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Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A October 2014 PMID 25288728

The high heritability of educational achievement reflects many genetically influenced traits, not just intelligence.

Eva Krapohl, Kaili Rimfeld, Nicholas G Shakeshaft, Maciej Trzaskowski, Andrew McMillan, Jean-Baptiste Pingault, Kathryn Asbury, Nicole Harlaar, Yulia Kovas, Philip S Dale, Robert Plomin

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Mentions

130
Peak: 9 in Jan 2020
across 6 sources since Jan 2019

Extended reach

1,004,707
potential audience

Total likes

366

Video views

4,346

Mentions per month

Jan 2019 – Jul 2025

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AI synopsis

What people are saying

The collection of posts exhibits strong agreement with the research, highlighting the multifaceted genetic influences on educational achievement beyond just IQ, using tone and references such as 'obvious,' 'demonstrates,' and citing specific studies like Krapohl et al. (2014). Participants actively analyze how multiple traits contribute to success, demonstrating high interest and engagement, which underscores the potential impact on educational and social policy debates.

AgreementStrong agreement

Most discussions agree strongly with the idea that educational achievement has a significant genetic component influenced by various traits beyond intelligence.

InterestHigh interest

Participants are highly engaged with the topic, discussing nuanced factors like personality, self-efficacy, and the heritability of traits related to learning and success.

EngagementHigh engagement

The conversations involve detailed references to specific studies, interpretations of genetic influence, and debates about the implications of the findings, showing deep engagement.

ImpactHigh impact

These discussions have substantial implications for understanding education, genetics, and social equality, indicating high perceived impact.

Abstract in brief

  • The high heritability of educational achievement is influenced by a variety of genetically affected traits, including intelligence, personality, self-efficacy, and behavior, rather than just intelligence alone.
  • The study, based on UK twins and GCSE exam results, found that while intelligence explains a significant part of the heritability, other psychological factors collectively contribute nearly as much to educational success through genetic links.
  • Overall, about 75% of the heritability of GCSE scores can be explained by a combination of intelligence and these other genetically influenced traits, highlighting the complex genetic factors behind educational achievement.
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Top posts

Most liked on X and Bluesky
Inquisitive Bird
@Scientific_Bird · X

Psychological and behavioral correlates with educational success (GCSE results): ● Intelligence (.58) ● Self-efficacy (.49) ● Personality (.28) ● Well-being (.26) ● Behavior problems (parent & child-reported, .33 & .25) Source (suppl. table S4): https://t.co/9yRT4hnl5p https://t.co/SomatTz7vl

Jan 7, 2020 · 55 likes · 9 shares · 25,951 followers View post →
Crémieux
@cremieuxrecueil · X

@chandachisala @wil_da_beast630 You make too many arguments that aren't necessary. One-by-one: 1. GCSEs contain large portions of noncognitive variance (Krapohl et al., 2014; https://t.co/I5uD1CIpst). Anything involving coursework virtually-necessarily will. This is just always observed and it's why you see

Dec 29, 2023 · 35 likes · 279,702 followers View post →
BostonTea
@BostonTea84 · X

Źródła: https://t.co/yFpjFYBrmr https://t.co/eqfXLK2bHz https://t.co/VmRpsUSCWY

Dec 15, 2022 · 17 likes · 2 shares · 72,452 followers View post →
Russell T. Warne
@Russwarne · X

Typical finding is that academic achievement is 40-65% heritable. Plus, most traits that influence school outcomes are themselves genetically influenced. #education #edutwitter #psychology Image from Krapohl et al., 2017, p. 15274. https://t.co/qhfnq9w0ve https://t.co/iJNo6qlp5g

Apr 7, 2019 · 11 likes · 1 share · 7,774 followers View post →
BostonTea
@BostonTea84 · X

Źródło: https://t.co/VmRpsVaely

Aug 21, 2022 · 6 likes · 72,452 followers View post →
Carsten Grötzinger
@c_groetzinger · X

