IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/sagope/v5y2015i2p2158244015573352.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Enlisting in the Military

Author

Listed:
  • Kevin M. Beaver
  • J. C. Barnes
  • Joseph A. Schwartz
  • Brian B. Boutwell

Abstract

Given that enlistment in the U.S. military is completely voluntary, there has been a great deal of interest in identifying the various factors that might explain why some people join the military, whereas others do not. The current study expanded on this line of literature by estimating the extent to which genetic and environmental factors explained variance in the liability for lifetime participation in the military. Analysis of twin pairs drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) revealed that 82% of the variance was the result of genetic factors, 18% of the variance was the result of nonshared environmental factors, and none of the variance was accounted for by shared environmental factors. In light of a number of limitations, replication studies are needed to determine the robustness of these findings and whether they are generalizable to other samples and populations.

Suggested Citation

  • Kevin M. Beaver & J. C. Barnes & Joseph A. Schwartz & Brian B. Boutwell, 2015. "Enlisting in the Military," SAGE Open, , vol. 5(2), pages 21582440155, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:5:y:2015:i:2:p:2158244015573352
    DOI: 10.1177/2158244015573352
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2158244015573352
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/2158244015573352?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Barnes, J.C. & Boutwell, Brian B. & Beaver, Kevin M. & Gibson, Chris L. & Wright, John P., 2014. "On the consequences of ignoring genetic influences in criminological research," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 42(6), pages 471-482.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jackson, Dylan B., 2016. "The link between poor quality nutrition and childhood antisocial behavior: A genetically informative analysis," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 13-20.
    2. Hoeben, Evelien M. & Meldrum, Ryan C. & Walker, D'Andre & Young, Jacob T.N., 2016. "The role of peer delinquency and unstructured socializing in explaining delinquency and substance use: A state-of-the-art review," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 108-122.
    3. Posick, Chad & Gould, Laurie A., 2015. "On the general relationship between victimization and offending: Examining cultural contingencies," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 195-204.
    4. Boutwell, Brian B. & Meldrum, Ryan C. & Petkovsek, Melissa A., 2017. "General intelligence in friendship selection: A study of preadolescent best friend dyads," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 30-35.
    5. Kavish, Nicholas & Helton, Jesse & Vaughn, Michael G. & Boutwell, Brian B., 2020. "The association of externalizing and internalizing problems with indicators of intelligence in a sample of at-risk children," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    6. Schwartz, Joseph A., 2017. "Long-term physical health consequences of perceived inequality: Results from a twin comparison design," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 184-192.
    7. Nedelec, Joseph L. & Park, Insun & Silver, Ian A., 2016. "The effect of the maturity gap on delinquency and drug use over the life course: A genetically sensitive longitudinal design," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 84-99.
    8. McNeeley, Susan & Meldrum, Ryan Charles & Hoskin, Anthony W., 2018. "Low self-control and the adoption of street code values among young adults," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 118-126.
    9. Bunch, Jackson M. & Iratzoqui, Amaia & Watts, Stephen J., 2018. "Child abuse, self-control, and delinquency: A general strain perspective," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 20-28.
    10. Botchkovar, Ekaterina & Marshall, Ineke Haen & Rocque, Michael & Posick, Chad, 2015. "The Importance of Parenting in the Development of Self-Control in Boys and Girls: Results from a Multinational Study of Youth," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 133-141.
    11. DeLisi, Matt & Vaughn, Michael G., 2015. "Ingredients for Criminality Require Genes, Temperament, and Psychopathic Personality," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 43(4), pages 290-294.
    12. Fox, Bryanna, 2017. "It's nature and nurture: Integrating biology and genetics into the social learning theory of criminal behavior," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 22-31.
    13. Boutwell, Brian B. & Connolly, Eric J. & Barbaro, Nicole & Shackelford, Todd K. & Petkovsek, Melissa & Beaver, Kevin M., 2017. "On the genetic and environmental reasons why intelligence correlates with criminal victimization," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 155-166.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:5:y:2015:i:2:p:2158244015573352. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.