Genetic Determinism and Essentialism in the Student’s Minds: A Qualitative Exploration of Perceptions
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.56294/saludcyt20251882Keywords:
Narrative, Genetic determinism, Genetic essentialism, Genomic variationAbstract
Introduction: Genetic determinism and essentialism are scientifically rejected beliefs that may propagate inequity in several aspects of life.
Objective: This study aims to systematically explore the narrative constructs of students' genetic determinism and genetic essentialism concerning biological attributes, social standing, and career advancement; explore the impact of students' beliefs in genetic determinism and essentialism on their perceptions of social discrimination and current policy; and explore students' understanding of genomic variety as a potential way to mitigate prejudice caused by genetic determinism and genetic essentialism.
Methods: Narrative data were collected from 408 students in Indonesia using an open-ended questionnaire and subsequently analyzed using theme analysis.
Results: The study's findings indicate that students frequently use a determinism and essentialism framework to explain variations in traits, social position, and professions, often ignoring the complex nature of gene-environment interactions and resulting in racial behaviours. The narrative is intimately associated with issues of discrimination in employment, education, and healthcare sectors. While students generally acknowledge the concept of genomic variety, which may reduce beliefs in genetic determinism and essentialism, concrete efforts are still required to enhance its significance.
Conclusions: This study concludes that a persistent and incorrect understanding of genetics is present among students, requiring the reinforcement of the concept of genomic variation as a basis for enhancing genomics literacy in genetics education, which can ultimately mitigate stigma and social inequality.
References
1. Moore DS, Kampourakis K, Gericke N. The Problems with Genetic Essentialism, Determinism, and Reductionism. Hum Dev 2025;
2. Sarraf MA, Woodley of Menie MA. Genetic Determinism [Internet]. In: Shackelford TK, Weekes-Shackelford VA, editors. Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Cham: Springer International Publishing; 2019. page 1–14.Available from: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2162-2
3. Kampourakis K, Fux M. Ancestry inferences from DNA testing results: The problem of sociogenetic essentialism. Hist Philos Life Sci 2025;47(2).
4. Willoughby EA, Love AC, McGue M, Iacono WG, Quigley J, Lee JJ. Free Will, Determinism, and Intuitive Judgments About the Heritability of Behavior. Behav Genet [Internet] 2019;49(2):136–53. Available from: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85055320718&doi=10.1007%2fs10519-018-9931-1&partnerID=40&md5=99d1f151a0cff3318198d89170932952
5. Parrott R, Kahl ML, Ndiaye K, Traeder T. Health communication, genetic determinism, and perceived control: The roles of beliefs about susceptibility and severity versus disease essentialism. J Health Commun [Internet] 2012;17(7):762–78. Available from: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84864856860&doi=10.1080%2f10810730.2012.677301&partnerID=40&md5=691f845a2527dbdfa23760a5559941c1
6. Friedman A, Anderson TL. Types of genetic determinism in direct-to-consumer genetic testing for health. Soc Sci Med 2024;361.
7. Chellappoo A, Baedke J, Meloni M. From genetic to postgenomic determinisms: The role of the environment reconsidered: Introduction to the collection ‘Postgenomic determinisms: Environmental narratives after the century of the gene.’ Hist Philos Life Sci 2025;47(2).
8. Harden KP. Genetic Determinism, Essentialism and Reductionism: Semantic Clarity for Contested Science. Nat Rev Genet 2023;24(3):197–204.
9. Robinson GE, Bliss R, Hudson ME. The genomic case against genetic determinism. PLoS Biol 2024;22(2 FEBRUARY).
10. Yaylacı Ş, Robey D, Roth WD. Determinants of genetic essentialist beliefs about race: a comparison of Canada and the United States. Ethn Racial Stud 2025;
11. Hermida M. Biological Antecedents Essentialism. Erkenntnis 2024;
12. Reimann R, Lynch KE, Gawronski SA, Chan J, Griffiths PE. Classifying Genetic Essentialist Biases using Large Language Models. Rev Philos Psychol 2025;
13. Roth WD, Van Stee EG, Regla-Vargas A. Conceptualizations of Race: Essentialism and Constructivism. Annual Review of Sociology Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org Guest [Internet] 2025;Available from: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-031021-
14. Lebowitz MS, Appelbaum PS, Dixon LB, Girgis RR, Wall MM. Experimentally exploring the potential behavioral effects of personalized genetic information about marijuana and schizophrenia risk. J Psychiatr Res [Internet] 2021;140:316–22. Available from: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85107686948&doi=10.1016%2fj.jpsychires.2021.05.066&partnerID=40&md5=e1b9e5fde2c356075837801a118f55aa
15. Peters D, Menendez D, Rosengren K. Reframing mental illness: The role of essentialism on perceived treatment efficacy and stigmatization. Mem Cognit 2020;48(8):1317–33.
