Why You're Turning Into Your Mother

Have you ever heard yourself say something and think, “Oh, my god, I’m turning into my mother (or father)”? Robert Plomin explains why that happens in Blueprint: How DNA Makes Us Who We Are (MIT Press, 2019).

Plomin’s decades of work show that genetics explains more about the psychological differences among people than all other factors combined. In Blueprint, he explores the implications of these findings, drawing some provocative conclusions―among them that parenting styles don’t really affect children’s outcomes once genetics is taken into account.

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Robert Plomin is Professor of Behavioural Genetics at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience at King’s College London. He previously held positions at the University of Colorado Boulder and Pennsylvania State University. He was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and of the British Academy for his twin studies and his groundbreaking work in behavioral genetics. He is the author or coauthor of many books, including G is for Genes: The Impact of Genetics on Education and Achievement (with Kathryn Asbury).

Renee Garfinkel, Ph.D. is a psychologist, writer, Middle East television commentator and host of The New Books Network’s Van Leer Jerusalem Series on Ideas. Write her at r.garfinkel@yahoo.com or tweet @embracingwisdom.