Behavioral Genetics, Population Genetics, and Genetic Essentialism: A Survey Experiment

Autor/in	Morin-Chassé, Alexandre
Titel	Behavioral Genetics, Population Genetics, and Genetic Essentialism: A Survey Experiment
Quelle	In: Science & Education, 29 (2020) 6, S.1595-1619 (25 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Morin-Chassé, Alexandre)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0926-7220
DOI	10.1007/s11191-020-00166-y
Schlagwörter	Genetics; Behavior Development; Beliefs; News Reporting; Heredity; Theories; Mass Media Effects; Misconceptions; Adults + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Humangenetik; Belief; Glaube; News report; Reportage; Erblichkeit; Theory; Theorie; Missverständnis
Abstract	The paper presents an experimental study that examines the conditions required for news about behavioral genetics to activate genetic essentialism beliefs. Nine hundred sixty-five adults living in the USA were randomly assigned to read either a control news article or one of the three versions of a news story about behavioral genetics. The cautious version presents a general introduction to behavioral genetics and examples while also discrediting the genetic determinist myth and clarifying that this field is not interested in studying differences between populations. Another version was identical to the cautious version, except that it mentioned high heritability estimates as supporting evidence. Finally, a third version included claims supporting Nicolas Wade's (2014) main thesis, which argued that societies develop different institutions partly because of their population's behavioral genetic predispositions. Compared to participants in the control group, those exposed to the high heritability version and the Wade's thesis version reported higher scores on a scale measuring belief in genetics determinism. The results revealed no overall effect for the cautious version, but an exploratory interaction model indicates that reactions to this version vary depending on educational attainment. Implications and limitations are discussed. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01