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 “Public 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 knowledge. Although our study design precludes causal inferences, our results raise questions about whether enhancing genetic literacy will decrease or prevent beliefs in genetic determinism.
Highlights
Genetic determinism is a concept with many different definitions
We did not find any significant correlations between beliefs in genetic determinism to knowledge about the complexity of gene-environment interaction or to knowledge about modern genetics and genomics
The hypothesis, underlying the second research question, that greater knowledge of multifactorial genetics and/or modern genomics would be associated with significantly lower beliefs in genetic determinism was not supported
Summary
Genetic determinism is a concept with many different definitions. In this study, we build on the concept of genetic attribution (Tygart 2000) and define belief in genetic determinism as attributing to genes the formation of human traits at an individual level, perceiving them as having more causal power than what scientific consensus suggests. The gene is seen as the active determinant of some kind of physical trait or behavior, to which it is given Bpower^ or Bagency^ that supersedes a scientific explanation. This excessive belief in the attribution of trait formation to genes, when compared to a scientific viewpoint, has been identified as both an educational and a societal problem. Determinism can be described as the philosophical idea that everything that happens, including human actions, is completely determined by previous events or entities This leads to a belief that there is only one possible future and that the future becomes predictable (Doyle 2011). Most cultural and religious traditions harbor some notion of superior powers that shape human fate, possibly because this offers a means to alleviate existential distress before the arbitrariness of human suffering (Geertz 1973) and motivates prosocial behavior (Johnson et al 2003; Johnson and Krüger 2004)
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