@titiatscriptor @Marius_Raabe Diese PNAS-Arbeit von 2014 kommt auf 75% erblicher Komponente für den Bildungserfolg, wenn man nicht nur Intelligenz, sondern auch Persönlichkeit und Psychopathologie als Einflussfaktoren berücksichtigt. https://t.co/SOqVIw4Mdz https://t.co/57iXDgKyoV

Apr 18, 2023 · 6 likes · 2,387 followers View post →

All mentions

Nurcan Cakan
@Science_Diskurs · X

RT @MartinFieder: @FreudlBenjamin Sehr gerne - zur persistenz von sozialen Status Landmark paper von gregory clark : https://t.co/G1drEu7KI…

Jul 30, 2025 · 1 share · 695 followers View post →
Martin Fieder
@MartinFieder · X

@FreudlBenjamin Sehr gerne - zur persistenz von sozialen Status Landmark paper von gregory clark : https://t.co/G1drEu7KIC Buch zum Thema https://t.co/bBgUTIFcj2 Ergänzung in nature https://t.co/QP1qUKSQRp Über die genetische vererblichkeit von Bildung generell https://t.co/8piOT3LAUp

Jul 30, 2025 · 4 likes · 1 share · 5,105 followers View post →
PaulaGhete
@PaulaGhete · X

The Study: 'The high heritability of educational achievement reflects many genetically influenced traits, not just intelligence' Eva Krapohl et al. (2014) https://t.co/uaXzl4Pohp

Apr 23, 2025 · 2,045 followers View post →
Against Narrative
@3RenChengHu · X

@JoshuaSheats @charlesmurray It's not just IQ, though. This paper is about educational achievement, not income, but it finds that IQ alone does not explain the heritability of educational achievement. https://t.co/zkVKU8NWwd

Mar 9, 2025 · 540 followers View post →
Jirka Blahút
@BlahutJirka · X

@PetrHuml100 @joysterado @KohoutPavel @dusek_libor @JBierhanzl Ani ne, resp. ne v takovém měřítku jakým si mnoho lidí představuje. IQ testy jsou stále psychologickým testy. Zjednodušeně řečeno IQ je pouze ukazatel dovedností vůči průměru a není silná korelace mezi dosaženým vzděláním a schopností ho aplikovat. https://t.co/Hw20tsUmdU

Aug 28, 2024 · 30 followers View post →
Gran Darf
@DG56695 · X

@JCamimille @JFGariepy Here's one for academic success, which disproves your claims about IQ and SATs. Just reading should clue you in about how clueless you are on the topic, but I'm not holding my breath, I doubt you're capable of going through it and understanding it. https://t.co/ErEuzft9e5

Aug 26, 2024 · 42 followers View post →
Mazking
@TheKingMaz · X

@TrimalchioWN @EVROP_AESTHETIC @Mackade11 @GigaBasedDad And we don't have any proof of the smart or dumb gene we know schooling is worse in Africa for obvious reasons. But if we really must go down this route then we have this https://t.co/iU6Sxox3yg https://t.co/OdtGiapTsp

May 15, 2024 · 84 followers View post →
Roko
@RokoMijic · X

@dave_alive see, e.g.: https://t.co/mvgoGPp8XY

Feb 27, 2024 · 21,867 followers View post →
Crémieux
@cremieuxrecueil · X

@Asus9143 @i_forklift @whstancil https://t.co/I5uD1CIpst

Jan 26, 2024 · 1 like · 279,702 followers View post →
Michael Mindrum, MD
@MichaelMindrum · X

RT @G_S_Bhogal: @Alamankarazieff Intelligence, discipline, motivation, etc are all highly heritable. https://t.co/TekwbkMOVt

Jan 14, 2024 · 1 share · 10,060 followers View post →
Gurwinder
@G_S_Bhogal · X

@Alamankarazieff Intelligence, discipline, motivation, etc are all highly heritable. https://t.co/TekwbkMOVt

