Free Will, Determinism, and Intuitive Judgments About the Heritability of Behavior: educated mothers with multiple children emerge as particularly accurate in their judgments of trait heritability

Willoughby, Emily A., 2018. “Free Will, Determinism, and Intuitive Judgments About the Heritability of Behavior”. Open Science Framework. February 10. https://osf.io/ezg2j

Abstract: The fact that genes and environment contribute differentially to variation in human behaviors, traits and attitudes is central to the field of behavior genetics. To the public, perceptions about these differential contributions may affect ideas about human agency. We surveyed two independent samples (N = 301 and N = 740) to assess beliefs about free will, determinism, political orientation, and the relative contribution of genes and environment to 21 human traits. We find that beliefs about the heritability of these traits cluster into four distinct groups, which differentially predict both beliefs about human agency and political orientation. Despite apparent ideological influences on these beliefs, the correspondence between lay judgments of heritabilities and published estimates is large (r = .77). Belief in genetic determinism emerges as a modest predictor of accuracy in these judgments. Additionally, educated mothers with multiple children emerge as particularly accurate in their judgments of the heritabilities of these traits.