16. Kostick K, Pereira S, Brannan C, Torgerson L, Lázaro-Muñoz G. Psychiatric genomics researchers’ perspectives on best practices for returning results to individual participants. Genetics in Medicine [Internet] 2020;22(2):345–52. Available from: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85072105645&doi=10.1038%2fs41436-019-0642-7&partnerID=40&md5=e6af3bd0f5fe797ff58af00488eab0c2
17. Ványi D. A Social Constructionist Critique of Genetic Determinism. Sociol Compass [Internet] 2024;18(9):e70006. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.70006
18. Yaylacı Ş, Roth WD, Jaffe K. Measuring racial essentialism in the genomic era: The genetic essentialism scale for race (GESR). Current Psychology 2021;40(8):3794–808.
19. Shen H, Feldman MW. Diversity and its causes: Lewontin on racism, biological determinism and the adaptationist programme. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences2022;377(1852).
20. Halverson CME. Genetic Essentialism and Social Warranting. Perspect Biol Med [Internet] 2022;65(3):396–414. Available from: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85137681430&doi=10.1353%2fpbm.2022.0033&partnerID=40&md5=9aaec3dd963137616b948e9fe473412b
21. McCartney J. Exposing the hazards of teaching 19th century genetic science. J Res Sci Teach [Internet] 2024;61(6):1427–48. Available from: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85167784262&doi=10.1002%2ftea.21895&partnerID=40&md5=04d78e5ca6a0fc43a0c7b060b4a70f9e
22. Cheung BY, Schmalor A, Heine SJ. The Role of Genetic Essentialism and Genetics Knowledge in Support for Eugenics and Genetically Modified Foods. PLoS One 2021;16(9 September).
23. Condit CM. Laypeople are Strategic Essentialists, Not Genetic Essentialists. Hastings Center Report 2019;49(S1):S27–37.
24. Stern F, Kampourakis K, Müller A. Genes for a Role, Genes as Essences: Secondary Students’ Explicit and Implicit Intuitions About Genetic Essentialism and Teleology. J Res Sci Teach 2023;60(2):237–67.
25. Campbell A, Munafò MR, Sallis HM, Pearson RM, Smith D. Culture and causal inference: The impact of cultural differences on the generalisability of findings from Mendelian randomisation studies. Behavioral and Brain Sciences [Internet] 2022;45. Available from: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85137740712&doi=10.1017%2fS0140525X21001795&partnerID=40&md5=f9aed900a26d51fd660d74838ec342f8
26. Gericke N, Carver R, Castéra J, Evangelista NAM, Marre CC, El-Hani CN. Exploring Relationships Among Belief in Genetic Determinism, Genetics Knowledge, and Social Factors. Sci Educ (Dordr) 2017;26(10):1223–59.
27. Schudson ZC, Gelman SA. Social constructionist and essentialist beliefs about gender and race. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations 2023;26(2):406–30.
28. Williams J. Do Your Genes Fit: How Life Insurance Companies Discriminate Based on Genetic Test Results. Journal of biosecurity, biosafety and biodefense law 2024;0.
29. Boyle EB. Justice for Our Genes: The Case for Genetic Non-discrimination Regulations in the New Zealand Life Insurance Industry. J Law Med 2022;29(3).
30. Jamieson A, Radick G. Genetic Determinism in the Genetics Curriculum: An Exploratory Study of the Effects of Mendelian and Weldonian Emphases. Sci Educ (Dordr) 2017;26(10):1261–90.
31. Naeem M, Ozuem W, Howell K, Ranfagni S. A Step-by-Step Process of Thematic Analysis to Develop a Conceptual Model in Qualitative Research. Int J Qual Methods 2023;22.
32. Govindaraju DR, Goldstein AM. The elusive associations of nucleotides with human success: evolutionary genetics in education and social policies. Evolution: Education and Outreach2025;18(1).
33. Tornabene RE, Sbeglia GC, Nehm RH. Measuring Belief in Genetic Determinism: A Psychometric Evaluation of the PUGGS Instrument. Sci Educ (Dordr) 2020;29(6):1621–57.
34. Moore AM, Richer J. Genetic testing and screening in children. Paediatrics and Child Health (Canada)2022;27(4):243–7.
35. Fossey B, McCaffery KJ, Cvejic E, Jansen J, Copp T. Understanding the Relationship between Illness Perceptions and Health Behaviour among Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. Int J Environ Res Public Health [Internet] 2023;20(11). Available from: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85163057707&doi=10.3390%2fijerph20115998&partnerID=40&md5=cf1a22709f68cfff0c8447e9c0b60395
36. Carver RB, Castéra J, Gericke N, Evangelista NAM, El-Hani CN. Young Adults’ Belief in Genetic Determinism, and Knowledge and Attitudes Towards Modern Genetics and Genomics: The PUGGS Questionnaire. PLoS One 2017;12(1).
37. Paxson J. Teaching Developmental Biology to Drive Social Change: Pedagogy that Challenges Biologically Deterministic Views on Phenotypic Variation. Dev Biol2025;522:116–24.
38. Holden LTR, Haughbrook R, Hart SA. Developmental behavioral genetics research on school achievement is missing vulnerable children, to our detriment. New Dir Child Adolesc Dev2022;2022(183–184):47–55.
