Rate My Professor Paige Harden

Kathryn Paige Harden is Professor of Psychology (Clinical) in the Department of Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, where she directs the Developmental Behavior Genetics lab, co-directs the Texas Twin Project, and serves as Director of Clinical Training for the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. Program since August 2024. She also holds a Faculty Research Associate position at the Population Research Center since 2009. Harden received her B.S. in Psychology from Furman University in 2003, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa; M.A. in Clinical Psychology in 2005; and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology in 2009 from the University of Virginia. She completed her predoctoral internship in clinical psychology at McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, from 2008 to 2009. She joined the University of Texas at Austin as Assistant Professor in 2009, advanced to Associate Professor with tenure in 2015, and became Professor in 2020. Additionally, she was a Russell Sage Foundation Visiting Scholar from 2015 to 2016.

Harden's research investigates genetic and environmental influences on adolescent development, including risk-taking, pubertal timing, executive functions, psychopathology, substance use, academic achievement, and socioeconomic disparities, employing twin studies, polygenic scores, and sociogenomics approaches. She has authored over 150 peer-reviewed publications, including 'Genetic determinism, essentialism and reductionism: Semantic clarity for contested science' in Nature Reviews Genetics (2023), 'Using genetics for social science' in Nature Human Behaviour (2020), and 'Polygenic associations with advanced mathematics coursetaking in U.S. high schools' in npj Science of Learning (2020). Her books are The Genetic Lottery: Why DNA Matters for Social Equality (Princeton University Press, 2021) and Original Sin: On the Genetics of Morality (2026). Harden has received the American Psychological Association's Distinguished Scientific Award for an Early Career Contribution to Psychology (2017), the Fulker Award for Best Paper from the Behavior Genetics Association (2016), the Jacobs Foundation Early Career Research Fellowship (2017-2019), and the Dads’ Association Centennial Teaching Fellowship from UT Austin (2018). Her contributions have influenced the integration of behavioral genetics into developmental, clinical, and social sciences.