BGA Statement Against the Misuse of Behavioral Genetics Research
June 2025
Behavioral genetics is the study of genetic and environmental influences on human behavior. Research in this area has generated key insights into human health, disease, behavior, and development. However, the field is also marred by a history of its methods and results being misused and misrepresented for harmful ends, including eugenics and scientific racism. These misuses have been conducted by mainstream academics–particularly before the mid-20th century–and non-academics, and unfortunately continue today.
The Behavior Genetics Association (BGA) acknowledges this history and condemns any misappropriation of behavioral genetics aimed at legitimizing erroneous arguments about differences in behavior among socially defined groups and genetic determinism. Such efforts are scientifically invalid, reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of human genetics, and are therefore unethical and potentially harmful. Specifically, BGA affirms the following:
Socially constructed group designations (e.g., racial and ethnic groupings) do not accurately map onto genetic differences. Because humans share a common ancestry, most genetic variation is shared across populations; genetic differences among individuals within a given population are much larger than differences between populations. Estimates of genetic effects (e.g., heritability, polygenic scores) may differ among groups due to spurious genetic artifacts, technical issues (e.g., sample size), and/or between-group environmental differences rather than genetic differences.
Behavioral genetics studies often estimate heritability, which is the proportion of individual differences in a trait that is associated with genetic differences among individuals in a population. Concluding that a trait is heritable does not mean that it is solely influenced by genetics and unmodifiable by environmental factors. Rather, heritability estimates the relative influence of genetic and environmental factors on individual differences in a trait. All complex human behavioral traits are partially heritable, which also means that individual differences in all complex human behavioral traits are influenced by the environment. Further, heritability estimates are specific to the sample in which they are obtained and can change depending on environmental context. A complete understanding of human behavior and individual differences therein requires an understanding of both genetic and environmental contexts.
Likewise, discovering that a genetic variant is associated with a behavioral trait does not mean that the variant causes the behavior. Although such variants may be related to the behavior in a statistical sense, the complexity of human biology makes it difficult to determine the exact nature of that relationship. Human behavioral traits are highly polygenic, arising from many genetic influences interacting with each other and the environment. There are many complicated links in the causal chain between genetic variants, biological functions, and behavior, and much work is needed to obtain a mechanistic understanding of human behavior’s biological and environmental underpinnings. This complexity limits the current usefulness of genetic information in predicting future outcomes and—along with numerous ethical considerations—undermines efforts to “fix” human behaviors or bring about more “desirable” behavioral outcomes via gene editing or embryo selection.
It is critical that behavioral geneticists grapple with the field’s checkered history and actively work to prevent and respond to misuses and misunderstandings. BGA is committed to increasing awareness and discussion of these issues among BGA membership, the broader scientific community, and the public.
This statement was authored by the following members of the BGA Public Science Committee: Evan J. Giangrande, PhD. Camille M. Williams, PhD, Robbee Wedow, PhD, Margot P. van de Weijer, PhD, Olivia C. Robertson, PhD, and Stephanie Estrera, BA. It was approved by the BGA Executive Committee.