Francis Galton on twins, heredity and social class

2001 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 323-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
DAVID BURBRIDGE
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Social Mobility ◽  
Life Experiences ◽  
Monozygotic Twins ◽  
Twin Studies ◽  
Relative Strength ◽  
Modern Concept ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Francis Galton

In 1875 Francis Galton was the first to study twins as a test of the relative strength of heredity and environment. This paper examines Galton's work on twins, using his surviving working papers. It shows that his enquiry was larger and more systematic than previously realized. Galton issued several hundred questionnaires to parents of twins, with the aim of establishing how far the similarities and differences between twins were affected by their life experiences. The paper also discusses Galton's study in relation to his understanding of the physiology of twinning and his theory of heredity. The modern concept of monozygotic twins had not yet been established, and the similarity between Galton's work and modern twin studies should not be overstated. While Galton's work was important as a pioneering study, in some respects his conclusions went beyond his evidence. The paper finally examines whether Galton's twin studies influenced his position on the links between social class, heredity and social mobility, and surveys the evidence for his views on these issues.

scholarly journals Re-Imagining Social Mobility: The Role of Relationality, Social Class and Place in Qualitative Constructions of Mobility

2021 ◽  
pp. 136078042098512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Folkes
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Working Class ◽  
Social Mobility ◽  
Educational Achievement ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Ontological Security ◽  
Occupational Position ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Key Techniques ◽  
Class Community

Discussions around social mobility have increasingly gained traction in both political and academic circles in the last two decades. The current, established conceptualisation of social mobility reduces ‘success’ down to individual level of educational achievement, occupational position and income, focusing on the successful few who rise up and move out. For many in working-class communities, this discourse is undesirable or antithetical to everyday life. Drawing upon 13 interviews with 9 families collected as part of an ethnographic study, this article asks, ‘how were social (im)mobility narratives and notions of value constructed by residents of one working-class community?’ Its findings highlight how alternative narratives of social (im)mobility were constructed; emphasising the value of fixity, anchorage, and relationality. Three key techniques were used by participants when constructing social (im)mobility narratives: the born and bred narrative; distancing from education as a route to mobility; and the construction of a distinct working-class discourse of fulfilment. Participants highlighted the value of anchorage to place and kinship, where fulfilment results from finding ontological security. The findings demonstrate that residents of a working-class community constructed alternative social mobility narratives using a relational selfhood model that held local value. This article makes important contributions to the theorisation of social mobility in which it might be understood as a collective rather than individual endeavour, improving entire communities that seek ontological security instead of social class movement and dislocation.

Pathways to Social Class: A Qualitative Approach to Social Mobility.

Social Forces ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 1549
Author(s):  
Charles E. Hurst ◽  
Daniel Bertaux ◽  
Paul Thompson ◽  
Rudolf Andorka ◽  
Iabelle Bertaux-Wiame ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Social Mobility ◽  
Qualitative Approach ◽  
Class A

scholarly journals My Sister, Our Stories: Exploring the Lived Experience of School Leavers through Narrative and Poetics

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Davis ◽  
Jennifer Pepperell
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Adult Female ◽  
Narrative Analysis ◽  
Life Experiences ◽  
Educational Experiences ◽  
Sibling Relationship

The purpose of this study was to explore the educational experiences of two adult female siblings who are both school leavers. Through the use of thematic narrative analysis, sibling narratives and poetic re-presentations, their stories were developed. These stories represent the participants’ experiences of prior schooling and their current commitments to education. While each story conveyed a profound similarity in terms of prior schooling, contrasting narratives were illustrated through description of transitional moments and sibling relationship. The analysis also explored the intersections of race, gender, and social class within educative moments of the life experiences of the participants.