Jan 14, 2024 · 4 likes · 1 share · 148,195 followers View post →
Crémieux
@cremieuxrecueil · X

@chandachisala @wil_da_beast630 You make too many arguments that aren't necessary. One-by-one: 1. GCSEs contain large portions of noncognitive variance (Krapohl et al., 2014; https://t.co/I5uD1CIpst). Anything involving coursework virtually-necessarily will. This is just always observed and it's why you see

Dec 29, 2023 · 35 likes · 279,702 followers View post →
Stoneval
@stoneval_cp · X

@roman2838 @MWagner1971 @MauriceHoefgen Der massive genetische Einfluss auf die Lernfähigkeit ist offensichtlich, logisch und zur Genüge erforscht. Weil diese Tatsache die Idee der Gleichheit aller Menschen jedoch frontal angreift, reden wir sie gern klein. https://t.co/4LDnBcz20j https://t.co/dJ04aTKtaT

Dec 12, 2023 · 3 likes · 377 followers View post →
Martin Fieder
@MartinFieder · X

@AundWMagazin @Natascha_Strobl https://t.co/8piOT3LAUp

Oct 28, 2023 · 5,105 followers View post →
James' dog.
@WestminsterPup · X

@SashaGusevPosts @charlesmurray Perhaps America is different, but a pretty large twin study in England (n=13,306) found that additive genes explained 62% of the variance in GCSE scores. https://t.co/tutW5zuYUj

Jul 17, 2023 · 4,853 followers View post →
A.D. Mash
@ADMASHBURN · X

@Mb_W2022 @SlugForce @MrDanielBuck https://t.co/jEBd0DTwZO

Jun 30, 2023 · 445 followers View post →
Bob Howard
@BobWhencer · X

@FangOfShigeki @monitoringbias @tbr90 https://t.co/1FclB616Rf

May 25, 2023 · 580 followers View post →
Bob Howard
@BobWhencer · X

@FangOfShigeki @monitoringbias @tbr90 Excellent. I think this is a useful starting point: https://t.co/1FclB616Rf

May 25, 2023 · 580 followers View post →
Carsten Grötzinger
@c_groetzinger · X

@christianbaye13 @BachmannRudi @Woessmann Könnte es andere Faktoren als "das System" geben? https://t.co/SOqVIw4Mdz

Apr 18, 2023 · 2,387 followers View post →
Carsten Grötzinger
@c_groetzinger · X

@titiatscriptor @Marius_Raabe Diese PNAS-Arbeit von 2014 kommt auf 75% erblicher Komponente für den Bildungserfolg, wenn man nicht nur Intelligenz, sondern auch Persönlichkeit und Psychopathologie als Einflussfaktoren berücksichtigt. https://t.co/SOqVIw4Mdz https://t.co/57iXDgKyoV

Apr 18, 2023 · 6 likes · 2,387 followers View post →
Carsten Grötzinger
@c_groetzinger · X

In jedem Falle wäre es im Sinne einer adäquaten Behandlung des Themas angemessen, die Rolle biologischer Faktoren, also die Vererbung von Intelligenz und anderen Merkmalen für den Bildungserfolg nicht auszulassen. 8/8 #BiologyMatters https://t.co/SOqVIw4eo1

Apr 18, 2023 · 5 likes · 2,387 followers View post →
Hieronim Berbelek
@H_Berbelek · X

RT @BostonTea84: Źródła: https://t.co/yFpjFYBrmr https://t.co/eqfXLK2bHz https://t.co/VmRpsUSCWY

Feb 20, 2023 · 2 shares · 135 followers View post →
Anton Musil
@BlkoJa · X

@FPertold A to je nejspíš dáno vysokou dědivostí vzdělání, tedy genetickými predispozicemi. Na tom není nic špatného. https://t.co/3CauwTvGKX

