Using Natural Experiments to Test Environmental Mediation Hypotheses

AbstractThe concept of resilience has as its starting point the recognition that there is huge heterogeneity in people's responses to all manner of environmental adversities. Resilience is an inference based on evidence that some individuals have a better outcome than others who have experienced a comparable level of adversity; moreover, the negative experience may have either a sensitizing effect or a strengthening “steeling” effect in relation to the response to later stress or adversity. After noting the crucial importance of first testing for the environmental mediation of risk through “natural experiments,” findings are reviewed on “steeling effects” in animal models and humans. Gene–environment interaction findings are considered, and it is noted that there is some evidence that the genetic influences concerns responsivity to all environments and not just bad ones. Life course effects are reviewed in relation to evidence on turning point effects associated with experiences that increase opportunities and enhance coping. Attention is drawn to both research implications and substantive findings as features that foster resilience.

Download Full-text

Social Network Integration and User Content Generation: Evidence from Natural Experiments

MIS Quarterly ◽

10.25300/misq/2017/41.4.02 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 41 (4) ◽

pp. 1035-1058 ◽

Cited By ~ 26

Author(s):

Ni Huang ◽

◽

Yili Hong ◽

Gordon Burtch ◽

◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Network ◽

Natural Experiments ◽

Network Integration ◽

User Content ◽

Content Generation

Download Full-text

Personality Genetics

10.31234/osf.io/3rz8y ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Jaime Derringer

Keyword(s):

Cultural Context ◽

Behavior Genetics ◽

Genetic Research ◽

Reliability And Validity ◽

Experimental Manipulation ◽

Sequence Information ◽

Natural Experiments ◽

Genetic Sequence ◽

Form And Function ◽

Causal Pathway

Although correlations between personality and health are consistently observed, often the causal pathway, or even the direction of effect, is unknown. Genes provide an additional node of information which may be included to help clarify the relationship between personality and health. Genetically informative studies, whether focused on family-identified relationships or specific genotypes, provide clear benefits to disentangling causal processes. Genetic measures approach near universal reliability and validity: processes of inheritance are consistent across cultures, geography, and time, such that similar models and instruments may be applied to incredibly diverse populations. Although frequency and intercorrelations differ by ancestry background (Novembre et al., 2008) and cultural context (Tucker-Drob & Bates, 2016) may exert powerful moderating effects, fundamental form and function is consistent across all members of our species, and even many other species. Genetic sequence information is also of course highly temporally stable, and possesses temporal precedence. That is, the literal genetic sequence is lifetime-stable and comes before all other experiences. Human behavior genetic research, like most personality research, faces limitations in terms of causal inferences that may be made in the absence of experimental manipulation. But behavior genetics takes advantage of natural experiments: populations that differ in terms of genetic similarity (either inferred – such as twins – or measured – such as genotyping methods) to begin to unravel the complex influences on individual differences in personality and health outcomes.

Download Full-text