Genetic essentialism: The mediating role of essentialist biases on the relationship between genetic knowledge and the interpretations of genetic information

Dar‐Nimrod, Ilan; Kuntzman, Ruth; MacNevin, Georgia; Lynch, Kate E.; Woods, Marlon; Morandini, James

doi:10.1016/j.ejmg.2020.104119

Cited by 20 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…In these interviews, participants, who for the most part were not experts in science, generally assumed that genetic variation contributes to sexual orientation and/or gender identity, a finding consistent with previous studies (Joslyn and Haider‐Markel 2016 ; O'Riordan 2012 ). This attribution is hardly surprising given the iconic place that genetics has held for decades in popular discourse (Nelkin and Lindee 1995 ; Keller 2000 ) and the persistence of notions of genetic essentialism, which assert that genetic variation is the dominant factor responsible for human characteristics (Brodwin 2002 ; Dar-Nimrod et al 2021 ; Heine et al 2017 ). So-called “born this way” campaigns, which draw on essentialist views of sexuality and gender, declare an innateness and immutability to LGBTQ+ identities and experiences.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

LGBTQ+ Perspectives on Conducting Genomic Research on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

et al. 2022

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We conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews with LGBTQ+-identified individuals (n = 31) to explore the range of LGBTQ+ perspectives on genomic research using either sexual orientation or gender identity (SOGI) data. Most interviewees presumed that research would confirm genetic contributions to sexual orientation and gender identity. Primary hopes for such confirmation included validating LGBTQ+ identities, improved access to and quality of healthcare and other resources, and increased acceptance in familial, socio-cultural, and political environments. Areas of concern included threats of pathologizing and medicalizing LGBTQ+ identities and experiences, undermining reproductive rights, gatekeeping of health or social systems, and malicious testing or misuse of genetic results, particularly for LGBTQ+ youth. Overall, interviewees were divided on the acceptability of genomic research investigating genetic contributions to sexual orientation and gender identity. Participants emphasized researchers’ ethical obligations to LGBTQ+ individuals and endorsed engagement with LGBTQ+ communities throughout all aspects of genomic research using SOGI data.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

LGBTQ+ Perspectives on Conducting Genomic Research on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

et al. 2022

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“…These intuitions can become especially problematic when we reflect on the heritability of desirable traits, which are often undergirding discussions of racism, sexism, and eugenics (e.g., Heine, Dar-Nimrod, Cheung, and Proulx, 2017). The unwarranted air of scientific confidence in the precision of heritability estimates may have contributed to these deleterious intuitions, as research indicates that those intuitions are magnified by common media portrayals of scientific findings (Dar-Nimrod et al, 2021). We are hopeful that Uchiyama et al's clear-eyed questioning of heritability estimates may also contribute to dampening people's reflexive urges to turn to simple genetic essentialist accounts and the harms associated with them.…”

Section: Conflict Of Interest Nonementioning

confidence: 99%

“…It may be self-evident to point out that educational contexts are not static: They continuously evolve both within and between systems, influenced by local and global cultural and policy shifts (e.g., Addey, 2017;Vadeboncoeur, 1997). For example, development of theories of learning, constantly changing administrative structures, variable recommendations on instructional practices, and frequent reform movements are features of many educational systems (Rose, 2006;Stanovich & Stanovich, 2003;Woods, 2021). For readers who come to the behavior genetics literature from the field of education research, discussion of heritability estimates may seem to put an overabundance of emphasis on quantifying the genetic influence on phenotypes at the expense of examining the cultural variation within and between school systems, or over time.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cultural evolution of genetic heritability

Uchiyama¹,

Spicer²,

Muthukrishna³

2021

Behav Brain Sci

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Behavioral genetics and cultural evolution have both revolutionized our understanding of human behavior—largely independent of each other. Here we reconcile these two fields under a dual inheritance framework, offering a more nuanced understanding of the interaction between genes and culture. Going beyond typical analyses of gene–environment interactions, we describe the cultural dynamics that shape these interactions by shaping the environment and population structure. A cultural evolutionary approach can explain, for example, how factors such as rates of innovation and diffusion, density of cultural sub-groups, and tolerance for behavioral diversity impact heritability estimates, thus yielding predictions for different social contexts. Moreover, when cumulative culture functionally overlaps with genes, genetic effects become masked, unmasked, or even reversed, and the causal effects of an identified gene become confounded with features of the cultural environment. The manner of confounding is specific to a particular society at a particular time, but a WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialized, rich, democratic) sampling problem obscures this boundedness. Cultural evolutionary dynamics are typically missing from models of gene-to-phenotype causality, hindering generalizability of genetic effects across societies and across time. We lay out a reconciled framework and use it to predict the ways in which heritability should differ between societies, between socioeconomic levels and other groupings within some societies but not others, and over the life course. An integrated cultural evolutionary behavioral genetic approach cuts through the nature–nurture debate and helps resolve controversies in topics such as IQ.

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“…These intuitions can become especially problematic when we reflect on the heritability of desirable traits, which are often undergirding discussions of racism, sexism, and eugenics (e.g., Heine et al, 2017). The unwarranted air of scientific confidence in the precision of heritability estimates may have contributed to these deleterious intuitions, as research indicates that those intuitions are magnified by common media portrayals of scientific findings (Dar-Nimrod et al, 2021). We are hopeful that Uchiyama et al's clear-eyed questioning of heritability estimates may also contribute to dampening people's reflexive urges to turn to simple genetic essentialist accounts and the harms associated with them.…”

Section: The Dubious Precision and Utility Of Heritability Estimatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Dubious Precision and Utility of Heritability Estimates

Dar‐Nimrod¹,

Heine²

2021

Preprint

Self Cite

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Uchiyama et al. question heritability estimates in a convincing manner. We offer additional arguments to further bolster their claims, highlighting methodological issues in heritability coefficients’ derivation, their misuse in various contexts, and their potential contributions to exacerbating common erroneous intuitions that have been shown to lead to deleterious social phenomena. We conclude that science should move away from using them.

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Genetic essentialism: The mediating role of essentialist biases on the relationship between genetic knowledge and the interpretations of genetic information

Cited by 20 publications

References 60 publications

LGBTQ+ Perspectives on Conducting Genomic Research on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

LGBTQ+ Perspectives on Conducting Genomic Research on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

Cultural evolution of genetic heritability

The Dubious Precision and Utility of Heritability Estimates

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