MINOT - A person's genes probably have some influence over their career choice, a Minot State University professor's study says.

An article detailing the study by sociology professor Lee Ellis and former MSU sociology student Stephen Bonin appears in the September issue of the journal Personality and Individual Differences.

The two analyzed data from surveys of American and Canadian college students and their parents done between 1988 and 1998.

Ellis and Bonin compared answers about career choice from 435 adopted children and 10,880 children raised by birth parents.

They also examined different measures of parents' social status, such as education, salaries and positions at work.

"The adoptees were less likely to resemble their parents than the kids who were raised by their biological parents," Ellis said.

The researchers concluded that genes likely have some influence on which jobs people prefer, as well as on intellectual ability.

However, Ellis said genes aren't necessarily destiny.

"We found that there was a lot of variation that we couldn't explain," he said. "Presumably because environmental factors played a role."

Ellis said they had no information about the job preferences of the adopted children's birth parents. That would have added a lot to the study, he said.

The differences between adopted and biological children and their parents were small but still statistically significant, Ellis said.

Other studies indicate genes and environment have a nearly equal influence on factors such as personality, and adoptive parents undoubtedly have an influence, Ellis said.

"But they should also not be real surprised if their child exhibits interests that are very different from theirs," he said

Such differences also are present in genetically related parents and children, he said.