Happiness and Health: Environmental and Genetic Contributions to the Relationship Between Subjective Well-Being, Perceived Health, and Somatic Illness

The aim was to identify genetic and environmental influences on the covariances between subjective well-being (SWB), perceived health, and somatic illness. Analyses were based on 6,576 Norwegian twins aged 18-31. Heritabilities ranged from.24 to.66. SWB correlated.50 with perceived health, -.25 with musculoskeletal pain, and -.07 with allergy. Common genetic factors accounted for 45%60% of associations. SWB and perceived health was to a high extent influenced by the same genes (rg =.72 and.82 for males and females, respectively). For SWB and musculoskeletal pain, rg = -.29 and -.42 for males and females, respectively. Effects were partly sex specific. Environmental factors shared by twins did not affect the covariances. Results support a differentiated view of SWB-health relations, and imply that both genes and environment play important roles in the associations between well-being and health.