Sources of Stability in Social and Economic Ideological Orientations: Cohort, Context, and Construct Effects Aleksander Ksiazkiewicz 1 , Robert Klemmensen 2 , Christopher T. Dawes 3 , Kaare Christensen 4,5 , Matt McGue 4,6 , Robert F. Krueger 6 , and Asbjørn Sonne Nørgaard 7 1 Department of Political Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA; 2 Department of Political Science and Public Management, University of Southern Denmark, Odense DK-5230, Denmark; 3 Wilf Family Department of Politics, New York University, New York, NY 10012, USA; 4 Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Biodemography, University of Southern Denmark, Odense DK-5000, Denmark; 5 The Danish Twin Registry, University of Southern Denmark, Odense DK-5000, Denmark; 6 Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA; 7 Cevea, 1620 København V, Denmark Abstract Existing research shows that ideological orientations are stable after young adulthood. Extending research on the sources of ideological stability, we examine social and eco- nomic ideology over a 3- to 4-year period in two twin panels (one Danish and one American). We find evidence for the importance of genetic influences and individual life experiences on the stability of social ideology in both contexts; shared environ- mental factors play an important role in the younger, Danish sample only. For eco- nomic ideology, genetic factors contribute to stability in the American sample only. Our findings show that the role of genetic and environmental factors in the stability of ideological orientations varies by type of ideology, national context, and, possibly, age cohort. All correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3212-1723 Aleksander Ksiazkiewicz, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 420 David Kinley Hall, 1407 W Gregory Drive, Urbana, IL 61801, USA. E-mail: aleksks@illinois.edu International Journal of Public Opinion Research Vol. 32 No. 4 2020 VC The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The World Association for Public Opinion Research. All rights reserved. doi:10.1093/ijpor/edz047 Advance Access publication 13 January 2020 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ijpor/article/32/4/711/5702180 by guest on 13 July 2022