An article claiming that skin pigmentation is related to aggression and sexuality in humans will be retracted, Elsevier announced today.
The study, " Do pigmentation and the melanocortin system modulate aggression and sexuality in humans as they do in other animals?" was published online in Personality and Individual Differences, an Elsevier journal, on March 15, 2012.
The study's authors, John Rushton and Donald Templer, both deceased, hypothesized that skin color was related to aggression and sexuality in humans. It has been cited just nine times in eight years, according to Clarivate Analytics' Web of Science.
Part of the abstract says:
We review animal studies that have found darker pigmented individuals average higher amounts of aggression and sexual activity than lighter pigmented individuals. We hypothesize that similar relationships between pigmentation, aggression, and sexuality occur in humans.
A Medium post critiqued the study back in November 2019:
While I understand that this article proposes a hypothesis without presenting original data, there are nonetheless a number of issues that should have precluded its publication. These include a misrepresentation of research on pleiotropy, misrepresentation of the authors' sources, cherry-picked citations which misrepresent the state of the literature, and no disclosure of the authors' conflict-of-interest. Far from being a simple hypothesis, this article is a source of misinformation, which is being weaponized by White supremacists. For these reasons, I believe Elsevier should investigate the publication decision process behind this paper and a formal Editorial Expression of Concern should be written.
The post also notes that
In support of their hypothesis that people with darker pigment are more aggressive, Rushton and Templer cite Lynn (2002), who proposes that Black people are more psychopathic than White people. However, the findings ofLynn (2002) have been thoroughly refuted.
Lynn lost his emeritus status for his views on race and intelligence in 2018.
Rushton has also credited Hans Eysenck - who co-founded Personality and Individual Differences and whose work has come under serious scrutiny - for inspiring his interest in psychology.
After being forwarded the Medium post earlier this month, Retraction Watch contacted Elsevier about the concerns raised in the critique one week ago today. The company did not respond, but posted the retraction announcement today
Personality and Individual Differences has taken the decision to retract the review article Rushton, J.P., Templer, D.I. (2012). Do pigmentation and the melanocortin system modulate aggression and sexuality in humans as they do in other animals? Personality and Individual Differences, 53, 4-8. This retraction comes after a thorough review of the published article, the sources cited within the article, and critical comments from readers. The retraction notice is currently being finalized and will appear in the journal imminently.
The news was cheered by at least a few Twitter users:
The editor of the journal, Donald Saklofske, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Retraction Watch. Saklofske joined the psychology department of the University of Western Ontario - where Rushton was on faculty - in 2012, the same year as the paper was published and the same year that Rushton died.
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