Genotype-environment interaction and correlation in the analysis of human behavior.
Abstract
Two issues that complicate behavioral genetic analyses are the interaction and correlation between genetic and environmental influences. In this report, the effects of genotype-envi ronment interaction and correlation on behavioral genetic studies (twin and adoption studies) are examined. The analysis suggests that genotype-environment interaction may bias twin study estimates of genetic and environmental influence, but need not affect adoption studies. On the other hand, genotype-environment correlation may affect both twin and adoption study estimates of genetic and environmental influence, the direction of the effect depending on the sign of the correlation. Finally, new tests of genotypeenvironment interaction and correlation, using adoption data, are proposed.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Individuals may shape or elicit environmental responses, producing gene-environment correlation.
“Another important consideration is that individuals may shape their environments or elicit certain types of responses or stimuli in their environment, resulting in gene–environment correlation (rGE)”
From Gene–environment interactions: early life stress and risk for depressive and anxiety disorders (2011) · cites this paper as Plomin et al. 1977
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Adolescence-limited and life-course-persistent antisocial behavior: a developmental taxonomy
Moffitt, T. E. (1993) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.100.4.674 · Cited by 9,987 · see citing works
Stanovich, K. E. (1986) · Reading Research Quarterly · doi:10.1598/rrq.21.4.1 · Cited by 5,222 · see citing works
Intelligence: Knowns and unknowns.
Neisser, U., Boodoo, G., Bouchard, T. J., Boykin, A. W., Brody, N., Ceci, S. J., Halpern, D. F., Loehlin, J. C., Perloff, R., Sternberg, R. J., et al. (1996) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.51.2.77 · Cited by 2,913 · see citing works
Self-citationGershoff, E. T. (2002) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.128.4.539 · Cited by 2,165 · see citing works
Public health significance of neuroticism
Lahey, B. B. (2009) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/a0015309 · Cited by 1,901 · see citing works
Friedman, N. P., & Miyake, A. (2017) · Cortex · doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2016.04.023 · Cited by 1,834 · see citing works
Where is the child's environment? A group socialization theory of development.
Harris, J. R. (1995) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.102.3.458 · Cited by 1,885 · see citing works
A variant associated with nicotine dependence, lung cancer and peripheral arterial disease
Thorgeirsson, T. E., Geller, F., Sulem, P., Rafnar, T., Wiste, A., Magnusson, K. P., Manolescu, A., Thorleifsson, G., Stefansson, H., Ingason, A., et al. (2008) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature06846 · Cited by 1,523 · see citing works
Education and cognitive functioning across the life span
Lövdén, M., Fratiglioni, L., Glymour, M. M., Lindenberger, U., & Tucker-Drob, E. M. (2020) · Psychological Science in the Public Interest · doi:10.1177/1529100620920576 · Cited by 1,224 · see citing works
Evolutionary Psychology: A New Paradigm for Psychological Science
Buss, D. M. (1995) · Psychological Inquiry · doi:10.1207/s15327965pli0601_1 · Cited by 1,198 · see citing works
Gene-environment interplay and psychopathology: multiple varieties but real effects
Rutter, M., Moffitt, T. E., & Caspi, A. (2006) · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2005.01557.x · Cited by 1,058 · see citing works
Lyubomirsky, S. (2001) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.56.3.239 · Cited by 995 · see citing works
Evolutionary Personality Psychology
Buss, D. M. (1991) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.ps.42.020191.002331 · Cited by 930 · see citing works
The Ontogenesis of Social Dominance: A Strategy-Based Evolutionary Perspective
Hawley, P. H. (1999) · Developmental Review · doi:10.1006/drev.1998.0470 · Cited by 877 · see citing works
The dual pathway model of AD/HD: an elaboration of neuro-developmental characteristics
Sonuga-Barke, E. J. S. (2003) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2003.08.005 · Cited by 816 · see citing works
Genetic influences on measures of the environment: a systematic review
KENDLER, K. S., & BAKER, J. H. (2007) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291706009524 · Cited by 725 · see citing works
Nature and nurturing: parenting in the context of child temperament
Kiff, C. J., Lengua, L. J., & Zalewski, M. (2011) · Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review · doi:10.1007/s10567-011-0093-4 · Cited by 658 · see citing works
The evolutionary genetics of personality
Penke, L., Denissen, J. J. A., & Miller, G. F. (2007) · European Journal of Personality · doi:10.1002/per.629 · Cited by 610 · see citing works
Arseneault, L., Cannon, M., Fisher, H. L., Polanczyk, G., Moffitt, T. E., & Caspi, A. (2011) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.2010.10040567 · Cited by 584 · see citing works
The Nature of Nurture: Genetic Influence on “Environmental” Measures
Plomin, R., & Bergeman, C. S. (1991) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x00070278 · Cited by 556 · see citing works
Self-citationThe origin of mind: Evolution of brain, cognition, and general intelligence.
