Carolyn L. Funk

Are Political Orientations Genetically Transmitted

We test the possibility that political attitudes and behaviors are the result of both environmental and genetic factors. Employing standard methodological approaches in behavioral genetics—specifically, comparisons of the differential correlations of the attitudes of monozygotic twins and dizygotic twins—we analyze data drawn from a large sample of twins in the United States, supplemented with findings from twins in 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; as such, they call for finer distinctions in theorizing about the sources of political attitudes. We conclude by urging political scientists to incorporate genetic influences, specifically interactions between genetic heritability and social environment, into models of political attitude formation.

Genetic and Environmental Transmission of Political Attitudes Over a Life Time

Recently political scientists have looked anew at the source of political preferences and find support for the heuristic that political attitudes and behaviors are influenced by endogenous factors. The present research attempts to characterize how the transmission of political orientations develops over the life course. Using longitudinal data collected on twins throughout childhood and adolescence combined with cross-sectional data from adult twins, the present study finds that genetic influences on political attitudes are absent prior to young adulthood. During childhood and adolescence, individual differences in political attitudes are accounted for by a variety of environmental influences with the role of shared “family” environment, including parental socialization, accumulating markedly between the ages of 9 and 17. However, at the point of early adulthood (in the early 20s), for those who left their parental home, there is evidence of a sizeable genetic influence on political attitudes which remains stable throughout adult life. The pattern of genetic transmission shows some similarity to an “impressionable years” model of attitude crystallization showing both the important influence of family and other shared environmental influences in adolescence and then an increased role of genetic factors as familial environmental influences diminish.

Beyond Liberals and Conservatives to Political Genotypes and Phenotypes

In the past, most political scientists have been oblivious to the growing empirical evidence challenging environmental determinism. Professor Charney, apparently as a result of the fact that genes and the environment interact in a complex fashion, advocates that this passive unawareness be replaced by active denial. Science, however, does not advance by avoiding important relationships merely because they are complicated and, fortunately, science is not heeding Charneys ideologically-based fears. 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, whatever labels those preferences might be given in a particular culture at a particular time. We sympathize with the fact that our empirical findings, like those of so many behavioral geneticists, make Charney uncomfortable; still, his critique serves up nothing new—empirically or otherwise. Just as analyses of the roots of sexual preferences cannot presumptively ignore genetics, neither can analyses of the roots of political preferences.

Authorship and Publication Practices: Evaluation of the Effect of Responsible Conduct of Research Instruction to Postdoctoral Trainees

We have studied postdoctoral trainees funded by NIH F32 fellowship awards in order to test the effectiveness of responsible conduct of research (RCR) education in the areas of authorship and publication practices. We used a 3-wave telephone and on-line survey design, conducted over a period of two years, in order to test for individual change before and after completing RCR education. Overall the responses of the subjects suggested a clear awareness of standards and practices in publication. However, our results failed to suggest that RCR education in this group significantly increased the level of ethically appropriate behavioral responses measured in the study. Similarly we saw no significant effect on increasing awareness of or attention to ethical guidelines about authorship and publication practices. Our interpretation of these null findings was influenced by the significant publication experience of our cohort of subjects. We forward possible explanations for these null findings in this context. Most importantly, we do not suggest that our results argue against continued instruction in RCR education. Instead, we believe our data reinforce the importance of careful articulation of course goals and objectives with attention to the background and experience of the student audience when developing RCR curricula.

Awareness of publication guidelines and the responsible conduct of research.

We have conducted a longitudinal survey of NIH-funded F32 postdoctoral fellows to determine if mandated instruction in the responsible conduct of research (RCR) has measurable effects on awareness of, attentiveness to, and behavioral judgments about research ethics and authorship and publication. Of 418 F32 fellows participating in the study, 50% were aware of and had referred to guidelines on authorship and publication practices while 50% were either unaware of or had not referred to guidelines. Groups were similar with regard to total number of peer-reviewed publications and total number of first author publications, years of research experience, years since completing their doctoral degree, and receipt of RCR training. The equal distribution of guideline awareness and use, and group similarities with regard to career development and achievement provided us with an opportunity to consider whether awareness of and use of guidelines is associated with broader judgments about author roles and responsibilities. The findings suggest that awareness and utilization of guidelines are, at best, only modestly associated with more ethically appropriate judgments and attitudes about author roles and responsibilities among novice F32’s. K.A.B., C.L.F., and F.L.M. designed the survey instrument. K.A.B. oversaw data collection, and K.A.B. and C.L.F. performed data compilation and statistical analysis. All three authors participated equally in data interpretation. K.A.B. wrote the first draft of the Methods and Results section and F.L.M. wrote the Introduction section and performed the literature search. All authors co-wrote and co-edited the Discussion section. None of the authors have any financial, personal, or institutional conflicts of interest related to the performance of this research or the reporting of its results. This research was carried out under a human subject research protocol, reviewed and approved by the Virginia Commonwealth University Institutional Review Board (VCU IRB # 2826; current approval date, 5/12/04) This research was supported by the Research on Research Integrity Program, an ORI/NIH collaboration: USPHS Grant NS042494 to Virginia Commonwealth University (F.L.M., Principal Investigator). We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of William E. McGarvey and Walter Schaffer, Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health.

Twin Studies, Molecular Genetics, Politics, and Tolerance: A Response to Beckwith and Morris

Beckwith and Morris raise concerns about the value of twin studies for understanding the role of genetics in complex human behav ior, but virtually all of their concerns have been raised and rebutted before. When it comes to the equal environments assumption (EEA), the best approach is to test for and control possible violations of the EEA on heritability estimates rather than merely rejecting all empirical evidence because of the possibility of EEA violations. In many respects, since the study of the genetic basis of complex human behaviors now includes many methods in addition to twin studies, Beckwith and Morriss critique applies more to the behavioral genetics of a quarter century ago than to todays multifaceted behavioral genetics. Twin studies establish that there is a sizeable genetic component to political orientations, thereby giving cause to look further at the nature of that role by using other methodologies, including molecular genetics. We conclude by pointing out that the normative implications of the relevance of genes to human behavior are not nearly as worrisome as Beckwith and Morris seem to believe. W e welcome the opportunity to answer Beckwith and Morriss (hereafter BM) critique of the equal environments assumption (EEA) made by classic twin studies in general and our 2005 American Political Science Review article in particular. Their essay is a focused, if selective, review of the literature and is delivered in an appropriately professional tone, free from the somewhat feverish quality that has characterized other reactions to Alford, Funk, and Hibbing (AFH). Our brief rebuttal speaks to the following: the proper place of the twin meth odology in addressing questions about the role of genetics in political behavior, corrections to BMs claims about our research, and scientific responses to concerns about the EEA.