The Promise and Challenges of Incorporating Genetic Data into Longitudinal Social Science Surveys and Research

Conley, Dalton

doi:10.1080/19485560903415807

Cited by 58 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…A second challenge, which applies to all G E research, is that genes and environments are unlikely to vary independently in observational data. The inability to inexpensively manipulate genes and environments exogenously thus makes the identi…cation of G E interactions challenging (Conley 2009). …”

Section: B the Interaction Of Pre-birth And Post-birth Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Researchers studying gene-by-environment (G E) interactions must wrestle with a number of conceptual and de…nitional questions (Benjamin et al 2012b;Chow and Lee 2012) and empirical challenges (Conley 2009). In molecular genetic work, a major challenge is that most genetic e¤ects on complex outcomes, including political variables, are likely to be of tiny magnitude (Benjamin et al 2012a, b).…”

Section: B the Interaction Of Pre-birth And Post-birth Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Pre-Birth Factors, Post-Birth Factors, and Voting: Evidence from Swedish Adoption Data

2014

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This paper analyzes a rich Swedish data set with information on the electoral turnout of a large sample of adoptees, their siblings, their adoptive parents, and their biological parents. We use a simple regression framework to decompose the parent-child resemblance in voting into pre-birth factors, measured by biological parents' voting, and post-birth factors, measured by adoptive parents'voting. Adoptees are more likely to vote if their biological parents were voters and if they were assigned to families in which the adoptive parents vote. We …nd evidence of interactions between the preand post-birth factors: the e¤ect of the post-birth environment on turnout is greater amongst adoptees whose biological mothers are non-voters. We also show that the relationships between parental characteristics, such as education, and child turnout persist even in the absence of a genetic link between parent and child. The regression-based framework we utilize provides a basis for the integration of behavior-genetic research into mainstream political science.

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Section: B the Interaction Of Pre-birth And Post-birth Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: B the Interaction Of Pre-birth And Post-birth Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pre-Birth Factors, Post-Birth Factors, and Voting: Evidence from Swedish Adoption Data

2014

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“…The concept of genetic vulnerability has recently been complemented by the concept of genetic sensitivity, which posits that individuals with certain genetic profiles have worse outcomes in unfavorable social environments but better outcomes in favorable environments (20)(21)(22)(23)(24). A common criticism of this literature is that people may select their environments, meaning that gene-by-environment interactions (G × E) may be due to gene-by-environment correlations (rGE) or gene-by-gene interactions (G × G) (25). The Great Recession and changes in macroeconomic conditions more generally are beyond the control of a particular individual and thereby provide a more exogenous measure of the environment.…”

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confidence: 99%

The Great Recession, genetic sensitivity, and maternal harsh parenting

Lee

Brooks‐Gunn

McLanahan

et al. 2013

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, this study examined the effects of the Great Recession on maternal harsh parenting. We found that changes in macroeconomic conditions, rather than current conditions, affected harsh parenting, that declines in macroeconomic conditions had a stronger impact on harsh parenting than improvements in conditions, and that mothers' responses to adverse economic conditions were moderated by the DRD2 Taq1A genotype. We found no evidence of a moderating effect for two other, less well-studied SNPs from the DRD4 and DAT1 genes.The only thing we have to fear is fear itself-nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror.President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's opening remarks in his first inaugural address

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“…If a set of genetic markers is sufficiently predictive, then these markers could be used in social science research as control variables, as instrumental variables (5,6; for critical perspectives, see refs. 7,8) or, under certain conditions, as factors for identifying at-risk individuals (1)(2)(3).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The genetic architecture of economic and political preferences

Benjamin

Cesarini

Loos

et al. 2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Preferences are fundamental building blocks in all models of economic and political behavior. We study a new sample of comprehensively genotyped subjects with data on economic and political preferences and educational attainment. We use dense single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data to estimate the proportion of variation in these traits explained by common SNPs and to conduct genome-wide association study (GWAS) and prediction analyses. The pattern of results is consistent with findings for other complex traits. First, the estimated fraction of phenotypic variation that could, in principle, be explained by dense SNP arrays is around one-half of the narrow heritability estimated using twin and family samples. The molecular-genetic-based heritability estimates, therefore, partially corroborate evidence of significant heritability from behavior genetic studies. Second, our analyses suggest that these traits have a polygenic architecture, with the heritable variation explained by many genes with small effects. Our results suggest that most published genetic association studies with economic and political traits are dramatically underpowered, which implies a high false discovery rate. These results convey a cautionary message for whether, how, and how soon molecular genetic data can contribute to, and potentially transform, research in social science. We propose some constructive responses to the inferential challenges posed by the small explanatory power of individual SNPs.genoeconomics | genopolitics | GCTA T here has been growing enthusiasm for the use of molecular genetic data in social science research. This enthusiasm is based on a number of potential contributions that such research could make to social science (1-3). For example, if specific genetic markers can be identified that are associated with a behavioral trait, then such predictive markers may shed light on the biological pathways underlying that trait (3, 4). If a set of genetic markers is sufficiently predictive, then these markers could be used in social science research as control variables, as instrumental variables (5, 6; for critical perspectives, see refs. 7, 8) or, under certain conditions, as factors for identifying at-risk individuals (1-3).The extent to which this potential of molecular genetic data will be fulfilled for a given trait hinges on the trait's "molecular genetic architecture," i.e., the joint distribution of effect sizes and allele frequencies of the causal genetic variants (9). The architecture-which is the result of evolutionary forces, including mutation, drift, and selection-determines the difficulty with which the genetic variants associated with a trait can be identified and what sample sizes will be required for gene discovery. It also determines the out-of-sample aggregate predictability that can be derived from a set of genetic markers considered jointly.Existing studies claiming to have established genetic associations with economic and political traits typically use samples of several hundred individuals, and no...

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The Promise and Challenges of Incorporating Genetic Data into Longitudinal Social Science Surveys and Research

Cited by 58 publications

References 32 publications

Pre-Birth Factors, Post-Birth Factors, and Voting: Evidence from Swedish Adoption Data

Pre-Birth Factors, Post-Birth Factors, and Voting: Evidence from Swedish Adoption Data

The Great Recession, genetic sensitivity, and maternal harsh parenting

The genetic architecture of economic and political preferences

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