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Jæger MM, Møllegaard S, Blaabæk EH. Literary tastes are as heritable as other human phenotypes: Evidence from twins' library borrowing. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0306546. [PMID: 38968198 PMCID: PMC11226123 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0306546] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2024] [Accepted: 06/19/2024] [Indexed: 07/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Social science research argues that differences in individuals' literary and cultural tastes originate in social environments. Yet, it might be that these differences are partly associated with genetic differences between individuals. To address this possibility, we use nation-scale registry data on library borrowing among Danish twins (N = 67,900) to assess the heritability of literary tastes. We measure literary tastes via borrowing of books of different genres (e.g., crime and biographical novels) and formats (physical, digital, and audio) and decompose the total variance in literary tastes into components attributable to shared genes (heritability), shared environments (social environment shared by siblings), and unique environments (social environments not shared by siblings). We find that genetic differences account for 45-70 percent of the total variance in literary tastes, shared environments account for almost none of the variance, and unique environments account for a moderate share. These results suggest that literary tastes are approximately as heritable as other human phenotypes (e.g., physical traits, cognition, and health). Moreover, heritability is higher for socioeconomically disadvantaged groups than for advantaged groups. Overall, our results suggest that research should consider the role of genetic differences in accounting for individual differences in literary and broader cultural tastes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mads M. Jæger
- Department of Sociology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | | | - Ea H. Blaabæk
- Department of Sociology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Statistics Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark
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Stienstra K, Knigge A, Maas I. Gene-environment interaction analysis of school quality and educational inequality. NPJ SCIENCE OF LEARNING 2024; 9:14. [PMID: 38429323 PMCID: PMC10907386 DOI: 10.1038/s41539-024-00225-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2023] [Accepted: 02/13/2024] [Indexed: 03/03/2024]
Abstract
We study to what extent schools increase or decrease environmental and genetic influences on educational performance. Building on behavioral genetics literature on gene-environment interactions and sociological literature on the compensating and amplifying effects of schools on inequality, we investigate whether the role of genes and the shared environment is larger or smaller in higher-quality school environments. We apply twin models to Dutch administrative data on the educational performance of 18,384 same-sex and 11,050 opposite-sex twin pairs, enriched with data on the quality of primary schools. Our results show that school quality does not moderate genetic and shared-environmental influences on educational performance once the moderation by SES is considered. We find a gene-environment interplay for school SES: genetic variance decreases with increasing school SES. This school SES effect partly reflects parental SES influences. Yet, parental SES does not account for all the school SES moderation, suggesting that school-based processes play a role too.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kim Stienstra
- Department of Sociology/ICS, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
| | - Antonie Knigge
- Department of Sociology/ICS, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Ineke Maas
- Department of Sociology/ICS, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
- Department of Sociology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Stienstra K, Karlson KB. The nature-nurture of academic achievement at the intersection between gender, family background, and school context. SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH 2023; 111:102870. [PMID: 36898789 DOI: 10.1016/j.ssresearch.2023.102870] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2022] [Revised: 12/06/2022] [Accepted: 02/14/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
We investigate the role of gender, family SES, school SES, and their intersection in educational achievement using a twin design. Drawing on theories of gene-environment interaction, we test whether high-SES environments compensate genetic risks or enhance genetic potential, and its dependency on gender. Using data on 37,000 Danish twin and sibling pairs from population-wide administrative registers, we report three main findings. First, for family SES, but not for school SES, we find that genetic influences play a slightly smaller role in high-SES environments. Second, this relationship is moderated by child gender: in high-SES families, the genetic influence is considerably lower for boys than for girls. Third, the moderating effect of family SES for boys is almost entirely driven by children attending low-SES schools. Our findings thus point to significant heterogeneity in gene-environment interactions, highlighting the importance of considering the multiplicity of social contexts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kim Stienstra
- Department of Sociology/ICS, Utrecht University, the Netherlands.
