Genetics and sector of employment

Abstract

In this twin study we show that the penchant for a particular sector of employment has a genetic element: monozygotic twins evidencing a greater similarity of sector choice than dizygotic twins. The findings provide interesting evidence of a genetic basis for the choice to track together into the same sector. The effect sizes, though relatively small, raise the practice-based possibilities that management- or nurture-based approaches might be complemented with nature-based applications of recruitment and selection. Thus, while the research on public employee attraction, selection and attrition focuses nearly exclusively on managerial and behavioral approaches, our findings invite researchers to explore genetic aspects of public service attraction as a complementary approach.

Disclosure statement

The authors of this article have no competing financial interests.

Data availability

Data for this article are available through the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS).

Notes on contributors

Robert K. Christensen is professor of public management in the George W. Romney Institute of Public Service and Ethics at Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management. His research focuses on prosocial and antisocial motivations and behaviors in the public and nonprofit sectors. Christensen is a research fellow at Arizona State University’s Center for Organization Research & Design and a co-researcher at Seoul National University’s Center for Government Competitiveness. He is co-editor of Wiley’s Handbook of Public Administration and the Cambridge University Press book series Public and Nonprofit Elements. More at rkchristensen.com

Andy Whitford is the Alexander M. Crenshaw Professor of Public Policy in the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Georgia. His research concentrates on strategy and innovation in public policy and organization studies. He is co-editor of the Cambridge University Press book series Public and Nonprofit Elements. His website is andrewwhitford.com.

Kuk-Kyoung Moon is assistant professor in the Department of Public Administration, Inha University, Incheon, Korea. His research interests include public organization theory, human resource management, and performance management.

Notes

1 Our approach of comparing same-sex, DZ and MZ pairs is not unlike other work, e.g, McClearn, Gerald E., Boo Johansson, Stig Berg, Nancy L. Pedersen, Frank Ahern, Stephen A. Petrill, and Robert Plomin. 1997. “Substantial genetic influence on cognitive abilities in twins 80 or more years old.” Science 276 (5318): 1560-1563.

Additional information

Funding

Dr. Christensen’s role in this research is supported by National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2014S1A3A2044898)