Empirical evidence for the relevance of gene-by-environment interaction and gene-environment correlation for personality development comes from both molecular and quantitative genetic studies. For instance, the link between received parenting and personality development differs as a function of child candidate genes implicated in neuromodulation (Bakermans-Kranenburg & van IJzendoorn, 2006; Belsky & Beaver, 2011; Kaufman et al., 2006; Sheese, Voelker, Rothbart, & Posner, 2007; Smith et al., 2012, but see also Luijk et al., 2011). Similarly, research using twin and family methods has found that the magnitudes of genetic influences on personality differ across environmental contexts (Ganiban, Ulbricht, Saudino, Reiss, & Neiderhiser, 2011; Krueger, South, Johnson, & Iacono, 2008). These gene-by-environment interaction results indicate that genetic influences on personality are differentially expressed in certain environmental contexts.