Being Privileged Overseas: Taiwanese People in Jakarta (海外優勢移民：雅加達的台灣人)

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-231
Author(s):  
Ping Lin (林平)
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Study ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
International Migration ◽  
Social Mobility ◽  
Life Experiences ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Overseas Chinese ◽  
Taiwanese People ◽  
Firm Relocation

During the 1980s, many Taiwanese firms moved to the prc or Southeast Asia due to rising production costs in Taiwan. This trend of firm relocation caused many Taiwanese people to move to the prc or Southeast Asia as entrepreneurs, firm managers, or accompanying family members. While many studies have explored the experiences of Taiwanese immigrants in the prc, studies on the lives of Taiwanese people in Southeast Asia are still limited. This pilot study is based on my fieldwork in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2015. Through conducting 24 interviews and participant observation of Taiwanese people affiliated with the Jakarta Taipei School (hereinafter jts), I argue that a certain number of Taiwanese people live their lives as ‘privileged migrants’ in Jakarta as most respondents lead a life that is of significantly higher quality than most locals. Those who marry rich Sino-Indonesians are accorded a status higher than what was available to them in Taiwan. Their life experiences show the intertwining relationship between international migration and social mobility. While some studies have suggested the importance of ethnic affinity in the process of integration, respondents’ complicated perception on the native Indonesians and Sino-Indonesians predicts that more studies on the issue of ethnicity in the field of privileged migration and overseas Chinese are necessary. 由於生產成本上升，台灣很多勞力密集產業自1980年代起便遷往中國大陸或東南亞地區。這樣的產業遷移吸引不少台灣人以企業經營者、高階管理人，或隨行家屬的身分前往相關國家。當不少研究關注移居中國大陸的台灣人時，關於台灣人在東南亞生活現狀的討論卻是非常有限。這份研究是以筆者2015年在雅加達針台北學校進行田野調查的資料為基礎，經過初步分析之後完成。藉由對24位受訪者進行訪談及參與觀察，筆者認為不少台灣人在當地享有相當優渥的生活。與當地華人通婚的受訪者，更擁有在台灣無法獲得的生活條件與發展機會。這些受訪者的遷移經驗顯示，社會階層的向上流動是有可能與地理邊界的跨國流動發生連結。此外，受訪者對印尼華人與印尼原住民的不同反應，更顯示族群因素依然是優勢移民及海外華人研究的重要議題。 (This article is in English.)

Theories Reflecting My Personal Experience and Life Development

1989 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 351-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clayton P. Alderfer
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Personal Experience ◽  
Life Experiences ◽  
Historical Period ◽  
Developmental Tasks ◽  
Life Stages ◽  
Human Motivation ◽  
Similarities And Differences

Social science theories are expressive acts by their authors, and thus reflect their authors' life experiences and developmental tasks. Maslow's theory of human motivation and Alderfer's conception of existence, relatedness, and growth (ERG) needs are frameworks accounting for the same phenomena. An alternative to Maslow's formulation, ERG theory was presented during a later historical period than its predecessor, and at an earlier stage of its author's life. In this autobiographical account, the author describes his childhood and adolescent origins and the events that led him to formulate ERG theory, examines the life stages at which he and Maslow developed their theories, and discusses how aspects of the authors' lives might account for similarities and differences in their conceptual products.

Higher Education, Social Class and Social Mobility

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann-Marie Bathmaker ◽  
Nicola Ingram ◽  
Jessie Abrahams ◽  
Anthony Hoare ◽  
Richard Waller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Class ◽  
Social Mobility

How Many Classes Are There?

Uneven Odds ◽  
2018 ◽  
pp. 96-120
Author(s):  
Divya Vaid
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Social Mobility ◽  
Objective Measure ◽  
Social Position ◽  
Indian Society ◽  
Indian Context ◽  
Specific Focus ◽  
Intergenerational Change ◽  
Definition Of

To examine the elements of social mobility, especially the intergenerational change in social position, requires the establishment of an appropriate schema that captures social class position across generations. This chapter summarizes the major debates surrounding the definition of social class, with a specific focus on class in the Indian context. So far there is little consistent effort to map the possible classes in Indian society. This chapter discusses the conceptualisation of class and its operationalisation in terms of a class schema. The focus is on a possible ‘objective’ measure of class in the Indian context.

