A genome-wide analysis of liberal and conservative political attitudes

Peter K. Hatemi; Nathan A. Gillespie; Lindon J. Eaves; Brion S. Maher; Bradley T. Webb; Andrew C. Heath; Sarah E. Medland; David C. Smyth; Harry N. Beeby; Scott D. Gordon; Grant W. Montgomery; Ghu Zhu; Enda M. Byrne; Nicholas G. Martin

doi:10.1017/S0022381610001015

A genome-wide analysis of liberal and conservative political attitudes

Peter K. Hatemi, Nathan A. Gillespie, Lindon J. Eaves, Brion S. Maher, Bradley T. Webb, Andrew C. Heath, Sarah E. Medland, David C. Smyth, Harry N. Beeby, Scott D. Gordon, Grant W. Montgomery, Ghu Zhu, Enda M. Byrne, Nicholas G. Martin

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

76 Scopus citations

Abstract

The assumption that the transmission of social behaviors and political preferences is purely cultural has been challenged repeatedly over the last 40 years by the combined evidence of large studies of adult twins and their relatives, adoption studies, and twins reared apart. Variance components and path modeling analyses using data from extended families quantified the overall genetic influence on political attitudes, but few studies have attempted to localize the parts of the genome which accounted for the heritability estimates found for political preferences. Here, we present the first genome-wide analysis of Conservative-Liberal attitudes from a sample of 13,000 respondents whose DNA was collected in conjunction with a 50-item sociopolitical attitude questionnaire. Several significant linkage peaks were identified and potential candidate genes discussed.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	271-285
Number of pages	15
Journal	Journal of Politics
Volume	73
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022381610001015
State	Published - Jan 2011
Externally published	Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Sociology and Political Science

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10.1017/S0022381610001015

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title = "A genome-wide analysis of liberal and conservative political attitudes",

abstract = "The assumption that the transmission of social behaviors and political preferences is purely cultural has been challenged repeatedly over the last 40 years by the combined evidence of large studies of adult twins and their relatives, adoption studies, and twins reared apart. Variance components and path modeling analyses using data from extended families quantified the overall genetic influence on political attitudes, but few studies have attempted to localize the parts of the genome which accounted for the heritability estimates found for political preferences. Here, we present the first genome-wide analysis of Conservative-Liberal attitudes from a sample of 13,000 respondents whose DNA was collected in conjunction with a 50-item sociopolitical attitude questionnaire. Several significant linkage peaks were identified and potential candidate genes discussed.",

author = "Hatemi, {Peter K.} and Gillespie, {Nathan A.} and Eaves, {Lindon J.} and Maher, {Brion S.} and Webb, {Bradley T.} and Heath, {Andrew C.} and Medland, {Sarah E.} and Smyth, {David C.} and Beeby, {Harry N.} and Gordon, {Scott D.} and Montgomery, {Grant W.} and Ghu Zhu and Byrne, {Enda M.} and Martin, {Nicholas G.}",

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AU - Gillespie, Nathan A.

AU - Eaves, Lindon J.

AU - Maher, Brion S.

AU - Webb, Bradley T.

AU - Heath, Andrew C.

AU - Medland, Sarah E.

AU - Smyth, David C.

AU - Beeby, Harry N.

AU - Gordon, Scott D.

AU - Montgomery, Grant W.

AU - Zhu, Ghu

AU - Byrne, Enda M.

AU - Martin, Nicholas G.

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AB - The assumption that the transmission of social behaviors and political preferences is purely cultural has been challenged repeatedly over the last 40 years by the combined evidence of large studies of adult twins and their relatives, adoption studies, and twins reared apart. Variance components and path modeling analyses using data from extended families quantified the overall genetic influence on political attitudes, but few studies have attempted to localize the parts of the genome which accounted for the heritability estimates found for political preferences. Here, we present the first genome-wide analysis of Conservative-Liberal attitudes from a sample of 13,000 respondents whose DNA was collected in conjunction with a 50-item sociopolitical attitude questionnaire. Several significant linkage peaks were identified and potential candidate genes discussed.

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A genome-wide analysis of liberal and conservative political attitudes

Abstract

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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