Sensation seeking in opposite-sex twins: an effect of prenatal hormones?
Intrauterine hormones and position with respect to male and female littermates influence sexually dimorphic adult behavior in litter-bearing animals. Opposite-sex dizygotic twins offer the opportunity to examine analogous effects on sex-related human behaviors. To illustrate this approach, Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS) scores from 422 British twin pairs, including 51 opposite-sex pairs (Zuckerman, M., et al., J. Consult. Clin. Psychol. 46:139-149, 1978), were reanalyzed. Zuckerman et al. (1978) have shown that some aspects of sensation seeking are consistently increased in males relative to females. In comparing age-adjusted data for opposite and same-sex twins, our reanalysis demonstrated the predicted increase in sensation seeking in female members of opposite-sex pairs. Results were significant for measures of disinhibition, experience seeking, and overall sensation seeking. In contrast, male opposite-sex twins were not significantly different from male same-sex twins. Although psychosocial explanations of the increased sensation seeking in opposite-sex female twins cannot be excluded, these finding are consistent with hypothesized in utero hormonal influences on later behavioral development.
Resnick
S M
SM
Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 19104-4283.
Gottesman
I I
II
McGue
M
M
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010551:Personality / Q000502:physiology*; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012733:Sex Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D014427:Twins / Q000523:psychology; D014429:Twins, Dizygotic / Q000523:psychology; D014430:Twins, Monozygotic / Q000523:psychology
D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones