The Perennial Debate: Nature, Nurture, or Choice? Black and White Americans’ Explanations for Individual Differences

Abstract

The authors examine 3 common explanations for human characteristics: genes, the environment, and choice. A representative sample of White and Black Americans indicated how much they believed each factor influenced individual differences in athleticism, nurturance, drive to succeed, math ability, tendency toward violence, intelligence, and sexual orientation. Results show that across traits (a) Black respondents generally favored choice and rejected genetic explanations, whereas White respondents indicated less causal consistency; (b) although a sizable subset of respondents endorsed just 1 factor, most reported multiple factors as at least partly influential; and (c) among White respondents, greater endorsement of genetic explanations was associated with less acceptance of choice and the environment, although among Black respondents a negative relationship held only between genes and choice. The social relevance of these findings is discussed within the context of the attribution, essentialism, and lay theory literature. The results underscore the need to consider more complex and nuanced issues than are implied by the simplistic, unidimensional character of the nature–nurture and determinism–free will debates—perennial controversies that have significance in the current genomic era.