TY - JOUR
T1 - Heritability of cooperative behavior in the trust game
AU - Cesarini, David
AU - Dawes, Christopher T.
AU - Fowler, James H.
AU - Johannesson, Magnus
AU - Lichtenstein, Paul
AU - Wallace, Björn
PY - 2008/3/25
Y1 - 2008/3/25
N2 - Although laboratory experiments document cooperative behavior in humans, little is known about the extent to which individual differences in cooperativeness result from genetic and environmental variation. In this article, we report the results of two independently conceived and executed studies of monozygotic and dizygotic twins, one in Sweden and one in the United States. The results from these studies suggest that humans are endowed with genetic variation that influences the decision to invest, and to reciprocate investment, in the classic trust game. Based on these findings, we urge social scientists to take seriously the idea that differences in peer and parental socialization are not the only forces that influence variation in cooperative behavior.
AB - Although laboratory experiments document cooperative behavior in humans, little is known about the extent to which individual differences in cooperativeness result from genetic and environmental variation. In this article, we report the results of two independently conceived and executed studies of monozygotic and dizygotic twins, one in Sweden and one in the United States. The results from these studies suggest that humans are endowed with genetic variation that influences the decision to invest, and to reciprocate investment, in the classic trust game. Based on these findings, we urge social scientists to take seriously the idea that differences in peer and parental socialization are not the only forces that influence variation in cooperative behavior.
KW - Behavioral genetics
KW - Cooperation
KW - Experimental economics
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U2 - 10.1073/pnas.0710069105
DO - 10.1073/pnas.0710069105
M3 - Article
C2 - 18316737
AN - SCOPUS:41649120795
SN - 0027-8424
VL - 105
SP - 3721
EP - 3726
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 - 10
ER -