Genetic analysis of social-class mobility in five longitudinal studies

Daniel Belsky; Benjamin W Domingue; Robbee Wedow; Louise Arseneault; Jason D. Boardman; Avshalom Caspi; Dalton Conley; Jason Fletcher; Jeremy Freese; Pamela Herd; Terrie Edith Moffitt; Richie Poulton; Kamil Sicinski; Jasmin Wertz; Kathleen Mullan Harris

doi:10.1073/pnas.1801238115

Genetic analysis of social-class mobility in five longitudinal studies

Daniel Belsky, Benjamin W Domingue, Robbee Wedow, Louise Arseneault, Jason D. Boardman, Avshalom Caspi, Dalton Conley, Jason Fletcher, Jeremy Freese, Pamela Herd, Terrie Edith Moffitt, Richie Poulton, Kamil Sicinski, Jasmin Wertz, Kathleen Mullan Harris

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

194 Citations (Scopus)

351 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

A summary genetic measure, called a “polygenic score,” derived from a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of education can modestly predict a person’s educational and economic success. This prediction could signal a biological mechanism: Education-linked genetics could encode characteristics that help people get ahead in life. Alternatively, prediction could reflect social history: People from well-off families might stay well-off for social reasons, and these families might also look alike genetically. A key test to distinguish biological mechanism from social history is if people with higher education polygenic scores tend to climb the social ladder beyond their parents’ position. Upward mobility would indicate education-linked genetics encodes characteristics that foster success. We tested if education-linked polygenic scores predicted social mobility in >20,000 individuals in five longitudinal studies in the United States, Britain, and New Zealand. Participants with higher polygenic scores achieved more education and career success and accumulated more wealth. However, they also tended to come from better-off families. In the key test, participants with higher polygenic scores tended to be upwardly mobile compared with their parents. Moreover, in sibling-difference analysis, the sibling with the higher polygenic score was more upwardly mobile. Thus, education GWAS discoveries are not mere correlates of privilege; they influence social mobility within a life. Additional analyses revealed that a mother’s polygenic score predicted her child’s attainment over and above the child’s own polygenic score, suggesting parents’ genetics can also affect their children’s attainment through environmental pathways. Education GWAS discoveries affect socioeconomic attainment through influence on individuals’ family-of-origin environments and their social mobility.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	E7275-E7284
Journal	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume	115
Issue number	31
Early online date	9 Jul 2018
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1801238115
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 9 Jul 2018

Access to Document

10.1073/pnas.1801238115Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

Genetic analysis of social-class_BELSKY_Accepted19June2018_GOLD VoR (CC BY-NC-ND)Final published version, 1.76 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

Belsky, D., Domingue, B. W., Wedow, R., Arseneault, L., Boardman, J. D., Caspi, A., Conley, D., Fletcher, J., Freese, J., Herd, P., Moffitt, T. E., Poulton, R., Sicinski, K., Wertz, J., & Harris, K. M. (2018). Genetic analysis of social-class mobility in five longitudinal studies. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 115(31), E7275-E7284. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1801238115

@article{f67946f35be3477391c4233323f469e7,

title = "Genetic analysis of social-class mobility in five longitudinal studies",

abstract = "A summary genetic measure, called a “polygenic score,” derived from a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of education can modestly predict a person{\textquoteright}s educational and economic success. This prediction could signal a biological mechanism: Education-linked genetics could encode characteristics that help people get ahead in life. Alternatively, prediction could reflect social history: People from well-off families might stay well-off for social reasons, and these families might also look alike genetically. A key test to distinguish biological mechanism from social history is if people with higher education polygenic scores tend to climb the social ladder beyond their parents{\textquoteright} position. Upward mobility would indicate education-linked genetics encodes characteristics that foster success. We tested if education-linked polygenic scores predicted social mobility in >20,000 individuals in five longitudinal studies in the United States, Britain, and New Zealand. Participants with higher polygenic scores achieved more education and career success and accumulated more wealth. However, they also tended to come from better-off families. In the key test, participants with higher polygenic scores tended to be upwardly mobile compared with their parents. Moreover, in sibling-difference analysis, the sibling with the higher polygenic score was more upwardly mobile. Thus, education GWAS discoveries are not mere correlates of privilege; they influence social mobility within a life. Additional analyses revealed that a mother{\textquoteright}s polygenic score predicted her child{\textquoteright}s attainment over and above the child{\textquoteright}s own polygenic score, suggesting parents{\textquoteright} genetics can also affect their children{\textquoteright}s attainment through environmental pathways. Education GWAS discoveries affect socioeconomic attainment through influence on individuals{\textquoteright} family-of-origin environments and their social mobility.",

