Hostname: page-component-6bf8c574d5-b4m5d Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-18T21:46:30.907Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Vertical pleiotropy explains the heritability of social science traits

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 September 2023

Charley Xia  and
W. David Hill Open the ORCID record for W. David Hill [Opens in a new window]
Charley Xia
Affiliation:
Lothian Birth Cohort studies, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK [email protected]; https://www.ed.ac.uk/profile/dr−charley−xia [email protected]; https://www.ed.ac.uk/profile/david−hill
W. David Hill
Affiliation:
Lothian Birth Cohort studies, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK [email protected]; https://www.ed.ac.uk/profile/dr−charley−xia [email protected]; https://www.ed.ac.uk/profile/david−hill
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We contend that social science variables are the product of multiple partly heritable traits. Genetic associations with socioeconomic status (SES) may differ across populations, but this is a consequence of the intermediary traits associated with SES differences also varying. Furthermore, genetic data allow social scientists to make causal statements regarding the aetiology and consequences of SES.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 46 , 2023 , e230
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

Both authors contributed equally.

References

Anderson, E. L., Howe, L. D., Wade, K. H., Ben-Shlomo, Y., Hill, W. D., Deary, I. J., … Hemani, G. (2020). Education, intelligence and Alzheimer's disease: Evidence from a multivariable two-sample Mendelian randomization study. International Journal of Epidemiology, 49(4), 1163–1172.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Davies, N. M., Hill, W. D., Anderson, E. L., Sanderson, E., Deary, I. J., & Davey Smith, G. (2019). Multivariable two-sample Mendelian randomization estimates of the effects of intelligence and education on health. eLife, 8, e43990. doi: 10.7554/eLife.43990CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hill, W. D., Davies, G., Liewald, D. C., McIntosh, A. M., & Deary, I. J. (2016). Age-dependent pleiotropy between general cognitive function and major psychiatric disorders. Biological Psychiatry, 80(4), 266–273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2015.08.033CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hill, W. D., Davies, N. M., Ritchie, S. J., Skene, N. G., Bryois, J., Bell, S., … Deary, I. J. (2019a). Genome-wide analysis identifies molecular systems and 149 genetic loci associated with income. Nature Communications, 10, 5741. doi: 10.1101/573691CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hill, W. D., Marioni, R. E., Maghzian, O., Ritchie, S. J., Hagenaars, S. P., McIntosh, A. M., … Deary, I. J. (2019b). A combined analysis of genetically correlated traits identifies 187 loci and a role for neurogenesis and myelination in intelligence. Molecular Psychiatry, 24(2), 169–181. doi: 10.1038/s41380-017-0001-5CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hill, W. D., Weiss, A., Liewald, D. C., Davies, G., Porteous, D. J., Hayward, C., … Deary, I. J. (2020). Genetic contributions to two special factors of neuroticism are associated with affluence, higher intelligence, better health, and longer life. Molecular Psychiatry, 25(11), 3034–3052. doi: 10.1038/s41380-019-0387-3CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Howe, L. J., Nivard, M. G., Morris, T. T., Hansen, A. F., Rasheed, H., Cho, Y., … Within Family, C. (2022). Within-sibship genome-wide association analyses decrease bias in estimates of direct genetic effects. Nature Genetics, 54(5), 581–592. doi: 10.1038/s41588-022-01062-7CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jencks, C., Smith, M., Henry, A., Jo Bane, M., Cohen, D., Gintis, H., … Michelson, S. (1972). Inequality: A reassessment of the effect of family and schooling in America. Basic Books.Google Scholar
Krapohl, E., Rimfeld, K., Shakeshaft, N. G., Trzaskowski, M., McMillan, A., Pingault, J.-B., … Plomin, R. (2014). The high heritability of educational achievement reflects many genetically influenced traits, not just intelligence. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(42), 15273–15278. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1408777111CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rimfeld, K., Krapohl, E., Trzaskowski, M., Coleman, J. R. I., Selzam, S., Dale, P. S., … Plomin, R. (2018). Genetic influence on social outcomes during and after the Soviet era in Estonia. Nature Human Behaviour, 2(4), 269–275. doi: 10.1038/s41562-018-0332-5CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sanderson, E., Davey Smith, G., Bowden, J., & Munafò, M. R. (2019). Mendelian randomisation analysis of the effect of educational attainment and cognitive ability on smoking behaviour. Nature Communications, 10, 2949. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-10679-yCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tropf, F. C., Lee, S. H., Verweij, R. M., Stulp, G., van der Most, P. J., de Vlaming, R., … Mills, M. C. (2017). Hidden heritability due to heterogeneity across seven populations. Nature Human Behaviour, 1(10), 757–765. doi: 10.1038/s41562-017-0195-1CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed