The Symptom Discounting Effect : What to Do When Negative Genetic Test Results Become Risk Factors for Alcohol Use Disorder

Most consumers of genetic testing for health conditions test negative, yet the psychological perils of this are hardly known. In three experiments (N=2,103) participants discounted repercussions of Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD), after learning or imagining that they were not genetically predisposed to AUD. Such discounting can lead people to avoid treatment and to feel safe to continue or even increase their drinking, ironically turning the negative genetic feedback into a risk factor for AUD. This misconception derives from not understanding the Causal Markov condition as applied to this case; once AUD symptoms are present, their ramifications remain the same regardless of whether genes or environments caused the symptoms. Educating participants about this principle mitigated the irrational discounting of threats of AUD, even among Individuals already engaging in problematic drinking, for whom the debriefing currently used by a direct-to-consumer genetic testing company was found to be ineffective in the current study.

Employees’ Views and Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications Assessment of Voluntary Workplace Genomic Testing

Employers have begun to offer voluntary workplace genomic testing (wGT) as part of employee wellness benefit programs, but few empirical studies have examined the ethical, legal, and social implications (ELSI) of wGT. To better understand employee perspectives on wGT, employees were surveyed at a large biomedical research institution. Survey respondents were presented with three hypothetical scenarios for accessing health-related genomic testing: via (1) their doctor; (2) their workplace; and 3) a commercial direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing company. Overall, 594 employees (28%) responded to the survey. Respondents indicated a preference for genomic testing in the workplace setting (70%; 95% CI 66–74%), followed by doctor’s office (54%; 95% CI 50–58%), and DTC testing (20%; 95% CI 17–24%). Prior to participating in wGT, respondents wanted to know about confidentiality of test results (79%), existence of relevant laws and policies (70%), and privacy protection (64%). Across scenarios, 92% of respondents preferred to view the test results with a genetic counselor. These preliminary results suggest that many employees are interested and even prefer genetic testing in the workplace and would prefer testing with support from genetic health professionals. Confirmation in more diverse employer settings will be needed to generalize such findings.

Sales, Acquisitions, and Mergers of Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing Companies

Direct-to-consumer genetic tests have become increasingly popular in the United States within the last few years. However, these tests pose many risks to the consumer, most notably privacy risks. A subset of these privacy risks involves the issue of company mergers, acquisitions, and sales. Many companies in the direct-to-consumer genetic testing market have privacy policies that contain a variation of a “business transfer” clause. These clauses specify that in the event the company goes through a business transition such as a sale, merger, or acquisition, the consumer’s personal information—including the consumer’s DNA—will be among the assets transferred. This Article explores the risks associated with these business transfer clauses as they relate to the consumer, and presents a solution to mitigate said risks. The solution lies in FTC v. Toysmart, wherein a toy company that filed for bankruptcy was restricted in selling its assets—which included its customers’ personal data— only to entities with the same interests as the toy company. This Article urges that the default interpretation standard of business transfer clauses track similarly such that a direct-to-consumer genetic testing company may only be sold to, merged with, or acquired by a company with the same or like interests.

Sometimes People Dislike Experiments More than They Dislike Their Worst Conditions: Within-Subjects Evidence for “Experiment Aversion” and the A/B Effect

Note: A final version of this research has been published (link and reference below).Link: https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/early/2020/07/24/2009030117.full.pdfReference: Heck, P.R., Watts, D., Chabris, C.F., & Meyer, M.N. (2020). Objecting to experiments even while approving of the policies or treatments they compare. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Online first. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2009030117Across three studies that revealed the A/B Effect using a between-subjects design in Meyer et al. (2019), we find via corresponding within-subjects designs that the A/B Effect persists even when participants (1) have complete information about the options available to a decision-maker (i.e., to implement policy A for everyone or policy B for everyone, or to run an A/B test between them and use the results to choose the best policy), (2) rate the appropriateness of these decisions after being able to consider all of them, and (3) rank-order the soundness of the decisions to run an A/B test or implement an untested policy. The result held across three domains: two healthcare (a hospital and a walk-in clinic) and one corporate (a direct-to-consumer genetic testing company). Importantly, the results were robust to increasing levels of conservativeness in the critical test for the presence of an effect.

Vita

This project involved an overview of the considerations one would need to make in order to market and brand a food reactivity testing company that provides an easy way to get food reactivities tested and gives consumers the right tools to maintain their new diet after they get their results. This was accomplished through extensive research into food reactivities, at-home medical testing kits, diet programs, a target market, competition, branding, UX and UI design within food reactivity testing companies, and general design concepts. The final results included a logo and brand identity, package design, publication design, advertising, and application and website design.

Scandal prevention through a moral work environment: Case Study from Thailand

Purpose This case study aims to describe a set of human resources practices that can help prevent major scandals that would ruin the reputation of an organization. Design/methodology/approach The authors performed an in-depth case study of a standardized testing company, which has operated in Thailand for decades without a major cheating scandal. Findings Referrals-only recruitment, salient moral and religious cues in the workplace, and credible threats of punishments are the key tools the company has used to guard against cheating. Research limitations/implications The company’s practices are only appropriate in the context of a collectivist and culturally-homogeneous environment. Originality/value This case study represents an original and practical contribution to scandal-prevention strategies.