PROJECT PAGE
TwinLife
TwinLife is a twelve-year representative behavioral study on the development of social inequality. Two different designs are combined in TwinLife: The cross-sequential design and the Nuclear Twin Family Design (NTFD). Since 2014, we have been interviewing more than 4,000 pairs of twins and their families living in Germany at different stages of their lives. It is important to look at data from monozygotic and dizygotic twins as well as data from their parents and siblings over several years in order to be able to examine not only social mechanisms, but also genetic differences between individuals and individual development depending on various influencing factors.
In terms of content, six key areas are focused on: education and educational success, careers and successes in the labor market, integration and participation in social, cultural and political life, quality of life and perceived options for action, physical and psychological health, and finally behavioral problems and deviant behavior. The data collected in this way can provide information on questions about the emergence of social differences and should be made accessible to the scientific community.
Principal Investigator(s): Dr. Martin Diewald, Dr. Rainer Riemann, and Dr. Frank M. Spinath
General Information
Country of Data Collection: Germany
Years of Data Collection: 2014-present
Study Status: Ongoing
Total Number of Assessments Completed: 2
Approx. Retention Rate:
Sample
Composition: Nationally-representative; Community sample; Family study (i.e., twins, sibling, parents, twins’ spouses); Nuclear twin family study
Twins
Study design is cohort-sequential, so there are four cohorts of twins sampled at the first assessment. Cohort 1 were ~5 years old; Cohort 2 were ~11 years old; Cohort 3 were ~17 years old; and Cohort 4 were ~23 years old.
Sex
SES
Race/Ethnicity
Siblings
Mothers
Fathers
Twins’ Partners
Personality Data
Twin Sample
Construct
Big Five
Academic Self-Concept
Achievement Motivation
Self-Efficacy
Self-Esteem
Self-Regulation
Scale
Big Five Inventory
Self-Description Q; SESSKO
Various depending on age
General Self-Efficacy Short
Rosenberg
Grit Scale, Self-Control Scale
Waves
T1, T2
T1, T2
T1, T2
T1, T2
T1, T2
T1, T2
Administered To
All 4 Cohorts*
All 4 Cohorts
All 4 Cohorts
Cohorts 2, 3, 4
All 4 Cohorts
All 4 Cohorts
Method
Self-, Parent-Report
Self-, Parent-Report
Self-Report
Self-Report
Self-, Parent-Report
Self-, Proxy-Report
*Only Cohort 2 has longitudinal data
Sibling Sample
Construct
Big Five
Academic Self-Concept
Academic Motivation
Self-Efficacy
Self-Esteem
Self-Regulation
Scale
Big Five Inventory
Self-Description Q; SESSKO
Various depending on age
General Self-Efficacy Short
Rosenberg
Grit Scale, Self-Control Scale
Waves
T1, T2
T1, T2
T1, T2
T1, T2
T1, T2
T1, T2
Administered To
All 4 Cohorts*
All 4 Cohorts
All 4 Cohorts
Cohorts 2, 3, 4
Cohorts 3, 4
Cohorts 2, 3, 4
Method
Self-Report
Self-Report
Self-Report
Self-Report
Self-Report
Self-Report
*Only Cohort 2 has longitudinal data
Parent Sample
Construct
Academic Self-Concept
Achievement Motivation
Self-Efficacy
Self-Esteem
Scale
SESSKO
Intrinsic Motivation Inv.
General Self-Efficacy Short
Rosenberg
Waves
T1, T2
T1, T2
T1, T2
T1, T2
Administered To
All 4 Cohorts
All 4 Cohorts
Cohorts 2, 3, 4
Cohorts 3, 4
Method
Self-Report
Self-Report
Self-Report
Self-Report
Twins’ Partners Sample
Construct
Academic Self-Concept
Achievement Motivation
Self-Efficacy
Self-Esteem
Self-Regulation
Scale
SESSKO
Intrinsic Motivation Inv.
General Self-Efficacy Short
Rosenberg
Grit Scale, Self-Control Scale
Waves
T1, T2
T1, T2
T1, T2
T1, T2
T1, T2
Administered To
Cohorts 3,4
Cohorts 3, 4
Cohorts 2, 3, 4
Cohorts 3, 4
Cohorts 2, 3, 4
Method
Self-Report
Self-Report
Self-Report
Self-Report
Self-Report
academic/school
cognitive ability/iq
culture
health behavior
job/work
life events
life goals
life satisfaction
mental health
neighborhood
parenting
physical health
relationship functioning
zygosity
Data Access
Project Website: https://www.twin-life.de/
Codebook Available Online: Yes, see: https://www.twin-life.de/documentation/documentation-of-the-study/codebook
Data Available Online: No
Project Proposal Required to Use Data: Need to sign data use agreement and send to GESIS: https://www.twin-life.de/documentation/images/TwinLife/Downloads/twinlife_flyer_data_access.pdf
Contact
Contact: info@twin-life.de