Qinya Feng

Column: Can Genetics Help Explain Political Behavior? By: Asya Bülbül, ESSGN doctoral candidate at Uppsala universityAll views expressed are those of the author. As political science has matured, it has repeatedly absorbed tools and concepts from neig…

ESSGN doctoral candidate Asya Bülbül reflects on what political scientists can learn from integrating genetics.

Even with so much already written in political science and political theory, sociology and social psychology, the evolving dynamics around trust, immigration, and everything in between remain deeply important and fascinating!

My article also discusses different interpretations of trust:
as a moral value,
as psychological security,
and as cognitive sophistication.

This is a reflection on “what we mean when we talk about trust”.

That said, I also find that, Trust may not have a clear link to value-laden integration related preferences such as language tests (which Sweden will soon require).

The Uncomfortable Truths About Immigration On highbrow pro-immigration misinformation & what the elites don’t want you to know

This in a way echoes a key point in Kustov’s thought provoking and rich post: humanitarian oriented frames like “Immigration is about helping the vulnerable” could be misleading and ineffective.

open.substack.com/pub/alexande...

Therefore, a pro-immigration stance seems tied less to willingness to help others in need.

Rather, pro-immigration is perhaps more about the willingness to accept some vulnerability, and give the benefit of the doubt.

Both trust and prosociality correlate with approval for more open immigration policies, but

– Only trust remains strong once accounting for family confounding.

– Neither rank-based SES nor sector level non-EU employee proportion appears to moderate the trust–attitude link.

Glad that my article is finally out in Political Studies!

In it, I examine generalised trust as a source of immigration policy preferences, distinguishing it from prosociality, with Swedish twin data.
The main points👇

New paper out! Working with geospatial data is cool.

Liberal support can be selective when values clash: when elites frame liberal values as conflicting, citizens can trade off between these values.
In this case, gender equality > Iiberal immigration inclusion, producing policy preferences that appear illiberal and exclusive.

An extraordinary paragraph. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Abstract According to intergroup contact theory, meaningful interactions between members of different social identity groups can lead to decreases in prejudice. However, the literature on intergroup contact has generally emphasized contact-based interventions that involve positive contact experiences in highly controlled environments like research laboratories or classrooms, or infrequent intimate intergroup contact experiences, like intergroup friendships. In this Perspective, we review the literature on how intergroup contact manifests in everyday settings, which challenges established views that contact is readily available, positive and leads to consistently positive within-person changes. We describe how variations in contact valence and environmental affordances for self-selection influence individual- and macro-level segregation dynamics, which create conditions for stable trajectories of contact and intergroup bias, or contact habits. We then propose a habit–rupture model of contact, according to which changes in intergroup relations through lifespan and macro-level disruptions act as ruptures, leading to the development of new contact habits. Considering contact and its effects through a habit and rupture lens identifies realistic and ecologically valid opportunities to apply intergroup contact in the service of the social good.

New work by Stefania Paolini & Patrick Kotzur (@durhampsych.bsky.social) and international team proposes a rupture-habit model to make sense of emerging findings in everyday intergroup contact.

Paywall: doi.org/10.1038/s441...

Free Access Link: trebuchet.public.springernature.app/get_content/...

For more context, see also the @nature.com News & Views article about this work, where I unpack what it means when genetic risk for psychiatric disorders overlaps with normal-range traits, including some positive associations with education-related outcomes: rdcu.be/eT4U7

Genuinely generous and free research environment! Apply!!!

Stay tuned for years of exploration into how genes 🧬 and social environments jointly explain inequality and individual differences! With a UNIVERSE 🤯 of data and collaborations!!!

Genome-wide association study on longitudinal and cross-sectional traits of child health and development in a Japanese population Understanding the influence of both genetics and environment on human health, especially early in life, is essential for shaping long-term health. Here, we utilize a nationwide prospective birth cohor...

MASSIVE Japanese genetics of child health and development study: www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...

Maybe the 1st study to show gene(PGI)–environment interaction in political participation? Using unique Swedish data, Oskar finds that high-SES & politically active families and early life neighbourhoods can weaken genetic influences on voting.

Embryo selection based on polygenic prediction risks reinforcing social inequality The rise of companies offering embryo selection based on genetic testing has triggered heated debate about ethical acceptability, as well as the accuracy and scientific validity of these techniques. W...

There’s a new kid in town!

Companies are now selling IVF and embryo selection based on genetic testing for traits related to health and even intelligence.

We outline methodological and ethical concerns, and warn against risks for social inequality.

With the fantastic @gaiaghirardi.bsky.social

Genetic associations with educational fields - Nature Genetics Genome-wide analyses of 10 educational fields identify 17 associated loci. Analysis of genetic clustering across specializations identifies two key dimensions that show genetic overlap with personalit...

1/ 🚨New paper in Nature Genetics

Genetic factors are associated with the educational fields people study, from arts to engineering.

Article: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
FAQ: www.thehastingscenter.org/genomic-find...

BJPolS sbstract from a paper discussing the impact of diversity quotas in schools on national cohesion and identity, using Kenya's expanded diversity quota policy as a case study.

NEW -

Can Student Body Diversity Foster Inter-ethnic Trust, Tolerance, and National Identification Prioritization? The Role of Friendship in Kenya - https://cup.org/3LaSCCl

- Jaimie Bleck, Robert Dowd, @daniceguzman.bsky.social, John Mugo & Jackline Oluoch-Aridi

#OpenAccess

We built the openESM database:
▶️60 openly available experience sampling datasets (16K+ participants, 740K+ obs.) in one place
▶️Harmonized (meta-)data, fully open-source software
▶️Filter & search all data, simply download via R/Python

Find out more:
🌐 openesmdata.org
📝 doi.org/10.31234/osf...

After the 5th defence&party attended this year: what are the odds in life, how marvellous to see our explorations on digital transformation, Polish diaspora policy, Swedish twins and trust, climate change and fish, sex in willows, face the world alongside brilliant friends. No straight road behind🥂

The overlapping genetic architecture of psychiatric disorders and cortical brain structure - Nature Mental Health This study highlights sex differences in major depressive disorder using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. Findings suggest hormonal fluctuations influence onset, emphasizing the ne...

💥🧠🧬Finally out!! Our new paper on the overlapping genetic basis of brain structures and psychiatric disorders has been published in Nature Mental Health. The full list of shared genetic loci is also available online. Thank you so much, Aaron and all co-authors.
www.nature.com/articles/s44...

NEW RELEASE

@alisongopnik.bsky.social, leader of CASBS's Social Science of Caregiving project, edits the new issue of Dædalus w/ @mlevi.bsky.social & Zachary Ugolnik

16 essays rethink the philosophical, psychological, biological, political & economic foundations of care

OPEN ACCESS bit.ly/3Qm49ha

Comparing the value of perceived human versus AI-generated empathy - Nature Human Behaviour AI mimics empathy well, but does its empathy feel different? The authors show human empathy has unique value: human-attributed responses are rated as more empathic than AI-attributed ones, especially ...

In this study, @anatperry.bsky.social @desmond-ong.bsky.social et al show that human-attributed responses are rated as more empathic than AI-attributed ones, especially when conveying shared experience and care.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🥹🤓