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Cultural evolution may influence heritability by shaping assortative mating

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 September 2022

Tian Chen Zeng  and
Joseph Henrich
Tian Chen Zeng
Affiliation:
Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. tianchen_zeng@g.harvard.edu joseph.henrich@gmail.com
Joseph Henrich
Affiliation:
Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. tianchen_zeng@g.harvard.edu joseph.henrich@gmail.com
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Abstract

Uchiyama et al. productively discuss how culture can influence genetic heritability and, by modifying environmental conditions, limit the generalizability of genome-wide association studies (GWASs). Here, we supplement their account by highlighting how recent changes in culture and institutions in industrialized, westernized societies – such as increased female workforce participation – may have increased assortative mating. This alters the distribution of genotypes themselves, increasing heritability and phenotypic variance, and may be detectable using the latest methods.

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Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 45 , 2022 , e181
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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