Gene--Culture Coevolution of Complex Social Behavior: Human Altruism and Mate Choice
The hypothesis is examined that genes bias the development of complex social behavior in one direction over alternatives. Studies of altruism and political attitudes in twins estimate that ≈ 50% of the variance is associated with direct genetic inheritance, virtually 0% with the twin's common f...
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Published in | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 83; no. 19; pp. 7340 - 7343 |
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Main Authors | , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Washington, DC
National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
01.10.1986
National Acad Sciences |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | The hypothesis is examined that genes bias the development of complex social behavior in one direction over alternatives. Studies of altruism and political attitudes in twins estimate that ≈ 50% of the variance is associated with direct genetic inheritance, virtually 0% with the twin's common family environment, and the remainder with each twin's specific environment. Studies of human marriages show that spouses choose each other on the basis of similarity, assorting on the most genetically influenced of a set of homogeneous attributes. These data imply a genetic canalization of social influences such that, within the constraints allowed by the total spectrum of cultural alternatives, people create environments maximally compatible with their genotypes. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0027-8424 1091-6490 |
DOI: | 10.1073/pnas.83.19.7340 |