Jan 17, 2023 · 4 likes · 3,776 followers View post →
Erik Dahlin
@realErikDahlin · X

@JUlfshede https://t.co/1vFAVL1ZTa

Jan 15, 2023 · 6,611 followers View post →
M #
@MickF5 · X

RT @BostonTea84: Źródła: https://t.co/yFpjFYBrmr https://t.co/eqfXLK2bHz https://t.co/VmRpsUSCWY

Dec 16, 2022 · 2 shares · 227 followers View post →
BostonTea
@BostonTea84 · X

Źródła: https://t.co/yFpjFYBrmr https://t.co/eqfXLK2bHz https://t.co/VmRpsUSCWY

Dec 15, 2022 · 17 likes · 2 shares · 72,452 followers View post →
Jakob Näslund
@jakob_naslund · X

@dsp6678 @FMannerheim Oh ja. Är trots allt ett gammalt och väl beforskat fält. Tror att den här artikeln ur PNAS kan vara ganska tillgänglig även för en lekman, dels är resultaten i sig spännande och dels verkade man ha varit generösa med referenserna: https://t.co/esFRNDYy2O

Nov 25, 2022 · 431 followers View post →
MΛRIUS
@marius1094 · X

@TutenamunRaea @baumi_das @Thieslange4775 @mr_schommer @Winterbrausen @_juliaschramm Oder hier: https://t.co/vl074aQsyF Der Kanal macht viel zum Thema

Oct 21, 2022 · 3,284 followers View post →
Christian Götz
@ChristianG1984_ · X

@DFatalschakal @KeksKarsten @Hasspfarrer Würde ich nicht so pauschal sagen. Ein erheblicher Teil ist genetisch bedingt. https://t.co/GT5CUZruLe

Aug 29, 2022 · 2 likes · 844 followers View post →
BostonTea
@BostonTea84 · X

Źródło: https://t.co/VmRpsVaely

Aug 21, 2022 · 6 likes · 72,452 followers View post →
Christian Götz
@ChristianG1984_ · X

@MeowZeDingDong @KeksKarsten Eine Verteidigung der Kritik an den beiden vorhergehenden Videos: IQ und sozioökonomischer Status. https://t.co/GT5CUZruLe

Jun 12, 2022 · 1 like · 844 followers View post →
David Pham - (5
@LittleFunnyGeek · X

@bernet_laure @AmitJuillard @JKSteinberger @nantermod @Bergi02 @Blick_fr Lien? Le https://t.co/3DfqUFjf56? Un autre article scientifique corroborant l’hérédité de l’intelligence: https://t.co/0udXYvZ8AH

May 10, 2022 · 215 followers View post →
Andreas Zierhut
@mein_Psychologe · X

@ArminWolf „Bildung“ wird tatsächlich vererbt, die Faktoren dafür sind jedoch durchaus vielfältiger, als es ein erster Blick auf die Thematik vermuten lässt: https://t.co/2SrdKRkNYu

Apr 27, 2022 · 427 followers View post →
Juris Lērums
@JLerums · X

@viedis @guntarsv Tieši otrādi. Iedzimstība sastāda lielāko daļu! Dažādos avotos esmu redzējis 50-80% https://t.co/5UN45Ex9uD https://t.co/Yp6vpuecw5

Mar 14, 2022 · 272 followers View post →
Strawman
@StrawmanMeBro · X

RT @Scientific_Bird: Psychological and behavioral correlates with educational success (GCSE results): ● Intelligence (.58) ● Self-efficacy…

Jan 8, 2020 · 9 shares · 104 followers View post →
oztiger
@oztiger1 · X

RT @Scientific_Bird: Psychological and behavioral correlates with educational success (GCSE results): ● Intelligence (.58) ● Self-efficacy…

Jan 8, 2020 · 9 shares · 1,261 followers View post →
Holtz
@Biorealism · X

RT @Scientific_Bird: Psychological and behavioral correlates with educational success (GCSE results): ● Intelligence (.58) ● Self-efficacy…

