Gene--Culture Coevolution of Complex Social Behavior: Human Altruism and Mate Choice

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 83; no. 19; pp. 7340 - 7343
• Main Authors: Rushton, J. Philippe, Littlefield, Christine H., Lumsden, Charles J.
• 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: Altruism; Behavioral genetics; Biological altruism; Biological and medical sciences; Biological Evolution; Culture; Data transmission; Differential and comparative psychology; Epigenetics; Evolutionary genetics; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Human genetics; Humans; Marriage; Medical genetics; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Spouses; Statistical variance; Twins; Human; Social attitude; Social behavior; Genotype environment interaction; Inheritance; Personality; Sociocultural environment
• ISSN: 0027-8424; 1091-6490
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.83.19.7340

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.