Geary, D. C. (2005) · doi:10.1037/10871-000 · Cited by 551 · see citing works
Neurobiology of intelligence: science and ethics
Gray, J. R., & Thompson, P. M. (2004) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn1405 · Cited by 479 · see citing works
A hierarchical causal taxonomy of psychopathology across the life span.
Lahey, B. B., Krueger, R. F., Rathouz, P. J., Waldman, I. D., & Zald, D. H. (2017) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/bul0000069 · Cited by 443 · see citing works
Burt, S. A. (2009) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/a0015702 · Cited by 467 · see citing works
Thirty years of research on race differences in cognitive ability.
Rushton, J. P., & Jensen, A. R. (2005) · Psychology, Public Policy, and Law · doi:10.1037/1076-8971.11.2.235 · Cited by 457 · see citing works
Physical Maltreatment Victim to Antisocial Child: Evidence of an Environmentally Mediated Process.
Jaffee, S. R., Caspi, A., Moffitt, T. E., & Taylor, A. (2004) · Journal of Abnormal Psychology · doi:10.1037/0021-843x.113.1.44 · Cited by 454 · see citing works
The Stability and Change of Loneliness Across the Life Span: A Meta-Analysis of Longitudinal Studies
Mund, M., Freuding, M. M., Möbius, K., Horn, N., & Neyer, F. J. (2020) · Personality and Social Psychology Review · doi:10.1177/1088868319850738 · Cited by 417 · see citing works
Theory and practice in quantitative genetics
Posthuma, D., Beem, A. L., de Geus, E. J. C., van Baal, G. C. M., von Hjelmborg, J. B., Iachine, I., & Boomsma, D. I. (2003) · Twin Research · doi:10.1375/136905203770326367 · Cited by 416 · see citing works
D’Onofrio, B. M., Lahey, B. B., Turkheimer, E., & Lichtenstein, P. (2013) · American Journal of Public Health · doi:10.2105/ajph.2013.301252 · Cited by 343 · see citing works
Comparing Within- and Between-Family Polygenic Score Prediction
Selzam, S., Ritchie, S. J., Pingault, J.-B., Reynolds, C. A., O’Reilly, P. F., & Plomin, R. (2019) · The American Journal of Human Genetics · doi:10.1016/j.ajhg.2019.06.006 · Cited by 289 · see citing works
Self-citationGenetic and Environmental Influences on Cognition Across Development and Context
Tucker-Drob, E. M., Briley, D. A., & Harden, K. P. (2013) · Current Directions in Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0963721413485087 · Cited by 295 · see citing works
Growing up and growing apart: a developmental meta-analysis of twin studies.
McCartney, K., Harris, M. J., & Bernieri, F. (1990) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.107.2.226 · Cited by 295 · see citing works
Behavioral genetics of cognitive ability: A life-span perspective.
