Children who bully others are not necessarily badly brought up. It is all in the genes, according to a new study.

Is children’s behaviour a result of their genes or their upbringing? New research with twins could shed more light on the long-running nature/nurture debate. It suggests children may be genetically disposed towards certain behavioural attitudes, whether or not their parents fight.

Paige Harden at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, US, and colleagues reviewed data collected from 2051 children born of 1045 twins. The children, all in their late teens, described whether or not they had witnessed their parents fighting while growing up and, if so, how frequently.

They were also asked about their own behaviour as youngsters, including whether they had behaved antisocially, such as bullying others or destroying property.

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn11125

[A-ha! This is the cause of discrimination and intolerance! We must conduct large genetic checkings and eradicate such dangerous anti-egalitarian people from the gene pool.]