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Walhovd KB, Fjell AM, Wang Y, Amlien IK, Mowinckel AM, Lindenberger U, Düzel S, Bartrés-Faz D, Ebmeier KP, Drevon CA, Baaré WFC, Ghisletta P, Johansen LB, Kievit RA, Henson RN, Madsen KS, Nyberg L, R Harris J, Solé-Padullés C, Pudas S, Sørensen Ø, Westerhausen R, Zsoldos E, Nawijn L, Lyngstad TH, Suri S, Penninx B, Rogeberg OJ, Brandmaier AM. Education and Income Show Heterogeneous Relationships to Lifespan Brain and Cognitive Differences Across European and US Cohorts. Cereb Cortex 2022; 32:839-854. [PMID: 34467389 PMCID: PMC8841563 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhab248] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2020] [Revised: 06/25/2021] [Accepted: 06/28/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Higher socio-economic status (SES) has been proposed to have facilitating and protective effects on brain and cognition. We ask whether relationships between SES, brain volumes and cognitive ability differ across cohorts, by age and national origin. European and US cohorts covering the lifespan were studied (4-97 years, N = 500 000; 54 000 w/brain imaging). There was substantial heterogeneity across cohorts for all associations. Education was positively related to intracranial (ICV) and total gray matter (GM) volume. Income was related to ICV, but not GM. We did not observe reliable differences in associations as a function of age. SES was more strongly related to brain and cognition in US than European cohorts. Sample representativity varies, and this study cannot identify mechanisms underlying differences in associations across cohorts. Differences in neuroanatomical volumes partially explained SES-cognition relationships. SES was more strongly related to ICV than to GM, implying that SES-cognition relations in adulthood are less likely grounded in neuroprotective effects on GM volume in aging. The relatively stronger SES-ICV associations rather are compatible with SES-brain volume relationships being established early in life, as ICV stabilizes in childhood. The findings underscore that SES has no uniform association with, or impact on, brain and cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristine B Walhovd
- Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, University of Oslo, Oslo 0317, Norway
- Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo 0424, Norway
| | - Anders M Fjell
- Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, University of Oslo, Oslo 0317, Norway
- Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo 0424, Norway
| | - Yunpeng Wang
- Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, University of Oslo, Oslo 0317, Norway
| | - Inge K Amlien
- Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, University of Oslo, Oslo 0317, Norway
| | - Athanasia M Mowinckel
- Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, University of Oslo, Oslo 0317, Norway
| | - Ulman Lindenberger
- Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin 14195, Germany
- Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, Berlin D-14195, Germany
| | - Sandra Düzel
- Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin 14195, Germany
| | - David Bartrés-Faz
- Departament de Medicina, Facultat de Medicina i Ciències de la Salut, Universitat de Barcelona, and Institut de Neurociències, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona 08036, Spain
| | - Klaus P Ebmeier
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7JX, UK
| | - Christian A Drevon
- Vitas AS, Oslo 0349, Norway
- Department of Nutrition, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo 0317, Norway
| | - William F C Baaré
- Danish Research Centre for Magnetic Resonance, Centre for Functional and Diagnostic Imaging and Research, Copenhagen University Hospital - Amager and Hvidovre, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Paolo Ghisletta
- Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
- UniDistance Suisse, Brig, Brig 3900, Switzerland
- Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research LIVES, University of Geneva, Geneva 1212, Switzerland
| | - Louise Baruël Johansen
- Danish Research Centre for Magnetic Resonance, Centre for Functional and Diagnostic Imaging and Research, Copenhagen University Hospital - Amager and Hvidovre, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Center for Neuropsychiatric Schizophrenia Research and Center for Clinical Intervention and Neuropsychiatric Schizophrenia Research, Mental Health Centre Glostrup, Glostrup 2600, Denmark
| | - Rogier A Kievit
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 7EF, UK
- Cognitive Neuroscience Department, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen 6500 GL, The Netherlands
| | - Richard N Henson
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 7EF, UK
| | - Kathrine Skak Madsen
- Danish Research Centre for Magnetic Resonance, Centre for Functional and Diagnostic Imaging and Research, Copenhagen University Hospital - Amager and Hvidovre, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Radiography, Department of Technology, University College Copenhagen, Copenhagen 1799, Denmark
| | - Lars Nyberg
- Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, University of Oslo, Oslo 0317, Norway
- Umeå Center for Functional Brain Imaging, Umeå University, Umeå 901 87, Sweden
- Department of Integrative Medical Biology, Umeå University, Umeå 901 87, Sweden
- Department of Radiation Sciences, Radiology, Umeå University, 901 87 Umeå, Sweden
| | - Jennifer R Harris
- Division for Health Data and Digitalisation, The Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo 0213, Norway
| | - Cristina Solé-Padullés
- Departament de Medicina, Facultat de Medicina i Ciències de la Salut, Universitat de Barcelona, and Institut de Neurociències, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona 08036, Spain
| | - Sara Pudas
- Umeå Center for Functional Brain Imaging, Umeå University, Umeå 901 87, Sweden
- Department of Radiation Sciences, Radiology, Umeå University, 901 87 Umeå, Sweden
| | - Øystein Sørensen
- Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, University of Oslo, Oslo 0317, Norway
| | - René Westerhausen
- Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, University of Oslo, Oslo 0317, Norway
| | - Enikő Zsoldos
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7JX, UK
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7JX, UK
| | - Laura Nawijn
- Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam 1081 HJ, The Netherlands
| | - Torkild Hovde Lyngstad
- Department of Sociology and Human Geography, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo 0317, Norway
| | - Sana Suri
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7JX, UK
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7JX, UK
| | - Brenda Penninx
- Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam 1081 HJ, The Netherlands
| | | | - Andreas M Brandmaier
- Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin 14195, Germany
- Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, Berlin D-14195, Germany
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