McGue, M., Bouchard, T. J., Iacono, W. G., & Lykken, D. T. (1993) · Nature, nurture & psychology. · doi:10.1037/10131-003 · Cited by 304 · see citing works
Friedman, N. P., Miyake, A., Altamirano, L. J., Corley, R. P., Young, S. E., Rhea, S. A., & Hewitt, J. K. (2016) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/dev0000075 · Cited by 294 · see citing works
Knafo, A., & Plomin, R. (2006) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/0012-1649.42.5.771 · Cited by 295 · see citing works
Self-citationAssortative mating for antisocial behavior: Developmental and methodological implications
Krueger, R. F., Moffitt, T. E., Caspi, A., Bleske, A., & Silva, P. A. (1998) · Behavior Genetics · doi:10.1023/a:1021419013124 · Cited by 275 · see citing works
Gene–environment interactions: early life stress and risk for depressive and anxiety disorders
Nugent, N. R., Tyrka, A. R., Carpenter, L. L., & Price, L. H. (2011) · Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1007/s00213-010-2151-x · Cited by 269 · see citing works
“Another important consideration is that individuals may shape their environments or elicit certain types of responses or stimuli in their environment, resulting in gene–environment correlation (rGE) (Plomin et al. 1977; Rutter 2009).”
BackgroundZimmermann, P., Brückl, T., Nocon, A., Pfister, H., Binder, E. B., Uhr, M., Lieb, R., Moffitt, T. E., Caspi, A., Holsboer, F., et al. (2011) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.2011.10111577 · Cited by 262 · see citing works
Knafo, A., & Plomin, R. (2006) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.90.1.147 · Cited by 243 · see citing works
Self-citationPractice Does Not Make Perfect: No Causal Effect of Music Practice on Music Ability
Mosing, M. A., Madison, G., Pedersen, N. L., Kuja-Halkola, R., & Ullén, F. (2014) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0956797614541990 · Cited by 237 · see citing works
Harold, G. T., Leve, L. D., Barrett, D., Elam, K., Neiderhiser, J. M., Natsuaki, M. N., Shaw, D. S., Reiss, D., & Thapar, A. (2013) · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/jcpp.12100 · Cited by 230 · see citing works
Rietveld, M. J. H., Hudziak, J. J., Bartels, M., van Beijsterveldt, C. E. M., & Boomsma, D. I. (2004) · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2004.00247.x · Cited by 223 · see citing works
Lahey, B. B., & D’Onofrio, B. M. (2010) · Current Directions in Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0963721410383977 · Cited by 207 · see citing works
Influence of young adult cognitive ability and additional education on later-life cognition
Kremen, W. S., Beck, A., Elman, J. A., Gustavson, D. E., Reynolds, C. A., Tu, X. M., Sanderson-Cimino, M. E., Panizzon, M. S., Vuoksimaa, E., Toomey, R., et al. (2019) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1811537116 · Cited by 180 · see citing works
Krapohl, E., & Plomin, R. (2016) · Molecular Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/mp.2015.2 · Cited by 160 · see citing works
Self-citationKandler, C., Bleidorn, W., Riemann, R., Angleitner, A., & Spinath, F. M. (2012) · Behavior Genetics · doi:10.1007/s10519-011-9491-0 · Cited by 178 · see citing works
Briley, D. A., & Tucker-Drob, E. M. (2013) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0956797613478618 · Cited by 178 · see citing works
Nurture might be nature: cautionary tales and proposed solutions
Hart, S. A., Little, C., & van Bergen, E. (2021) · npj Science of Learning · doi:10.1038/s41539-020-00079-z · Cited by 165 · see citing works
Knafo, A., Israel, S., & Ebstein, R. P. (2011) · Development and Psychopathology · doi:10.1017/s0954579410000647 · Cited by 156 · see citing works
Bleidorn, W., Kandler, C., & Caspi, A. (2014) · European Journal of Personality · doi:10.1002/per.1957 · Cited by 153 · see citing works
Raised by depressed parents: is it an environmental risk?
