title: The genetic and environmental foundations of political, psychological, social, and economic behaviors: a panel study of twins and families.
abstract: Here we introduce the Genetic and Environmental Foundations of Political and Economic Behaviors: A Panel Study of Twins and Families (PIs Alford, Hatemi, Hibbing, Martin, and Smith). This study was designed to explore the genetic and environmental influences on social, economic, and political behaviors and attitudes. It involves identifying the psychological mechanisms that operate on these traits, the heritability of complex economic and political traits under varying conditions, and specific genetic correlates of attitudes and behaviors. In addition to describing the study, we conduct novel analyses on the data, estimating the heritability of two traits so far unexplored in the extant literature: Machiavellianism and Baron-Cohen's Empathizing Quotient.
authors.affiliation: Political Science,Microbiology and Biochemistry,The Pennsylvania State University,Pennsylvania,USA.
authors.forename: Peter K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Hatemi
authors.affiliation: Political Science,University of Nebraska,Nebraska,USA.
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Political Science, Rice University,Houston,Texas,USA.
authors.forename: John R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Alford
authors.affiliation: Genetic Epidemiology,Queensland Institute of Medical Research,Brisbane,Queensland,Australia.
authors.forename: Nicholas G
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.affiliation: Political Science,University of Nebraska,Nebraska,USA.
authors.forename: John R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Hibbing
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001290:Attitude; D002755:Choice Behavior; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics; D004467:Economics; D004522:Educational Status; D004645:Empathy / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D059647:Gene-Environment Interaction; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008257:Machiavellianism; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status; D008875:Middle Aged; D020412:Multifactorial Inheritance; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011057:Politics; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D019655:Quantitative Trait, Heritable; D011793:Queensland; D012067:Religion; D012737:Sex Factors; D035781:Siblings / Q000523:psychology*; D012919:Social Behavior; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014429:Twins, Dizygotic / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology*; D014430:Twins, Monozygotic / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004247:DNA
keywords: behavior genetics; economic behavior; personality; politics; rational choice