Exploring Relationships Among Belief in Genetic Determinism, Genetics Knowledge, and Social Factors

Abstract

Genetic determinism can be described as the attribution of the formation of traits to genes, where genes are ascribed more causal power than what scientific consensus suggests. Belief in genetic determinism is an educational problem because it contradicts scientific knowledge, and is a societal problem because it has the potential to foster intolerant attitudes such as racism and prejudice against sexual orientation. In this article, we begin by investigating the very nature of belief in genetic determinism. Then, we investigate whether knowledge of genetics and genomics is associated with beliefs in genetic determinism. Finally, we explore the extent to which social factors such as gender, education, and religiosity are associated with genetic determinism. Methodologically, we gathered and analyzed data on beliefs in genetic determinism, knowledge of genetics and genomics, and social variables using the BPublic Understanding and Attitudes towards Genetics and Genomics^(PUGGS) instrument. Our analyses of PUGGS responses from a sample of Brazilian university freshmen undergraduates indicated that (1) belief in genetic determinism was best characterized as a construct built up by two dimensions or belief systems: beliefs concerning social traits and beliefs concerning biological traits; (2) levels of belief in genetic determination of social traits were low, which contradicts prior work; (3) associations between knowledge of genetics and genomics and levels of belief in genetic determinism were low; and (4) social factors such as age and religiosity had stronger associations with beliefs in genetic determinism than Sci & Educ (2017) 26:1223-1259 https://doi

Free Will, Determinism, and Intuitive Judgments About the Heritability of Behavior

“…Studies of monozygotic twins-a standard methodology utilized in behavior genetics-have shown for decades that twins can exhibit uncanny similarities as a direct consequence of genetic similarity. These studies also tend to engender a fascination with free will and determinism, especially as misunderstandings about the nature and meaning of heritability are thought to sometimes foster maladaptive social attitudes (Gericke et al, 2017). Intriguingly, the relationship between our intuitions about free will and knowledge about the heritability of human traits has remained largely unstudied.…”

Teachers' Perceptions about the Etiology of Intelligence and Learning Difficulties

“…Over time, research has been conducted to evaluate the perceptions of various groups of people on issues related to genetic influence and various aspects of human cognition (Castera & Clement, 2014;Crosswaite & Asbury, 2016;2018;Gericke et al, 2017;Human Genetics Comission, 2001;Rindermann et al, 2016a;2016b;Snyderman & Rothman, 1988;Thomas & Sarnecka, 2015;Walker & Plomin, 2005).…”

“…Although recent discourses have been considering the processes of learning and school outcomes as something beyond cognitive abilities (Abed, 2016), the educational system remains to privilege such abilities through standardized assessment. Human cognitive abilities have historically been attributed more to genetic factors than to environmental factors (Gould, 1996;Snyderman & Rothman, 1988), and these, in turn, were considered immutable by various social groups (Castera & Clement, 2014;Gould, 1996;Keller, 2005;Rattan, Savani, Naidu & Dweck, 2012;Thomas & Sarnecka, 2015;Willoughby et al, 2019) The Brazilian teachers' conceptions about origin and evolution of life are more creationist than the teachers' conceptions in other Latin American countries, like Argentina and Uruguay, for example (Silva, Clément, Leão, Garros, & Carvalho, 2017). Such conception may be related to deterministic beliefs.…”

Genetic Determinism and Place

“…In other words, "people who are especially likely to view groups as sharing a common genetic essence are more likely to espouse stereotypic beliefs about those groups" (Dar-Nimrod, Heine, 2011, p. 803). This shows that belief in genetic determinism and the forgetting of place "is a societal problem because it has the potential to foster intolerant attitudes such as racism and prejudice against sexual orientation" (Gericke et al, 2017(Gericke et al, , p. 1223). However, "knowledge about genetics and the influence of the environment on biological outcomes might reduce beliefs in genetic determinism" (Ibid, p. 1224).…”