{
  "id": 10016355,
  "title": "New study of Brazilian twins sheds light on the heritability of our creative confidence",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/26/new-study-of-brazilian-twins-sheds-light-on-the-heritability-of-our",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-09-26T16:00:21.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "PsyPost",
    "slug": "psypost",
    "url": "https://www.psypost.org/new-study-of-brazilian-twins-sheds-light-on-the-heritability-of-our-creative-confidence/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A recent Brazilian study of twins has provided new insights into the genetic influence on people's self-perceived creativity. Published in Personality and Individual Differences, the research suggests that although inherited traits play a role in artistic and practical creativity, environmental factors have a more substantial impact. The findings highlight the importance of understanding the genetic and environmental influences on creativity in a South American population, which has been underrepresented in previous studies. Creativity encompasses both artistic pursuits, such as visual arts and music, as well as practical creativity, which involves finding solutions to daily problems. Instead of measuring objective creative performance, the study focused on self-beliefs about creativity. Twin studies are commonly used to estimate the relative contributions of genetics and environment to psychological traits. By comparing identical twins, who share 100% of their DNA, with fraternal twins who share about 50% of their DNA, researchers can estimate the percentage of variation in traits that can be attributed to genetics and environment. In this study, researchers recruited 196 participants, consisting of 98 twin pairs. The sample was primarily female, young adults, and from middle-class backgrounds in Brazil. Participants were asked to rate their self-perceived artistic and practical creativity on an 11-point scale, as well as their general curiosity. The results indicated that genetic factors accounted for approximately 22% of the variation in artistic self-beliefs and 21% of the variation in practical self-beliefs. This means that about one-fifth of the differences in how creative individuals perceived themselves to be can be traced back to their genetic makeup. However, unique life experiences accounted for the majority of the variance in creative self-beliefs, with about 78% for artistic creativity and 79% for practical creativity. Shared environmental factors, such as growing up in the same household, had no statistically significant effect on creative self-beliefs. The study's findings highlight the significant role of unique individual experiences in shaping one's perception of creativity, while genetic factors contribute to a smaller extent.",
  "summary": "A new behavioral genetics study of twins finds that about one-fifth of our belief in our own creativity is inherited. Ultimately, your unique individual experiences shape your creative confidence far more than your DNA.",
  "key_points": [
    "Genetic factors influence 22% of artistic and 21% of practical self-beliefs in creativity",
    "Study focuses on self-perceived creativity, not objective creative performance"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}