scholarly journals The Association Between Somatic Health, Autism Spectrum Disorder, and Autistic Traits

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 233-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pei-Yin Pan ◽  
Kristiina Tammimies ◽  
Sven Bölte
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Twin Pair ◽  
Monozygotic Twins ◽  
Twin Studies ◽  
Autistic Traits ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Social Responsiveness ◽  
Somatic Health ◽  
Validated Questionnaire

AbstractThis study used a twin cohort to investigate the association of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and autistic traits with somatic health. A total of 344 twins (172 pairs; mean age 15.56 ± 5.62 years) enriched for ASD and other neurodevelopmental conditions were examined. Medical history and current physical problems were collected with a validated questionnaire to determine twin’s somatic health. The Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS-2) was used to measure the participant’s severity of autistic traits. Identified somatic health issues with significant within-twin pair differences were tested in relation to both ASD diagnosis and autistic traits in a co-twin control model. Twins with ASD exhibited more neurological and immunological health problems compared to those without ASD (p = 0.005 and p = 0.004, respectively). The intra-pair differences of neurological conditions and SRS-2 score were significantly correlated in monozygotic twins differing for autism traits (r = 0.40, p = 0.001), while the correlation was not found for immunological problems. In addition, a conditional model for analysis of within-twin pair effects revealed an association between neurological problems and clinical ASD diagnosis (Odds ratio per neurological problem 3.15, p = 0.02), as well as autistic traits (β = 10.44, p = 0.006), after adjusting for possible effects of co-existing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and general intellectual abilities. Our findings suggest that neurological problems are associated with autism, and that non-shared environmental factors contribute to the overlap for both clinical ASD and autistic traits. Further population-based twin studies are warranted to validate our results and examine in detailed the shared genetic and environmental contributions of neurological problems and ASD.

scholarly journals Life-course socioeconomic differences and social mobility in preventable and non-preventable mortality: a study of Swedish twins

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (5) ◽  
pp. 1701-1709 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malin Ericsson ◽  
Nancy L Pedersen ◽  
Anna L V Johansson ◽  
Stefan Fors ◽  
Anna K Dahl Aslan
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Social Class ◽  
Cause Of Death ◽  
Social Mobility ◽  
Low Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Causes Of Death ◽  
Life Time ◽  
Socioeconomic Differences ◽  
Low Socioeconomic ◽  
Preventable Mortality

Abstract Background Despite advances in life expectancy, low socioeconomic status is associated with a shorter lifespan. This study was conducted to investigate socioeconomic differences in mortality by comparing preventable with non-preventable causes of death in 39 506 participants from the Swedish Twin Registry born before 1935. Methods Childhood social class, own education, own social class and social mobility were used as separate indicators of socioeconomic status. These data were linked to the Swedish Cause of Death Register. Cause of death was categorized as preventable or non-preventable mortality according to indicators presented in the Avoidable Mortality in the European Union (AMIEHS) atlas. Using Cox proportional hazard models, we tested the association between the socioeconomic measures and all-cause mortality, preventable mortality and non-preventable mortality. Additional co-twin control analyses indicated whether the associations reflected genetic confounding. Results The social gradient for mortality was most prominent for the adult socioeconomic measures. There was a social gradient in both preventable mortality and non-preventable mortality, but with an indication of a moderately stronger effect in preventable causes of death. In analyses of social mobility, those who experienced life-time low socioeconomic status (SES) or downward social mobility had an increased mortality risk compared with those with life-time high SES and upward social mobility. Adjustments for genetic confounding did not change the observed associations for education, social class or social mobility and mortality. In the co-twin control analyses of reared-apart twins, the association between childhood social class and mortality weakened, indicating possible genetic influences on this association. Conclusions Our results indicate that there is an association between low adult socioeconomic status and increased mortality independent of genetic endowment. Thus, we do not find support for indirect social selection as the basis for mortality inequalities in Sweden

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