Genetic influence on social outcomes during and after the Soviet era in Estonia

Kaili Rimfeld (), Eva Krapohl, Maciej Trzaskowski, Jonathan R. I. Coleman, Saskia Selzam, Philip S. Dale, Tonu Esko, Andres Metspalu and Robert Plomin
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Kaili Rimfeld: King’s College London
Eva Krapohl: King’s College London
Maciej Trzaskowski: The University of Queensland
Jonathan R. I. Coleman: King’s College London
Saskia Selzam: King’s College London
Philip S. Dale: University of New Mexico
Tonu Esko: University of Tartu
Andres Metspalu: University of Tartu
Robert Plomin: King’s College London

Nature Human Behaviour, 2018, vol. 2, issue 4, 269-275

Abstract: Abstract The aetiology of individual differences in educational attainment and occupational status includes genetic as well as environmental factors1–5 and can change as societies change3,6,7. The extent of genetic influence on these social outcomes can be viewed as an index of success in achieving meritocratic values of equality of opportunity by rewarding talent and hard work, which are to a large extent influenced by genetic factors, rather than rewarding environmentally driven privilege. To the extent that the end of the Soviet Union and the independence of Estonia led to an increase in meritocratic selection of individuals in education and occupation, genetic influence should be higher in the post-Soviet era than in the Soviet era. Here we confirmed this hypothesis: DNA differences (single-nucleotide polymorphisms) explained twice as much variance in educational attainment and occupational status in the post-Soviet era compared with the Soviet era in both polygenic score analyses and single-nucleotide polymorphism heritability analyses of 12,500 Estonians. Our results demonstrate a change in the extent of genetic influence in the same population following a massive and abrupt social change—in this case, the shift from a communist to a capitalist society.

Date: 2018
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DOI: 10.1038/s41562-018-0332-5

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