The Genetics of Politics: recent research papers ranked by number of citations

May 6, 2010

The Genetics of Politics: recent research papers ranked by number of citations

The genetics of politics: recent research papers ranked by number of citations
Data provided by Thomson Reuters from its Web of Science database, 2005-present
RankingPaper Author(s), journalCitation
1Are political orientations genetically transmitted%3F%3Cbr /%3EJ.R. Alford, C.L. Funk and J.R. Hibbing%3Cbr /%3EAmerican Political Science Review, 99 (2): 153-167, May 2005%3Cbr /%3EAbstract: “Political attitudes and behaviors are the result of both environmental and genetic factors. Employing standard methodological ­approaches in behavioral genetics…we analyze data drawn from a large sample of twins in the United States %5Band%5D Australia. The results indicate that genetics plays an important role in shaping political attitudes and ideologies but a more modest role in forming party identification.” 88
2Genetic variation in political participation%3Cbr /%3EJ.H. Fowler, L.A. Baker and C.T. Dawes%3Cbr /%3EAmerican Political Science Review, 102 (2): 233-248, May 2008%3Cbr /%3EAbstract: “The decision to vote has puzzled scholars for decades…Models have not considered the hypothesis that part of the variation in voting behavior can be attributed to genetic effects. Matching public voter turnout records in Los Angeles to a twin registry, we study the heritability of political behavior in monozygotic and dizygotic twins. The results show that a significant proportion of the variation in voting turnout can be accounted for by genes.” 36
3Neurocognitive correlates of liberalism and conservatism%3Cbr /%3ED.M. Amodio, J.T. Jost, S.L. Master and C.M. Yee%3Cbr /%3ENature Neuroscience, 10 (10): 1246-1247, October 2007%3Cbr /%3EAbstract: “Political scientists and psychologists have noted that, on average, conservatives show more structured and persistent cognitive styles, whereas liberals are more responsive to informational complexity, ambiguity and novelty. We…found that greater liberalism was associated with stronger conflict-related anterior cingulate activity, suggesting greater neurocognitive sensitivity to cues for altering a habitual response pattern.” 26
4The genetics of voting: An Australian twin study%3Cbr /%3EP.K. Hatemi, S.E. Medland, K.I. Morley, A.C. Heath and N.G. Martin%3Cbr /%3EBehavior Genetics, 37 (3): 435-448, May 2007Abstract: “Previously we and others have shown evidence for genetic influences on political attitudes and sociodemographic indicators…However, the nature of the relationship between political attitudes, social indicators and voting behavior has not been investigated…Multivariate genetic analysis showed no unique genetic contribution to voting preference; rather, the genetic influence in vote choice could be explained by shared genetic influences in perceived social class, church attendance and certain key political attitude items.” 20
5Two genes predict voter turnout J.H. Fowler and C.T. Dawes%3Cbr /%3EJournal of Politics, 70 (3): 579-594, July 2008%3Cbr /%3EAbstract: “Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we show that individuals with a polymorphism of the MAOA gene are significantly more likely to have voted in the 2004 presidential election. We also find evidence that an association between a polymorphism of the 5HTT gene and voter turnout is moderated by religious attendance.” 19
6Political attitudes vary with physiological traits%3Cbr /%3ED.R. Oxley, K.B. Smith, J.R. Alford, M.V. Hibbing, J.L. Miller, M. Scalora, P.K. Hatemi and J.R. Hibbing%3Cbr /%3EScience, 321 (5896): 1667-1670, September 2008%3Cbr /%3EAbstract: “Although political views have been thought to arise largely from individuals’ experiences, recent research suggests that they may have a biological basis. We present evidence that variations in political attitudes correlate with physiological traits…The degree to which individuals are physiologically responsive to threat appears to indicate the degree to which they advocate policies that protect the existing social structure from both external (outgroup) and internal (norm-violator) threats.” 15
7Biology, politics, and the emerging science of human nature%3Cbr /%3EJ.H. Fowler and D. SchreiberScience, 322 (5903): 912-914, November 2008%3Cbr /%3EAbstract: “We describe recent advances and argue that biologists and political scientists must work together to advance a new science of human nature.” 12
8Genetics and the social science explanation of individual outcomes%3Cbr /%3EJ. FreeseAmerican Journal of Sociology, 114: S1-S35 Suppl., November 2008%3Cbr /%3EAbstract: “Accumulating evidence from behavioral genetics suggests that the vast majority of individual-level outcomes of abiding sociological interest are genetically influenced to a substantial degree. This raises the question of the place of genetics in social science explanations.” 10
9Model of genetic variation in human social networks%3Cbr /%3EJ.H. Fowler, C.T. Dawes and N.A. Christakis%3Cbr /%3EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 106 (6): 1720-1724, February 2009%3Cbr /%3EAbstract: “Social networks exhibit strikingly systematic patterns across a wide range of human contexts. Although genetic variation accounts for a significant portion of the variation in many complex social behaviors, the heritability of egocentric social network attributes is unknown…%5BOur%5D results suggest that natural selection may have played a role in the evolution of social networks. They also suggest that modeling intrinsic variation in network attributes may be important for understanding the way genes affect human behaviors and the way these behaviors spread from person to person.” 7
10Beyond Liberals and Conservatives to political genotypes and phenotypes%3Cbr /%3EJ.R. Alford, C.L. Funk and J.R. Hibbing%3Cbr /%3EPerspectives on Politics, 6 (2): 321-328, June 2008Abstract: “In the past, most political scientists have been oblivious to the growing empirical evidence challenging environmental determinism…Molecular geneticists, often working in tandem with political scientists, are quickly moving beyond twin studies to identify the specific suites of genes and biological systems that predict variation in core political preferences.”5

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