- Oxford Library of Psychology
- Copyright Page
- About the Editors
- Contributors
- Approaching Human Health as an Integrative Challenge: Introduction and Overview
- Behind the Scenes in Integrative Health Science: Understanding and Negotiating Data Management Challenges
- The Roles of Twin Studies and Modern Genomic Technologies in Integrative Health Science
- Early Life Adversity and Adult Health
- Gender, Early Life Adversity, and Adult Health
- Cumulative Stress and Health
- Determinants and Implications of Subjective Age Across Adulthood and Old Age
- Promoting Healthy Practices in the Workplace: Making Workers’ Health a Priority Before It Becomes a Problem
- Work and Family: Pathways to Health
- Intimate Partner Relationships and Health
- The Lifelong Health Effects of Parenting a Child With Developmental or Mental Health Problems
- Daily Positive Experiences and Health: Biobehavioral Pathways and Resilience to Daily Stress
- Family as a Naturally Occurring Stressor: Race, Psychosocial Factors, and Daily Health
- Social Capital, Altruistic Behavior, and Mental Health
- Psychosocial Resources and Physiological Dysregulation
- Biopsychosocial Patterning of Multimorbidity and Its Consequences
- Psychosocial Life Histories and Biological Pathways to Bone Health
- Biopsychosocial Pathways to Prediabetes and Diabetes
- Weight Identity Among Older Adults in the United States: Genetic and Environmental Influences
- Psychosocial Consequences of Body Weight and Obesity
- Cognition at Midlife: Antecedents and Consequences
- Associations Between Personality and Health Behaviors Across the Life Span
- Personality as a Determinant of Health Behaviors and Chronic Diseases: Review of Meta-Analytic Evidence
- The Road to Positive Health: Behavioral and Biological Pathways Linking Positive Psychological Functioning With Health Outcomes
- Distinguishing Between Enduring and Fragile Positive Affect: Implications for Health and Well-Being in Midlife
- The Temporal Dynamics of Emotional Responding: Implications for Well-Being and Health From the MIDUS Neuroscience Project
- Culture, Emotion, and Health
- Anger Expression and Health: The Cultural Moderation Hypothesis
- Personality and Socioeconomic Status Over the Adult Working Years
- Social Inequalities, Psychological Risk and Resilience, and Health
- Socioeconomic Status and Health-Related Biology: Links Between Socioeconomic Disadvantage, Psychological Factors, and HPA Activity in MIDUS
- Perceived Discrimination and Health: Integrative Findings
- Disparities in Health Between Black and White Americans: Current Knowledge and Directions for Future Research
- The Educational Gradient in Physiological Dysregulation: A Cross-Country Investigation
- The Great Recession, Inequality, and Health: An Integrative Approach
- Index
Abstract and Keywords
This chapter uses twin pairs from the Midlife in the United States study to investigate the genetic and environmental influences on perceived weight status for midlife adults. The inquiry builds on previous work investigating the same phenomenon in adolescents, and it shows that perceived weight status is not only heritable, but also heritable beyond objective weight. Subjective assessment of physical weight is independent of one’s physical weight and described as “weight identity.” Importantly, significant differences are shown in the heritability of weight identity among men and women. The chapter ends by discussing the potential relevance of these findings for broader social identity research.
Keywords: twin pairs, Midlife in the United States Study, MIDUS, genetic influences, environmental influences, perceived weight status, midlife adults, BMI, physical weight, weight identity
Robbee Wedow Department of Sociology Institute of Behavioral Science Institute for Behavioral Genetics University of Colorado at Boulder Boulder, CO, USA
Daniel A. Briley Department of Psychology University of Illinois at Urbana—Champaign Champaign, IL, USA
Susan E. Short Department of Sociology Brown University Providence, RI, USA
Jason D. Boardman Department of Sociology University of Colorado at Boulder Boulder, CO, USA
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- Oxford Library of Psychology
- Copyright Page
- About the Editors
- Contributors
- Approaching Human Health as an Integrative Challenge: Introduction and Overview
- Behind the Scenes in Integrative Health Science: Understanding and Negotiating Data Management Challenges
- The Roles of Twin Studies and Modern Genomic Technologies in Integrative Health Science
- Early Life Adversity and Adult Health
- Gender, Early Life Adversity, and Adult Health
- Cumulative Stress and Health
- Determinants and Implications of Subjective Age Across Adulthood and Old Age
- Promoting Healthy Practices in the Workplace: Making Workers’ Health a Priority Before It Becomes a Problem
- Work and Family: Pathways to Health
- Intimate Partner Relationships and Health
- The Lifelong Health Effects of Parenting a Child With Developmental or Mental Health Problems
- Daily Positive Experiences and Health: Biobehavioral Pathways and Resilience to Daily Stress
- Family as a Naturally Occurring Stressor: Race, Psychosocial Factors, and Daily Health
- Social Capital, Altruistic Behavior, and Mental Health
- Psychosocial Resources and Physiological Dysregulation
- Biopsychosocial Patterning of Multimorbidity and Its Consequences
- Psychosocial Life Histories and Biological Pathways to Bone Health
- Biopsychosocial Pathways to Prediabetes and Diabetes
- Weight Identity Among Older Adults in the United States: Genetic and Environmental Influences
- Psychosocial Consequences of Body Weight and Obesity
- Cognition at Midlife: Antecedents and Consequences
- Associations Between Personality and Health Behaviors Across the Life Span
- Personality as a Determinant of Health Behaviors and Chronic Diseases: Review of Meta-Analytic Evidence
- The Road to Positive Health: Behavioral and Biological Pathways Linking Positive Psychological Functioning With Health Outcomes
- Distinguishing Between Enduring and Fragile Positive Affect: Implications for Health and Well-Being in Midlife
- The Temporal Dynamics of Emotional Responding: Implications for Well-Being and Health From the MIDUS Neuroscience Project
- Culture, Emotion, and Health
- Anger Expression and Health: The Cultural Moderation Hypothesis
- Personality and Socioeconomic Status Over the Adult Working Years
- Social Inequalities, Psychological Risk and Resilience, and Health
- Socioeconomic Status and Health-Related Biology: Links Between Socioeconomic Disadvantage, Psychological Factors, and HPA Activity in MIDUS
- Perceived Discrimination and Health: Integrative Findings
- Disparities in Health Between Black and White Americans: Current Knowledge and Directions for Future Research
- The Educational Gradient in Physiological Dysregulation: A Cross-Country Investigation
- The Great Recession, Inequality, and Health: An Integrative Approach
- Index