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Sensation seeking in opposite-sex twins: An effect of prenatal hormones?

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Abstract

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. Zuckermanet 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 findings are consistent with hypothesizedin utero hormonal influences on later behavioral development.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, 19104-4283, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

    Susan M. Resnick

  2. Laboratory of Personality and Cognition, NIA/Gerontology Research Center, 4940 Eastern Avenue, 21224, Baltimore, Maryland

    Susan M. Resnick

  3. Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Gilmer Hall, 22901, Charlottesville, Virginia

    Irving I. Gottesman

  4. Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Elliott Hall, 75 East River Road, 55455, Minneapolis, Minnesota

    Matthew McGue

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  1. Susan M. Resnick
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  2. Irving I. Gottesman
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  3. Matthew McGue
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Resnick, S.M., Gottesman, I.I. & McGue, M. Sensation seeking in opposite-sex twins: An effect of prenatal hormones?. Behav Genet 23, 323–329 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01067432

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