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Parental income moderates the influence of genetic dispositions on political interest in adolescents

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 February 2025

Sebastian Jungkunz Open the ORCID record for Sebastian Jungkunz [Opens in a new window]  and
Paul Marx
Sebastian Jungkunz*
Affiliation:
Institute of Political Science and Sociology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
Paul Marx
Affiliation:
Institute of Political Science and Sociology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
*
Corresponding author: Sebastian Jungkunz; Email: sebastian.jungkunz@uni-bonn.de
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Abstract

The political involvement of adolescents is characterized by a substantial socioeconomic gradient already at a young age with enduring effects into adulthood. This study investigates whether high parental income creates an enhancing environment that increases the influence of genetic dispositions on political interest using the German TwinLife study (2014–2020, age 10–29, n = 6,174, 54% female, 19% migration background). While 30–40% of the total variance in political interest of twin adolescents (age 10–18) can be attributed to genetic influences, a gene–environment interaction model shows that this share is much lower among poor compared to rich families. Family fixed-effects models among early adults further show no significant effect of income differences on political interest after controlling for family background and genetic influences. This study suggests that the income gap in political participation cannot be fully understood without accounting for life cycle processes and genetic background.

Keywords

adolescencegenetic dispositionsincomepolitical interesttwin research
Type
Research Note
Information
Politics and the Life Sciences , First View , pp. 1 - 11
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Open data Open materials
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© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Association for Politics and the Life Sciences

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This article was awarded Open Data and Open Materials for transparent practices. See the data availability statement for details.

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