Ivaylo D. Petev - Social biology

Topics in Quantitative Sociology

Fall 2020 ENSAE

Social biology

This session examines the interaction between biology and social science with particular attention on genetic determinants of social outcomes.

Background readings

Freese et al, 2003, ARS, "The potenial relevances of biology to social inquiry"

Optional readings

Chabris, 2013, AJPH, "Why It Is Hard to Find Genes Associated With Social Science Traits: Theoretical and Empirical Considerations"
Chabris & al., 2015, CDPS, "The fourth law of behavior genetics"
Conley, 2016, ARS, "Socio-Genomic Research Using Genome-Wide Molecular Data"
Hackman & al., 2010, NRN, "Socioeconomic status and the brain: mechanistic insights from human and animal research"
Landecker & Panofsky, 2013, ARS, “From social structure to gene regulation, and back. A critical introduction to environmental epigenetics for sociology”
Lupien & al., 2009, NRN, "Effects of stress throughout the lifespan on the brain behaviour and cognition"
Mulligan, 2016, ARA, "Early environments, stress, and the epigenetics of human health"

Case-study for reading

Conley & Domingue, 2016, SS, “The Bell Curve Revisited: Testing Controversial Hypotheses with Molecular Genetic Data”

Abstract: In 1994, the publication of Herrnstein’s and Murray’s The Bell Curve resulted in a social science maelstrom of responses. In the present study, we argue that Herrnstein’s and Murray’s assertions were made prematurely, on their own terms, given the lack of data available to test the role of genotype in the dynamics of achievement and attainment in U.S. society. Today, however, the scientific community has access to at least one dataset that is nationally representative and has genome-wide molecular markers. We deploy those data from the Health and Retirement Study in order to test the core series of propositions offered by Herrnstein and Murray in 1994. First, we ask whether the effect of genotype is increasing in predictive power across birth cohorts in the middle twentieth century. Second, we ask whether assortative mating on relevant genotypes is increasing across the same time period. Finally, we ask whether educational genotypes are increasingly predictive of fertility (number ever born [NEB]) in tandem with the rising (negative) association of educational outcomes and NEB. The answers to these questions are mostly no; while molecular genetic markers can predict educational attainment, we find little evidence for the proposition that we are becoming increasingly genetically stratified.

Case-studies for written reviews

Boardman, Jason D., Benjamin W. Domingue, and Jason M. Fletcher. 2012. “How Social and Genetic Factors Predict Friendship Networks.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 109(43):17377–81. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1208975109.
Breinholt, Asta, and Dalton Conley. 2023. “Child-Driven Parenting: Differential Early Childhood Investment by Offspring Genotype.” Social Forces 102(1):310–29. doi: 10.1093/sf/soac155.
Conley, Dalton, Benjamin Domingue, David Cesarini, Christopher Dawes, Cornelius Rietveld, and Jason Boardman. 2015. “Is the Effect of Parental Education on Offspring Biased or Moderated by Genotype?” Sociological Science 2:82–105. doi: 10.15195/v2.a6.
Conley, Dalton, Thomas Laidley, Daniel W. Belsky, Jason M. Fletcher, Jason D. Boardman, and Benjamin W. Domingue. 2016. “Assortative Mating and Differential Fertility by Phenotype and Genotype across the 20th Century.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 113(24):6647–52. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1523592113.
Guo, Guang, and Elizabeth Stearns. 2002. “The Social Influences on the Realization of Genetic Potential for Intellectual Development*.” Social Forces 80(3):881–910. doi: 10.1353/sof.2002.0007.
Herd, Pamela, Jeremy Freese, Kamil Sicinski, Benjamin W. Domingue, Kathleen Mullan Harris, Caiping Wei, and Robert M. Hauser. 2019. “Genes, Gender Inequality, and Educational Attainment.” American Sociological Review 84(6):1069–98. doi: 10.1177/0003122419886550.
Isungset, Martin A., Dalton Conley, Henrik D. Zachrisson, Eivind Ystrom, Alexandra Havdahl, Pål R. Njølstad, and Torkild Hovde Lyngstad. 2022. “Social and Genetic Associations with Educational Performance in a Scandinavian Welfare State.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 119(25):e2201869119. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2201869119.
Jæger, Mads, and Stine Møllegaard. 2022. “Where Do Cultural Tastes Come From? Genes, Environments, or Experiences.” Sociological Science 9:252–74. doi: 10.15195/v9.a11.
Justin Cook, C., and Jason M. Fletcher. 2015. “Understanding Heterogeneity in the Effects of Birth Weight on Adult Cognition and Wages.” Journal of Health Economics 41:107–16. doi: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2015.01.005.
Lahtinen, Hannu, Pekka Martikainen, Kaarina Korhonen, Tim Morris, and Mikko Myrskylä. 2024. “Educational Tracking and the Polygenic Prediction of Education.” Sociological Science 11:186–213. doi: 10.15195/v11.a8.
Lee, Dohoon, Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, Sara S. McLanahan, Daniel Notterman, and Irwin Garfinkel. 2013. “The Great Recession, Genetic Sensitivity, and Maternal Harsh Parenting.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 110(34):13780–84. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1312398110.
Schmitz, Lauren, and Dalton Conley. 2016. “The Long-Term Consequences of Vietnam-Era Conscription and Genotype on Smoking Behavior and Health.” Behavior Genetics 46(1):43–58. doi: 10.1007/s10519-015-9739-1.
Shave, Robert E., Daniel E. Lieberman, Aimee L. Drane, Marcel G. Brown, Alan M. Batterham, Steven Worthington, Rebeca Atencia, Yedra Feltrer, Jennifer Neary, Rory B. Weiner, Meagan M. Wasfy, and Aaron L. Baggish. 2019. “Selection of Endurance Capabilities and the Trade-off between Pressure and Volume in the Evolution of the Human Heart.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 116(40):19905–10. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1906902116.
Tropf, Felix C., S. Hong Lee, Renske M. Verweij, Gert Stulp, Peter J. Van Der Most, Ronald De Vlaming, Andrew Bakshi, Daniel A. Briley, Charles Rahal, Robert Hellpap, Anastasia N. Iliadou, Tõnu Esko, Andres Metspalu, Sarah E. Medland, Nicholas G. Martin, Nicola Barban, Harold Snieder, Matthew R. Robinson, and Melinda C. Mills. 2017. “Hidden Heritability Due to Heterogeneity across Seven Populations.” Nature Human Behaviour 1(10):757–65. doi: 10.1038/s41562-017-0195-1.
Tropf, Felix C., and Jornt J. Mandemakers. 2017. “Is the Association Between Education and Fertility Postponement Causal? The Role of Family Background Factors.” Demography 54(1):71–91. doi: 10.1007/s13524-016-0531-5.
Weitzman, Abigail, and Dalton Conley. 2014. “From Assortative to Ashortative Coupling: Men’s Height, Height Heterogamy, and Relationship Dynamics in the United States.” NBER Working Papers.