Are Political Orientations Genetically Transmitted
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3338262 |
|---|---|
| Authors | John R Alford (0000-0003-1866-8271, Rice University), Carolyn L Funk (Virginia Commonwealth University), John R Hibbing (0000-0002-6922-2459) |
| Year | 2005 |
| Volume | 99 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 153-167 |
| Publication date | 2005-05-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Political Science Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0003-0554 • E-ISSN: 1537-5943 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0003055405051579 |
| OpenAlex | W2168659096 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 368 |
| References cited | 215 |
We test the possibility that political attitudes and behaviors are the result of both environmental and genetic factors. Employing standard methodological approaches in behavioral genetics-specifically, comparisons of the differential correlations of the attitudes of monozygotic twins and dizygotic twins-we analyze data drawn from a large sample of twins in the United States, supplemented with findings from twins in Australia. The results indicate that genetics plays an important role in shaping political attitudes and ideologies but a more modest role in forming party identification; as such, they call for finer distinctions in theorizing about the sources of political attitudes. We conclude by urging political scientists to incorporate genetic influences, specifically interactions between genetic heritability and social environment, into models of political attitude formation
Behavioural genetics · Biology · Dizygotic twins · Heritability · Identification (biology · Ideology · Political science · Politics · Cognitive Abilities and Testing · Ecology · Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior · Genetics · Law · Psychology · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Social Psychology
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| Unique citing works | 368 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 18,4 |
| Citation span | 2006 - 2026 (21) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | Yes |
| Citation types | Neutral: 362 |