# Any evidence that caste systems produced genetically selected personality traits?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-evidence-that-caste-systems-produced-genetically-selected-personality-traits/653704
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [March 23, 2013, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-evidence-that-caste-systems-produced-genetically-selected-personality-traits/653704 "2013-03-23T01:42:06Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [March 27, 2013, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-evidence-that-caste-systems-produced-genetically-selected-personality-traits/653704/21 "2013-03-27T16:14:56Z")
> [@Inbred\_Mm\_domesticus](#):
>
> Just out of curiosity, what are you imagining when you use the term “genetically determined”?
😕 You know, in the sense that your eye color is genetically determined.
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### Author:  [@Chen019](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chen019)
#### Post date: [March 27, 2013, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-evidence-that-caste-systems-produced-genetically-selected-personality-traits/653704/22 "2013-03-27T22:31:21Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#):
>
> Waitaminnit, you seem to be assuming those frontal lobes themselves are shaped primarily by heredity rather than environment. On what basis?
On the basis of what the author of the study says in the article. I’m at work and don’t have time to locate the full paper to assess her comments atm.
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### Author:  [@Inbred\_Mm\_domesticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inbred_Mm_domesticus)
#### Post date: [March 27, 2013, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-evidence-that-caste-systems-produced-genetically-selected-personality-traits/653704/23 "2013-03-27T23:27:53Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#):
>
> 😕 You know, in the sense that your eye color is genetically determined.
Okay, I just wanted to be sure. There is not any behavioral trait that is genetically determined in the way you are referring to eye color. Some mental diseases certainly are like Down Syndrome or Fragile X or Rett Syndrome.
Of the two sets of examples you listed in the post I originally quoted, you have it backwards. There is very little evidence that homosexuality has any genetic factors at all, much less genetically determined in the way of eye color.
Personality traits, on the other hand, show some of the highest heritabilities across several populations. Additionally, there are many examples of molecular genetic studies linking variability in personality traits to variation is genes and genetic markers.
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