generation and 90% will lose it by the third.[0] [0] https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/generational-wealth%3A-why-d...

Are all decedents rich, or just a small fraction? Even if a family line has been continued for hundreds of years, there may be hundreds or even thousands of decedents of the original members who do not have access to the line of wealth. Also many families stay wealthy by only marrying members of other wealthy families. Marrying outside of the ruling class results in rapid dilution of power.

Re: Familial Transmission of Personality Is Higher Than Shown in Typical Studies

#98
post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s become a very tiresome rhetorical technique: “Listen to me yammer on vaguely but at length about a thing that I pretend I’m not allowed to talk about despite literally doing that right now” Whatever aura of mystery and suspense this may have once imbued is long gone by now.

"It's not taboo because people can discuss it anonymously on an internet forum" is not quite the compelling argument that you seem to think it is.

I think it depends on where in the world you are based.

I think the reason people have a problem with it, is because they think that this knowledge will crush people's motivation to do the work that is necessary to succeed. If your hypothesis turns out to be true, then only people that have innate drive, skill and resources will be able to do the work to succeed. Accepting that theory as true implies that there are also people without the drive, skill and resources and what is to make of them? Are we not all created equal? Should we not have equal opportunities? Should these lower-people be helped? Do they deserve it? Do they "earn" to not earn a lot of money because they are born from the wrong mother? In the past this problem was solved with religion...

Re: Familial Transmission of Personality Is Higher Than Shown in Typical Studies

#99
post #5

The big difference seems to come from self-reporting vs independent reporting. In other words, people around you think your personality is more similar to your dad’s than you think it is.

A few weeks ago, I noticed a personality "quirk" in my 14 yr old daughter that had disappeared in my own teens. I've never told my wife, no one else has told her (not alot of my family left to tell it, they might not even have been aware). It's specific, non-subjective. It seems almost impossible that it should be genetic (but I have no other idea how it might heritably transmit).

The idea that personality is heritable is, to me, not farfetched at all.

My son is 11, I'll get to see if he does the same within a few years.

Re: Familial Transmission of Personality Is Higher Than Shown in Typical Studies

#100
post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the actual real world evidence on that? Plenty of rich European families have been rich for hundreds of years, and I'm not talking about royalty. That kind of disproves the theory. The ones who go broke fast are usually the ones who also got rich fast, trough luck instead of work or knowledge, like from lottery wins or speculations.

Comparing American generational accumulation to the olden European social quasi-caste system is a little disingenuous.

Where did you see me compare it to Americans?

I'm from Europe so my knowledge revolves around local examples.

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