Natsuaki, M. N., Shaw, D. S., Neiderhiser, J. M., Ganiban, J. M., Harold, G. T., Reiss, D., & Leve, L. D. (2014) · Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review · doi:10.1007/s10567-014-0169-z · Cited by 134 · see citing works
Predicting depression from temperament, personality, and patterns of social relations
Finch, J. F., & Graziano, W. G. (2001) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/1467-6494.00135 · Cited by 115 · see citing works
Goossens, L., van Roekel, E., Verhagen, M., Cacioppo, J. T., Cacioppo, S., Maes, M., & Boomsma, D. I. (2015) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/1745691614564878 · Cited by 103 · see citing works
Why do children read more? The influence of reading ability on voluntary reading practices
van Bergen, E., Snowling, M. J., de Zeeuw, E. L., van Beijsterveldt, C. E. M., Dolan, C. V., & Boomsma, D. I. (2018) · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/jcpp.12910 · Cited by 98 · see citing works
Ohlsson Gotby, V., Lichtenstein, P., Långström, N., & Pettersson, E. (2018) · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/jcpp.12884 · Cited by 93 · see citing works
Agrawal, A., Sartor, C. E., Lynskey, M. T., Grant, J. D., Pergadia, M. L., Grucza, R., Bucholz, K. K., Nelson, E. C., Madden, P. A. F., Martin, N. G., et al. (2009) · Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research · doi:10.1111/j.1530-0277.2009.01044.x · Cited by 82 · see citing works
Heritability of hostility-related emotions, attitudes, and behaviors
Cates, D. S., Houston, B. K., Vavak, C. R., Crawford, M. H., & Uttley, M. (1993) · Journal of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1007/bf00844758 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
Genetic and gene–environment interaction effects on preschoolers' social behaviors
DiLalla, L. F., Elam, K. K., & Smolen, A. (2009) · Developmental Psychobiology · doi:10.1002/dev.20384 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Genetic influence on cognitive development between childhood and adulthood
Mollon, J., Knowles, E. E. M., Mathias, S. R., Gur, R., Peralta, J. M., Weiner, D. J., Robinson, E. B., Gur, R. E., Blangero, J., Almasy, L., et al. (2021) · Molecular Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/s41380-018-0277-0 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Lahey, B. B., D’Onofrio, B. M., & Waldman, I. D. (2009) · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2008.01980.x · Cited by 45 · see citing works
A rare missense mutation in CHRNA4 associates with smoking behavior and its consequences
Thorgeirsson, T. E., Steinberg, S., Reginsson, G. W., Bjornsdottir, G., Rafnar, T., Jonsdottir, I., Helgadottir, A., Gretarsdottir, S., Helgadottir, H., Jonsson, S., et al. (2016) · Molecular Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/mp.2016.13 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Gene set enrichment analysis to create polygenic scores: a developmental examination of aggression
Elam, K. K., Clifford, S., Shaw, D. S., Wilson, M. N., & Lemery-Chalfant, K. (2019) · Translational Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/s41398-019-0513-7 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Is there an active gene-environment correlation in adolescent drinking behavior?
Loehlin, J. C. (2010) · Behavior Genetics · doi:10.1007/s10519-010-9347-z · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Self-citation
- Authors
- Plomin, R., DeFries, J. C., & Loehlin, J. C.
- ORCID
- Plomin, Robert
- Venue
- Psychological Bulletin
- Published
- 1977
- Volume
- 84
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 309-322
- ISSN
- 0033-2909 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1455
- OpenAlex
- W2097074714
- Cited by
- 1,685
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 43 · 2025: 41 · 2024: 50 · 2023: 52 · 2022: 81 · 2021: 53 · 2020: 101 · 2019: 78 · 2018: 59 · 2017: 58 · 2016: 60 · 2015: 72 · 2014: 66 · 2013: 74 · 2012: 55
- FWCI
- 4.33
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychological Bulletin (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic Associations and Epidemiology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Behavior and Reproduction
- Keywords
- gene-environment interaction, genotype-environment correlation, twin studies, adoption studies, heritability estimation, genetic factors, environmental influences
- MeSH terms
- Adoption, Child, Child Behavior, Female, Genetics, Behavioral, Genotype, Humans, Pregnancy, Social Environment, Twins
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
