Literary tastes are as heritable as other human phenotypes: Evidence from twins' library borrowing.

Social science research argues that differences in individuals' literary and cultural tastes originate in social environments. Yet, it might be that these differences are partly associated with genetic differences between individuals. To address this possibility, we use nation-scale registry data on library borrowing among Danish twins (N = 67,900) to assess the heritability of literary tastes. We measure literary tastes via borrowing of books of different genres (e.g., crime and biographical novels) and formats (physical, digital, and audio) and decompose the total variance in literary tastes into components attributable to shared genes (heritability), shared environments (social environment shared by siblings), and unique environments (social environments not shared by siblings). We find that genetic differences account for 45-70 percent of the total variance in literary tastes, shared environments account for almost none of the variance, and unique environments account for a moderate share. These results suggest that literary tastes are approximately as heritable as other human phenotypes (e.g., physical traits, cognition, and health). Moreover, heritability is higher for socioeconomically disadvantaged groups than for advantaged groups. Overall, our results suggest that research should consider the role of genetic differences in accounting for individual differences in literary and broader cultural tastes.

The influence of guides on alcohol consumption among young tourists at a nightlife resort.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess how participation in party activities with guides affects alcohol consumption among young tourists at an international nightlife resort. METHODS: Prospective survey of 112 Danish tourists in Sunny Beach, Bulgaria, who were asked about their drinking and activities with guides on three separate nights out. RESULTS: Participation in party activities with guides, such as drinking games and Pub Crawls, were associated with heavily increased drinking compared with nights out without guides, but not in a dose-response type relationship. CONCLUSION: Participating in party activities with guides increases drinking among young tourists who are already drinking large amounts of alcohol during their vacation. Further studies are needed to measure, describe, and change the role played by guides at nightlife resorts.