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Belief in genetic determinism; genes; traits

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Belief In Genetic Determinism Within Academic Levels, Miranda Massmann, Katie Humrick, Linda Fuselier Jan 2020

Belief In Genetic Determinism Within Academic Levels, Miranda Massmann, Katie Humrick, Linda Fuselier

Undergraduate Arts and Research Showcase

Belief in genetic determinism (BGD) is the belief that genes attribute more influence on the expression of traits than scientific research supports. The environment and other factors, such as epigenetics, factor heavily into the expression of traits and it is important that students from all backgrounds understand this since BGD has been associated with societal instances of racism and sexism. We analyzed essay responses that undergraduate students wrote in response to a socioscientific issue (SSI) about the use of CRISPR/Cas9 technology for non-medical enhancement in humans to examine the presence of BGD. Our sample was composed of non-biology majors, lower …