The Role of Emergence in Genetically Informed Relationships Research: A Methodological Analysis

Abstract

This paper provides a critical analysis of genetically informed research on relationships, with an emphasis on relationships among unrelated individuals (e.g., spouses). To date, research in this area has used traditional behavioral genetic frameworks to either partition the variance in relationship-related outcomes into genetic and environmental components, or to examine geneenvironment interplay between relationship factors and other outcomes. However, this conventional approach is at odds with the long-standing understanding from the field of relationship science that both partners' characteristics matter when predicting shared outcomesthat is, outcomes that are emergent. We examine briefly the philosophical concept of emergence, and discuss ways to model dyadic outcomes in genetically informed relationships research. We also review the related topic of social genetic effects, which refer to the influence of a social partner's genotype on a proband's phenotype. A genetically informed dyadic perspective has potentially important consequences for our understanding of the pathways from genotype→shared or individual-level phenotypes, and more fully recognizes the complexity of how genetic and social/environmental factors come together to influence human behavior.The Role of Emergence in Genetically Informative Relationships Research Consider an interaction between two spouses who have been together for over a decade. The day before, Tim offered to drive Alice to the airport for her 7:45 flight, not realizing that she had a morning, not evening, departure. He recognizes the miscommunication when Alice shakes him awake, saying that they need to get on the road for the 40-minute drive to the airport.