A new study led by a team of researchers from Ohio State University (USA) shows how some people may be predisposed to be worse or better in a subject such as mathematics due to certain genetic factors .
To do this, the difference in math ability of identical twins and twins was examined. The study included 216 identical twins and 298 twins, who were evaluated from 9 to 15 years of age . The assessments included tests for math anxiety, general anxiety, math problem solving, and reading comprehension. The results showed that 40% of the individual differences in anxiety towards mathematics were produced by genetic factors .
The fact that some children and even adults develop a fear of mathematics, making it much more difficult for them to solve problems in this subject has, therefore, a genetic component. This fear or anxiety towards mathematics takes advantage of genetic predisposition through two ways: in the cognitive performance of people in mathematics and their tendency to anxiety . Having anxiety makes it difficult for us to solve problems, so it can have a profound effect on learning.
“Genetic factors can exacerbate or reduce the risk of being bad at math,” says Stephen Petrill, a professor of psychology at Ohio State University and lead researcher on the study that was published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry .
These results do not show that having problems in mathematics can be attributed exclusively to genetic factors, since environmental factors, school, home and other places also influence, but their implication is not negligible.
