In closing, we emphasize the need to engage experts from other disciplines, such as social psychology and bioethics46, as geneticists attempt to characterize genetic effects on complex genetic phenotypes that are also affected by social factors (especially psychological and cognitive variables). This is necessary because societal influences including socioeconomic status and discrimination can powerfully influence these phenotypes47, and these causal social factors can co-vary with ancestry. In genetic research, there is a tendency not to include environmental influences on phenotypes (often due to resource constraints), but collaboration with disciplinary experts and increased attention from geneticists on gene-environment interplay (i.e., correlations and interactions) can address this problem which, we argue, will ultimately improve studies attempting to find genetic causes of human traits and behavior. Only then, with cautious and broadly-informed research, can the medical benefits of correctly interpreting polygenic variation within and among populations be realized.
