Toward a Modern View of Political Man: Genetic and Environmental Sources ofPolitical Orientations and Participation
Year: 2010
Type: preprint
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: New research suggests a portrait of political man that includes not only social influences but also genetic, physiological, neural, and very early developmental influences on adults’ attitudes toward and participation in democratic governance. To this point, empirical investigations have been hindered by a dearth of data on the biological concepts that potentially link to the variables of central interest to most political scientists. The present study helps to address this problem by highlighting a new twin study of adults in the U.S. that permits direct tests of the genetic and environmental sources of a wide range of political concepts. Most past findings in the area pertain only to genetic influences on the direction of attitudes or on voter turnout. Here, we test the degree to which genetic and environmental factors influence a much broader array of political variables, including specific types of political involvement, political knowledge, interest in politics, efficacy, political participation, and the extremity and intensity of attitudes on a wide array of issues. These analyses make it possible to look more deeply at the wellsprings of people’s connection to their political system.
Source: SSRN Electronic Journal
Language: English
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W189598347