Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-19T03:28:04.826Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Nature, Nurture, and Ethnocentrism in the Minnesota Twin Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2012

Byron D'Andra Orey  and
Hyung Park
Byron D'Andra Orey*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, Jackson State University, Jackson, Mississippi
Hyung Park
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, Jackson State University, Jackson, Mississippi
*
Address for Correspondence: Byron D'Andra Orey, Department of Political Science, Jackson State University, P.O. Box 18420, Jackson, Mississippi, 39217, USA. Email: [email protected]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The preponderance of research on the study of ethnocentrism has primarily attributed such attitudes to learned behavior. The research here advances the argument that both socialization and genetic inheritance contribute to the development of ethnocentric attitudes and behavior. This analysis employs the Minnesota Twins Political Survey data consisting of 596 complete twin pairs. Using the classical twin design, we employed structural equation modeling to model the covariance of twins in regards to additive genetic effects, shared environmental effects, and unique environmental effects (i.e., the classic ACE model). The findings reveal that genetic inheritance is significant in explaining the variance in genetic attitudes. Specifically, genetic inheritance explains 18% of the variance, with the overwhelming 82% being explained by the unique environment.

Keywords

ethnocentrismgeneticsattitudesenvironmental effectstwin data
Type
Special Section: The Intersection of Behavioral Genetics and Political Science
Information
Twin Research and Human Genetics , Volume 15 , Issue 1: Special Section: The Intersection of Behavioral Genetics and Political Science , February 2012 , pp. 71 - 73
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012