Heritability of Lifetime Income
In: Helsinki Center of Economic Research Discussion Paper No. 364
In: Helsinki Center of Economic Research Discussion Paper No. 364
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Working paper
In: Political research quarterly: PRQ ; official journal of the Western Political Science Association and other associations, Band 62, Heft 3, S. 601-613
ISSN: 1938-274X
One of the strongest regularities in the empirical political science literature is the well-known correlation in parent and child partisan behavior. Until recently, this phenomenon was thought to result solely from parental socialization, but new evidence on genetic sources of behavior suggests it might also be due to heritability. In this article, the authors hypothesize that genes contribute to variation in a general tendency toward strength of partisanship. Using data collected at the Twins Days Festival, the authors compare the similarity of partisan strength in identical twins who share all of their genes to the similarity of partisan strength in nonidentical twins who share only half of their genes. The results show that heritability accounts for almost half of the variance in strength of partisan attachment, suggesting we should pay closer attention to the role of biology in the expression of important political behaviors.
In: Science & society: a journal of Marxist thought and analysis, Band 45, Heft 1, S. 117-119
ISSN: 0036-8237
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In: Political Research Quarterly, Forthcoming
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In: Political research quarterly: PRQ ; official journal of Western Political Science Association, Pacific Northwest Political Science Association, Southern California Political Science Association, Northern California Political Science Association, Band 62, Heft 3, S. 601-613
ISSN: 1065-9129
In: Dissent: a journal devoted to radical ideas and the values of socialism and democracy, Band 23, Heft 2, S. 181-196
ISSN: 0012-3846
This is the first of a series of three articles on IQ, heredity, & equality. Focus here is on A. Jensen's hypothesis (Educability and Group Differences, New York: Harper & Row, 1973) that the mean IQ short-fall for blacks is genetically caused. Consideration is given to the theoretical & logical structure of the argument that intergroup variations in average IQ are primarily influenced by heredity. Original data from heritability studies involving separated identical twins are untrustworthy, besides which, such statistics apply only to specific breeding & rearing populations, & they cannot be generalized to other populations. The heritability of a trait may be nothing more than a function of the extent to which salient features of the environments in which the observed population lives are themselves alike or unlike. Within-group variance cannot be generalized to account for between-group differences. Ss of twin studies involve much less group-environment conflict than is true for black people in largely white America. No plausible historical or anthropological account has been offered as to why ex-Africans in America should have disfavored genes for intelligence. The heritability of the intelligence-as-measured-by-IQ is irrelevant to questions of causation & prognosis; that kind of intelligence is a malleable trait. If inheritance is discounted as a major cause of between-group differentials in IQ, it is not difficult to find aspects of environment that can reasonably & clearly be expected to have had a striking differential impact on the IQ performances of the races in the US. Jensen's "genetic hypothesis" is not only illogically applied to interracial comparisons, it is unnecessary & misconceived for explaining the racial IQ gap. AA.
In: European psychologist, Band 6, Heft 4, S. 229-240
ISSN: 1878-531X
The questions whether and how much genetic factors affect psychological dimensions and disorders represent important first steps in understanding the origins of individual differences. Because it is now widely accepted that genetic influences contribute importantly to individual differences throughout psychology, genetic research is moving beyond merely estimating heritability to asking questions about how genetic mechanisms work. We focus on two examples of ways in which genetic research is going beyond heritability. The first is to use genetically sensitive designs to identify specific environmental influences, taking into account two of the most important findings from behavioral genetics: nonshared environment and genotype-environment correlation. The second is to use the new tools of molecular genetics to identify specific genes responsible for the substantial heritability of a variety of behavioral traits.
