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Age Changes in the Causes of Individual Differences in Conservatism

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Abstract

Age-related changes are analyzed in the correlation of 3416 monozygotic and 3780 dizygotic U.S. twin pairs aged between 9 and 75+ years for conservatism scores derived from a 28-item social attitude inventory. The effects of the shared environment are overwhelming in twins aged 20 years or younger. In older twins, genetic effects appear to play a larger role. A more dynamic conception of the interaction between genes and environment in the development of complex human differences is needed.

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Correspondence to Nicholas Martin.

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Eaves, L., Martin, N., Heath, A. et al. Age Changes in the Causes of Individual Differences in Conservatism. Behav Genet 27, 121–124 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025633307992

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025633307992

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