TY - JOUR
T1 - The genetics of politics
T2 - Discovery, challenges, and progress
AU - Hatemi, Peter K.
AU - McDermott, Rose
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank the National Science Foundation for funding training and most of the recent data collection in this area (1047687, 0921008, 0729493, 0721707, and 0721378). We also thank Kristen Jacobson, Levente Littvay, and the editors for their guidance and thoughtful comments. We would especially like to thank the pioneers of research in this area, Lindon Eaves, Nicholas Martin, and the late Hans Eysenck.
PY - 2012/10
Y1 - 2012/10
N2 - For the greater part of human history, political behaviors, values, preferences, and institutions have been viewed as socially determined. Discoveries during the 1970s that identified genetic influences on political orientations remained unaddressed. However, over the past decade, an unprecedented amount of scholarship utilizing genetic models to expand the understanding of political traits has emerged. Here, we review the 'genetics of politics', focusing on the topics that have received the most attention: attitudes, ideologies, and pro-social political traits, including voting behavior and participation. The emergence of this research has sparked a broad paradigm shift in the study of political behaviors toward the inclusion of biological influences and recognition of the mutual co-dependence between genes and environment in forming political behaviors.
AB - For the greater part of human history, political behaviors, values, preferences, and institutions have been viewed as socially determined. Discoveries during the 1970s that identified genetic influences on political orientations remained unaddressed. However, over the past decade, an unprecedented amount of scholarship utilizing genetic models to expand the understanding of political traits has emerged. Here, we review the 'genetics of politics', focusing on the topics that have received the most attention: attitudes, ideologies, and pro-social political traits, including voting behavior and participation. The emergence of this research has sparked a broad paradigm shift in the study of political behaviors toward the inclusion of biological influences and recognition of the mutual co-dependence between genes and environment in forming political behaviors.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.tig.2012.07.004
DO - 10.1016/j.tig.2012.07.004
M3 - Review article
C2 - 22951140
AN - SCOPUS:84866359933
SN - 0168-9525
VL - 28
SP - 525
EP - 533
JO - Trends in Genetics
JF - Trends in Genetics
IS - 10
ER -