ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the behavioral genetic literature investigating the influence of genetic and environmental factors on antisocial behavior—aggression, delinquency, rule-breaking behavior, and psychopathic personality—across the life span. Antisocial behavior is a broad term that encompasses a wide variety of behaviors and attitudes that violate societal norms, values and laws. Antisocial behavior includes aggression to those around them, cruelty, violence, theft, arson, and vandalism, as well as other forms of rule violations such as noncompliance, lying, intimidating, and manipulation. Random mating in the parent generation can lead to increased resemblance for dizygotic but not monozygotic twin pairs. Behavioral genetic research has consistently shown that heritable factors are important for the development of antisocial behavior. Based on meta-analyses summarizing findings from twin and adoption studies on antisocial behavior across the life span, genetic, shared environmental, and non-shared environmental factors are contributing to the variance in antisocial behavior.
