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Born to lead? A twin design and genetic association study of leadership role occupancy

De Neve, Jan-Emmanuel, Mikhaylov, Slava, Dawes, Christopher T., Christakis, Nicholas A. and Fowler, James H. (2013) Born to lead? A twin design and genetic association study of leadership role occupancy. Leadership Quarterly, 24 (1). pp. 45-60. ISSN 1048-9843

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Identification Number: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2012.08.001

Abstract

We address leadership emergence and the possibility that there is a partially innate predisposition to occupy a leadership role. Employing twin design methods on data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we estimate the heritability of leadership role occupancy at 24%. Twin studies do not point to specific genes or neurological processes that might be involved. We therefore also conduct association analysis on the available genetic markers. The results show that leadership role occupancy is associated with rs4950, a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) residing on a neuronal acetylcholine receptor gene (CHRNB3). We replicate this family-based genetic association result on an independent sample in the Framingham Heart Study. This is the first study to identify a specific genotype associated with the tendency to occupy a leadership position. The results suggest that what determines whether an individual occupies a leadership position is the complex product of genetic and environmental influences, with a particular role for rs4950.

Item Type: Article
Official URL: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/the-leadership-qu...
Additional Information: © 2012 Elsevier Inc.
Divisions: Centre for Economic Performance
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman
Q Science > QH Natural history > QH426 Genetics
Date Deposited: 02 Sep 2014 10:55
Last Modified: 02 Oct 2024 02:33
Projects: Add Health
Funders: National Institute on Aging (grant P-01 AG-031093), National Science Foundation (grant SES-0719404)
URI: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/59334

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