Genetic predictors of educational attainment and intelligence test performance predict voter turnout

Lene Aarøe, Vivek Appadurai, Kasper M. Hansen, Andrew J. Schork, Thomas Werge, Ole Mors, Anders D. Børglum, David M. Hougaard, Merete Nordentoft, Preben B. Mortensen, Wesley Kurt Thompson, Alfonso Buil, Esben Agerbo () and Michael Bang Petersen
Additional contact information
Lene Aarøe: Aarhus University
Vivek Appadurai: Mental Health Center Sct Hans
Kasper M. Hansen: University of Copenhagen
Andrew J. Schork: Mental Health Center Sct Hans
Thomas Werge: The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research (iPSYCH)
Ole Mors: The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research (iPSYCH)
Anders D. Børglum: The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research (iPSYCH)
David M. Hougaard: The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research (iPSYCH)
Merete Nordentoft: The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research (iPSYCH)
Preben B. Mortensen: The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research (iPSYCH)
Wesley Kurt Thompson: The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research (iPSYCH)
Alfonso Buil: The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research (iPSYCH)
Esben Agerbo: The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research (iPSYCH)
Michael Bang Petersen: Aarhus University

Nature Human Behaviour, 2021, vol. 5, issue 2, 281-291

Abstract: Abstract Although the genetic influence on voter turnout is substantial (typically 40–50%), the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Across the social sciences, research suggests that ‘resources for politics’ (as indexed notably by educational attainment and intelligence test performance) constitute a central cluster of factors that predict electoral participation. Educational attainment and intelligence test performance are heritable. This suggests that the genotypes that enhance these phenotypes could positively predict turnout. To test this, we conduct a genome-wide complex trait analysis of individual-level turnout. We use two samples from the Danish iPSYCH case–cohort study, including a nationally representative sample as well as a sample of individuals who are particularly vulnerable to political alienation due to psychiatric conditions (n = 13,884 and n = 33,062, respectively). Using validated individual-level turnout data from the administrative records at the polling station, genetic correlations and Mendelian randomization, we show that there is a substantial genetic overlap between voter turnout and both educational attainment and intelligence test performance.

Date: 2021
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-020-00952-2 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nathum:v:5:y:2021:i:2:d:10.1038_s41562-020-00952-2

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/nathumbehav/

DOI: 10.1038/s41562-020-00952-2

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Human Behaviour is currently edited by Stavroula Kousta

More articles in Nature Human Behaviour from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().