Some people are more kind and compassionate than others and it could be genetic - Daily Mail

The results are based on 2,800 identical and non identical 17 year-old British twins and the number of people with the gene is five times higher than first thought. .

Scientists have always thought there was a genetic basis for sensitivity,' Pluess said.

'This is the first time we've been able to actually quantify how much of these differences in sensitivity are explained by genetic factors.'.

By analysing the twins, Pluess and his team found 47 per cent of sensitivity factors were down to genetics - leaving 53 per cent accounted for by environmental factors.

The aim was to tease out how many variations could be explained by either genetic or environmental factors during development.

If the former show no more similarity in their levels of sensitivity than the latter twins, then genes are unlikely to play a role in their sensitivity levels.

This was not the case based on the study of 2,800 sets of twins, explained Dr Pluess.

The study involved around 1,000 identical and and 1,800 non-identical twins, roughly half of whom were same sex?

They were asked to fill out a questionnaire, developed by Professor Pluess, which has been widely used to test an individual's levels of sensitivity to their environment.

The study also suggested that these different sensitivities have a genetic basis.

'These different aspects of sensitivity all have a genetic basis.'.

The results are based on 2,800 identical and non identical 17 year-old British twins and the number of people with the gene is five times higher than first thought