In: European psychologist: official organ of the European Federation of Psychologists' Associations (EFPA), Band 6, Heft 4
ISSN: 1016-9040
In: Political psychology: journal of the International Society of Political Psychology, Band 33, Heft 3, S. 363-373
ISSN: 1467-9221
In: Political psychology: journal of the International Society of Political Psychology, Band 33, Heft 3, S. 363-374
ISSN: 0162-895X
In: Philosophy & public affairs, Band 4, Heft 1, S. 40-99
ISSN: 0048-3915
AT PRESENT, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO KNOW THE DEGREE OF GENETIC DETERMINATION OF INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERISTICS, IE, THEIR HERITABILITY. MAJOR PROBLEMS OF RELIABILITY ARE MANIFOLD. A CHILD WITH GENOTYPICALLY HIGH INTELLIGENCE MAY MAGNIFY HIS ADVANTAGE BY SHAPING HIS OWN ENVIRONMENT, WHICH THUS MAY BECOME MORE RESPONSIVE TO HIS NEEDS. A CHILD WITH GENOTYPICALLY LOW INTELLIGENCE, BEING AT A DISADVANTAGE, MAY NOT RESPOND TO HIS OWN ENVIRONMENT IN WAYS WHICH CAN AMPLIFY HIS EXPERIENCES. THIS RAISES A QUESTION AS TO THE JUSTICE OF ADULT RESPONSE TO CHILDREN WHICH ENCOURAGES SOME & DISCOURAGES OTHERS. NO MEANINGFUL ESTIMATE OF THE IMPORTANCE OF SUCH INDIRECT GENETIC EFFECTS CAN BE MADE. WHERE IQ IS CONCERNED, IQ'S HERITABILITY MAY BE CALCULATED EVEN THOUGH WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT IQ REALLY IS, OR WHAT VALUE IT HAS. HERITABILITY ESTIMATES ARE USEFUL ONLY IN THAT THEY RELATE TO POSSIBILITIES FOR CHANGE IN PRESENT CIRCUMSTANCES; THEY HAVE NO FUNCTION IN PREDICTING POTENTIAL CHANGES ARISING FROM NEW ENVIRONMENTAL SITUATIONS. WHERE DYSGENICS IS CONCERNED, GIVEN THE SUSPICION THAT IQ TESTS HAVE LIMITED VALUE IN JUDGING INTELLIGENCE, ANY EUGENIC PROGRAM SEEMS FRAUGHT WITH PROFOUND MORAL QUESTIONS. ARGUMENTS REGARDING SOCIAL STRATIFICATION & ITS INEVITABLE STRENGTHENING THROUGH GENETIC REINFORCEMENT ARE SOPHISTICATED BUT FALLACIOUS. WHILE SOME R DOES SEEM TO EXIST BETWEEN IQ & SOCIAL STANDING, THIS MIGHT BE DETERMINED BY A GREAT MANY NONGENETIC FACTORS RELATING TO THE ENVIRONMENT WHICH STATUS & MONEY IN OUR SOCIETY PROVIDE. SUCH IDEOLOGICAL & RACIST OVERTONES IN HERITABILITY DISCUSSIONS RAISE SERIOUS QUESTIONS OF SCIENTIFIC ETHICS; THE WIDE DISSEMINATION & POSSIBLE MISINTERPERTATIONS OF THEIR CONCLUSIONS ARE MAJOR PROBLEMS. SCIENTISTS DO HAVE A CERTAIN OBLIGATION TO CONSIDER THE MORAL IMPLICATIONS OF THEIR RESEARCH & THE POSSIBLE MISUSE OF RESULTS. STUDIES OF HERITABILITY OF IQ SHOULD CERTAINLY CONTINUE; STUDIES WHICH EMPLOY RACE AS THEIR MAJOR VARIABLE, HOWEVER, PARTICULARLY IN VIEW OF OUR TREMENDOUSLY IMPERFECT KNOWLEDGE OF THE VALUE OF IQ, SHOULD BE STOPPED. 1 FIGURE. C. LELAND.
In: Philosophy & public affairs, Band 3, Heft 4, S. 331-409
ISSN: 0048-3915
A NEW LOOK AT THE CONCEPT OF 'INTELLIGENCE TESTS' IS REQUIRED, IN VIEW OF THE CONTROVERSIAL 'GENETIC INEQUALITY OF THE RACES' & 'STERILIZATION OF THE LOW IQ' THEORIES FOSTERED IN SOME PLACES TODAY. INTELLIGENCE IS MOST AMBIGUOUSLY DEFINED, YET POPULARLY SO, AS "WHAT IQ TESTS MEASURE." THIS LACK OF CLEAR DEFINITION FOR THE TERM IMPLIES A REAL LACK OF A THEORY OF INTELLIGENCE & AN ATTENDANT VALIDITY QUESTION IN REGARD TO WHAT IQ TESTS DO MEASURE. SOME R DOES EXIST BETWEEN THE IQ TEST SCORE & SUCCESS IN SCHOOL & SOCIETY, BUT ARE WE REALLY MEASURING INTELLIGENCE WITH IQ TESTS, OR IS IT FACTORS OF MOTIVATION, 'TEST-WISENESS', CULTURAL BACKGROUND, ETC? IQ TESTS ARE FOUNDED ON AN UNSTATED THEORY: THEY TEST KNOWLEDGE & DEVELOPED SKILLS ON THE ASSUMPTION THAT THOSE QUALITIES MEASURE INTELLIGENCE. THEY MAKE NO ALLOWANCES FOR THE DIFFERENTIAL IN SUBJECT'S ACCESS TO INFORMATION, OR FOR VARIABLES IN MOTIVATION, INTEREST, ETC. NO ACCOUNT IS TAKEN OF INDIVIDUAL'S VARYING CAPACITIES TO DEMONSTRATE KNOWLEDGE OF THE TYPE DEMANDED BY THE TEST, WHILE SUCH ASPECTS OF INTELLIGENCE AS CREATIVITY ARE IGNORED ENTIRELY. THE TESTS ASSUME THE EXISTENCE OF 'GENERAL INTELLIGENCE'--SOMETHING LIKE ABSTRACT REASONING ABILITY--DESPITE THE FACT THAT PSYCHOMETRICIANS THEMSELVES ARE DEEPLY DIVIDED AS TO THE EXISTENCE OF THIS ENTITY. 3 FIGURES. C. LELAND.
In: IZA Discussion Paper No. 14734
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