Socio-economic status: a social construct with heritable components and genetic consequences

Abdel Abdellaoui, Hilary C. Martin, Adam Rutherford, Martin Kolk, Michael Muthukrishna, Felix Tropf, Melinda C. Mills, Brendan Zietsch, Karin J.H. Verweij and Peter M. Visscher

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: In civilizations, individuals are born or sorted into different levels of socio-economic status (SES) through social stratification. SES clusters both in families and geographically, and has been associated with detectable genetic effects. Here, we first review the history of scientific research on the relationship between social stratification and heredity. We then discuss recent findings in genomics research in light of the hypothesis that SES is a dynamic social construct that reflects genetically influenced traits that help in achieving or retaining a certain socio-economic position, and can exert selection pressures on genes associated with such traits. Social stratification results in people with varying talents being placed into strata with different environmental exposures, which could result in evolutionary selection pressures through differences in mortality, reproduction, and non-random mating. Recent cultural developments may have influenced these selection pressures in ways that increase social inequality. Novel tools in genomics research are revealing previously concealed genetic consequences of the way society is organized, yielding insights that should be approached with caution in search for a fair and functional society.

JEL-codes: J1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-03-26
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Published in Nature Human Behaviour, 26, March, 2025. ISSN: 2397-3374

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