author = "Daniel Belsky and Domingue, {Benjamin W} and Robbee Wedow and Louise Arseneault and Boardman, {Jason D.} and Avshalom Caspi and Dalton Conley and Jason Fletcher and Jeremy Freese and Pamela Herd and Moffitt, {Terrie Edith} and Richie Poulton and Kamil Sicinski and Jasmin Wertz and Harris, {Kathleen Mullan}",

year = "2018",

month = jul,

day = "9",

doi = "10.1073/pnas.1801238115",

language = "English",

volume = "115",

pages = "E7275--E7284",

journal = "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America",

issn = "0027-8424",

publisher = "National Acad Sciences",

number = "31",

}

Belsky, D, Domingue, BW, Wedow, R, Arseneault, L, Boardman, JD, Caspi, A, Conley, D, Fletcher, J, Freese, J, Herd, P, Moffitt, TE, Poulton, R, Sicinski, K, Wertz, J & Harris, KM 2018, 'Genetic analysis of social-class mobility in five longitudinal studies', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 115, no. 31, pp. E7275-E7284. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1801238115

TY - JOUR

T1 - Genetic analysis of social-class mobility in five longitudinal studies

AU - Belsky, Daniel

AU - Domingue, Benjamin W

AU - Wedow, Robbee

AU - Arseneault, Louise

AU - Boardman, Jason D.

AU - Caspi, Avshalom

AU - Conley, Dalton

AU - Fletcher, Jason

AU - Freese, Jeremy

AU - Herd, Pamela

AU - Moffitt, Terrie Edith

AU - Poulton, Richie

AU - Sicinski, Kamil

AU - Wertz, Jasmin

AU - Harris, Kathleen Mullan

PY - 2018/7/9

Y1 - 2018/7/9

N2 - A summary genetic measure, called a “polygenic score,” derived from a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of education can modestly predict a person’s educational and economic success. This prediction could signal a biological mechanism: Education-linked genetics could encode characteristics that help people get ahead in life. Alternatively, prediction could reflect social history: People from well-off families might stay well-off for social reasons, and these families might also look alike genetically. A key test to distinguish biological mechanism from social history is if people with higher education polygenic scores tend to climb the social ladder beyond their parents’ position. Upward mobility would indicate education-linked genetics encodes characteristics that foster success. We tested if education-linked polygenic scores predicted social mobility in >20,000 individuals in five longitudinal studies in the United States, Britain, and New Zealand. Participants with higher polygenic scores achieved more education and career success and accumulated more wealth. However, they also tended to come from better-off families. In the key test, participants with higher polygenic scores tended to be upwardly mobile compared with their parents. Moreover, in sibling-difference analysis, the sibling with the higher polygenic score was more upwardly mobile. Thus, education GWAS discoveries are not mere correlates of privilege; they influence social mobility within a life. Additional analyses revealed that a mother’s polygenic score predicted her child’s attainment over and above the child’s own polygenic score, suggesting parents’ genetics can also affect their children’s attainment through environmental pathways. Education GWAS discoveries affect socioeconomic attainment through influence on individuals’ family-of-origin environments and their social mobility.

AB - A summary genetic measure, called a “polygenic score,” derived from a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of education can modestly predict a person’s educational and economic success. This prediction could signal a biological mechanism: Education-linked genetics could encode characteristics that help people get ahead in life. Alternatively, prediction could reflect social history: People from well-off families might stay well-off for social reasons, and these families might also look alike genetically. A key test to distinguish biological mechanism from social history is if people with higher education polygenic scores tend to climb the social ladder beyond their parents’ position. Upward mobility would indicate education-linked genetics encodes characteristics that foster success. We tested if education-linked polygenic scores predicted social mobility in >20,000 individuals in five longitudinal studies in the United States, Britain, and New Zealand. Participants with higher polygenic scores achieved more education and career success and accumulated more wealth. However, they also tended to come from better-off families. In the key test, participants with higher polygenic scores tended to be upwardly mobile compared with their parents. Moreover, in sibling-difference analysis, the sibling with the higher polygenic score was more upwardly mobile. Thus, education GWAS discoveries are not mere correlates of privilege; they influence social mobility within a life. Additional analyses revealed that a mother’s polygenic score predicted her child’s attainment over and above the child’s own polygenic score, suggesting parents’ genetics can also affect their children’s attainment through environmental pathways. Education GWAS discoveries affect socioeconomic attainment through influence on individuals’ family-of-origin environments and their social mobility.

U2 - 10.1073/pnas.1801238115

DO - 10.1073/pnas.1801238115

M3 - Article

SN - 0027-8424

VL - 115

SP - E7275-E7284

JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

IS - 31

ER -

Genetic analysis of social-class mobility in five longitudinal studies

Abstract

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Cite this