According to a new study published in Nature, non-cognitive skills (such as curiosity, motivation, persistence, determination, self-control, growth mindset...) represent more than half of the overall genetic influence on educational attainment and obtaining better jobs and higher incomes.
Specifically, the study identified 157 significant genome-wide loci and a polygenic architecture that accounts for 57% of the genetic variance in educational attainment.
genetic architecture of traits
According to the study cited, the non-cognitive genetics was enriched in the same brain tissues and cell types as cognitive performance, but showed different associations with brain gray matter volumes.
Overall, the genetics of non-cognitive abilities were associated with greater risk tolerance, greater willingness to forego immediate gratification, less risky health behavior, and a delay in fertility.
The researchers also observed that the genetics of non-cognitive skills were associated with a constellation of personality traits linked to success in relationships and at work, such as being curious and eager to learn, being more emotionally stable, and being more hardworking and tidy.
The genetics of noncognitive skills that were associated with educational attainment were also related to an increased risk of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and anorexia nervosa.
The research provides evidence for the idea that inheriting genes that affect things other than cognitive ability is important for understanding differences in people's life outcomes.
GWAS
The researchers applied a new statistical method to develop an understanding of the essence of non-cognitive abilities and how genetic correlations with non-cognitive abilities diverged from genetic correlations with cognitive abilities, as measured by standardized IQ tests: genome-wide association (GWAS) of educational achievement.
In the GWAS, samples are taken from all people and all their DNA is examined in search of something that is a match in all of them. This coincidence does not necessarily tell us something about the ultimate cause, but rather that there is a common genetic characteristic that could provide the trait.
The first GWAS Was published very recently, 2005, after scanning the genome of 93 people who suffered from a retinal disease. On paper, GWAS seems like an elegant solution, but the problem is that the amount of data is overwhelming. For example, simply to look for genes related to height, an examination of 183,727 different people was carried out. The study required the participation of 280 authors. The results They appeared published in Nature in 2010, suggesting that hundreds of genetic variants were involved in height alone, and furthermore those variants only explained 10 percent of the differences in height.
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The news
The 57% of total genetic influence on educational and occupational achievement has nothing to do with cognitive abilities
was originally published in
Xataka Science
by
Sergio Parra
.