Sample response

Within the biological approach it is assumed that research into genetic influence on behaviour can eventually reveal the causes of psychological disorders such as depression or negative behaviours such as criminal activity. The diathesis-stress theory suggests that genes may lead to a predisposition to a behaviour or disorder, but there must be an environmental or physiological trigger for the genes to be expressed. Today our knowledge about the exact role of specific genes is still incomplete. As with all research, genetic research must meet ethical standards. There are several ethical considerations such as informed consent and the risk of undue stress or harm.

One consideration is informed consent. To obtain informed consent, the aim and the procedure of the research – as well as any possible negative outcomes – must be explained to the participant in language that the participant can understand. It could be argued that many people do not understand genetic research and its implications, and therefore informed consent cannot be easily obtained.  A participant could find out that they have an unexpected genetic disposition for a particular mental illness. Although this could be considered a good thing because it could lead to changes in behavoiur that would prevent the onset of the disorder, it could also cause undue stress.

Another ethical consideration in genetic research is undue stress or harm. Undue stress is when a participant experiences more stress than should be expected through the normal day to day activities.  In research on the role of genetics on depression, Caspi found that having two short alleles for the 5-HTT gene made one more vulnerable to depression than someone with the longer alleles. The question is whether testing someone for the genetic mutation and informing them that this may make them more vulnerable for depression is undue stress.   One could argue that it is not, but instead is a way to help people cope with the potential onset of depression.  Knowing that you may develop it may help people to take more precautions like watching their diet or exercising on a regular basis.  Wilhelm et al (2009) found that in a study of the 5-HTT gene, participants felt more positive than negative about getting the information.  They felt that it was important to know.  

However, this was self-reported and may be the result of social desirability effect.  Wilhelm et al also found that the participants with two short alleles showed much higher levels of stress after the learning the results than the participants with two long alleles.  There is a danger that having this knowledge could lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy, where individuals start to show signs of the disorder simply because they expect to get it.  Finally, if the participants were to share this information with a doctor, it may lead to confirmation bias and a false diagnosis of depression, leading to drug treatments that could be bad for the individual.  It is important that psychologists consider the potential harm that could come to their participants from such research. By explaining clearly the meaning of the results in the debriefing, the negative outcomes may be avoided.

One of the ethical concerns in the study of genetics is how important pre-symptom screening could be in the prevention of mental illness or in negative behaviours. For example, in a large twin study carried out by Christiansen, he found a higher concordance rate for criminal activity in MZ twins than in DZ twins.  Although no specific genes were isolated, what if there is a genetic predisposition to criminal behaviour?  Could we potentially prevent crime by helping people with this genetic predisposition?

The argument is problematic and ethically unsound. Genetic research is generally correlational, which means that it is not possible to state a clear cause-effect relationship between genes and criminal behaviour. In the case of Christiansen’s study, we also have to be careful of how we define “criminal activity” and the question of what environmental factors may have played a role in the development of the behaviour.  We have to be careful not to believe in genetic determinism. The interaction between genes and the environment is very complex and oversimplifying the origins of complex behaviours like criminal activity can lead to labeling, prejudice and the denial of an individual to choose his or her own path in life.   

Although genetic research is helping us to better understanding the origins of behaviour, researchers must always address ethical considerations.  Failure to do so will make people less likely to participate in research.  In addition, the failure to meet standards may lead to behaviours which look like they support the findings, but may be due to confounding variables, like self-fulfilling prophecies, misdiagnosis due to confirmation bias or anxiety and depression due to stress about the findings.

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