Jan 8, 2020 · 9 shares · 8,989 followers View post →
Derek Ramsey
@ThyRamMan · X

RT @Scientific_Bird: Psychological and behavioral correlates with educational success (GCSE results): ● Intelligence (.58) ● Self-efficacy…

Jan 7, 2020 · 9 shares · 194 followers View post →
mosaic_bird
@justabuzzard · X

RT @Scientific_Bird: Psychological and behavioral correlates with educational success (GCSE results): ● Intelligence (.58) ● Self-efficacy…

Jan 7, 2020 · 9 shares · 190 followers View post →
James Thompson
@JamesPsychol · X

RT @Scientific_Bird: Psychological and behavioral correlates with educational success (GCSE results): ● Intelligence (.58) ● Self-efficacy…

Jan 7, 2020 · 9 shares · 7,183 followers View post →
Adam Perkins
@AdamPerkinsPhD · X

RT @Scientific_Bird: Psychological and behavioral correlates with educational success (GCSE results): ● Intelligence (.58) ● Self-efficacy…

Jan 7, 2020 · 9 shares · 3,591 followers View post →
Stella
@ubiquitousnewt · X

RT @Scientific_Bird: Psychological and behavioral correlates with educational success (GCSE results): ● Intelligence (.58) ● Self-efficacy…

Jan 7, 2020 · 9 shares · 5,440 followers View post →
Inquisitive Bird
@Scientific_Bird · X

Psychological and behavioral correlates with educational success (GCSE results): ● Intelligence (.58) ● Self-efficacy (.49) ● Personality (.28) ● Well-being (.26) ● Behavior problems (parent & child-reported, .33 & .25) Source (suppl. table S4): https://t.co/9yRT4hnl5p https://t.co/SomatTz7vl

Jan 7, 2020 · 55 likes · 9 shares · 25,951 followers View post →
Christian Götz
@ChristianG1984_ · X

@m8Flo @meineStimmeDE Ja eben, herauszufinden, wie die Realität aussieht, ist das Kernelement der Wissenschaft. Und das kann sie auch nur durch Abstraktion und Modellierung annäherungsweise(!). Danke, ich habe schon ein Video diesbezüglich gefunden: https://t.co/GT5CUZruLe

Nov 14, 2019 · 844 followers View post →
tanhisjussi
@tanhisjussi · X

Stunningly interesting and confusing The high heritability of educational achievement reflects many genetically influenced traits, not just intelligence https://t.co/ShX1c0Te7P

Aug 19, 2019 · 2,464 followers View post →
Robert Windhager
@Dfd_Free_Speech · X

RT @Russwarne: Typical finding is that academic achievement is 40-65% heritable. Plus, most traits that influence school outcomes are thems…

Apr 12, 2019 · 1 share · 648 followers View post →
Dr. Larry B Keating
@DrLarryBKeating · X

The high heritability of educational achievement reflects many genetically influenced traits, not just intelligence https://t.co/If7TUv2YXw

Apr 8, 2019 · 814 followers View post →
Russell T. Warne
@Russwarne · X

Typical finding is that academic achievement is 40-65% heritable. Plus, most traits that influence school outcomes are themselves genetically influenced. #education #edutwitter #psychology Image from Krapohl et al., 2017, p. 15274. https://t.co/qhfnq9w0ve https://t.co/iJNo6qlp5g

Apr 7, 2019 · 11 likes · 1 share · 7,774 followers View post →
Bia
@BeatrizGietner · X

Day 12: Krapohl, Eva, et al. "The high heritability of educational achievement reflects many genetically influenced traits, not just intelligence." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 111.42 (2014): 15273-15278. https://t.co/AiyFppUFhL https://t.co/cNOK5yAHMt

Feb 3, 2019 · 5,591 followers View post →