39. García-Pintos LP. Limits on the evolutionary rates of biological traits. Sci Rep 2024;14(1).
40. Kuijpers Y, Domínguez-Andrés J, Bakker OB, Gupta MK, Grasshoff M, Xu CJ, et al. Evolutionary Trajectories of Complex Traits in European Populations of Modern Humans. Front Genet 2022;13.
41. Munck L, Rinnan Å, Khakimov B, Jespersen BM, Engelsen SB. Physiological Genetics Reformed: Bridging the Genome-to-Phenome Gap by Coherent Chemical Fingerprints – the Global Coordinator. Trends Plant Sci2021;26(4):324–37.
42. Shen H, Feldman MW. Diversity and Its Causes: Lewontin on Racism, Biological Determinism and The Adaptationist Programm. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences2022;377(1852).
43. Moore GA, Neiderhiser JM. Behavioral Genetic Approaches and Family Theory. J Fam Theory Rev 2014;6(1):18–30.
44. Meyer MN, Appelbaum PS, Benjamin DJ, Callier SL, Comfort N, Conley D, et al. Wrestling with Social and Behavioral Genomics: Risks, Potential Benefits, and Ethical Responsibility. Hastings Center Report [Internet] 2023;53(S1):S2–49. Available from: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85153071514&doi=10.1002%2fhast.1477&partnerID=40&md5=a1799cfe89fc5c1fd922abca7ab73314
45. Heine SJ, Cheung BY, Schmalor A. Making Sense of Genetics: The Problem of Essentialism. Hastings Center Report 2019;49(S1):S19–26.
46. Wagner W, Kronberger N. Can essences mix? An essentialist theory of genetic hybrids in the human and animal domain. New Ideas Psychol 2024;73.
47. Ejekwumadu I. “Big, strong, reliable guys who have the legs to run”: racialised stereotypes of the African player and talent development systems in West Africa. Ethn Racial Stud 2025;
48. Heine SJ, Dar-Nimrod I, Cheung BY, Proulx T. Essentially Biased: Why People Are Fatalistic About Genes. In: Advances in Experimental Social Psychology. Academic Press Inc.; 2017. page 137–92.
49. Castéra J, Clément P. Teachers’ Conceptions About the Genetic Determinism of Human Behaviour: A Survey in 23 Countries. Sci Educ (Dordr) 2014;23(2):417–43.
50. Yaylacı Ş, Roth WD, Jaffe K. Measuring Racial Essentialism in The Genomic Era: The Genetic Essentialism Scale for Race (GESR). Current Psychology 2021;40(8):3794–808.
51. Khan AJ, Naseem E, Iqbal J, Ansari MAA, Farooq M. Is being obese a crime? An examination of hiring and workplace discrimination. Middle East Journal of Management 2023;10(1):34–50.
52. Tiller J, Lacaze P, Otlowski M. The Australian moratorium on genetics and life insurance: evaluating policy compared to Parliamentary recommendations regarding genetic discrimination. 2022;
53. Nicholls SG, Fafard P. Genetic discrimination legislation in Canada: Moving from rhetoric to real debate. CMAJ2016;188(11):788–9.
54. Andhale R, Shrivastava D. Huntington’s Disease: A Clinical Review. Cureus 2022;
55. Palaiogeorgou AM, Papakonstantinou E, Golfinopoulou R, Sigala M, Mitsis T, Papageorgiou L, et al. Recent approaches on Huntington’s disease (Review). Biomed Rep2023;18(1).
56. Chapman CR, Mehta KS, Parent B, Caplan AL. Genetic discrimination: emerging ethical challenges in the context of advancing technology. J Law Biosci 2020;7(1):lsz016.
57. Rothstein MA. Predictive health information and employment discrimination under the ADA and GINA. The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 2020;48(3):595–602.
58. Masoumeh Kouchaki Nasrabadi, Shima Anvari, Ali Abdi, Mohammad Paravar. Presenting A Causal Model For Predicting Academic Achievement Based On Intelligence Beliefs And Scientific Optimism Mediated By Academic Engagement And Self- Efficacy. International Journal For Research In Social Science And Humanities 2023;9(6):1–11.
59. Schneider S, Lösch T, Schneider D, Schütz A. How self-concept, competence, and their fit or misfit predict educational achievement, well-being, and social relationships in the school context. Collabra Psychol 2022;8(1):37154.
60. Barry CJS, Davies NM, Morris TT. Investigating how the accuracy of teacher expectations of pupil performance relate to socioeconomic and genetic factors. Sci Rep 2022;12(1).
61. Briley DA, Livengood J, Derringer J. Behaviour Genetic Frameworks of Causal Reasoning for Personality Psychology. Eur J Pers 2018;32(3):202–20.
62. Malinowska JK, Żuradzki T. Reductionist methodology and the ambiguity of the categories of race and ethnicity in biomedical research: an exploratory study of recent evidence. Med Health Care Philos 2023;26(1):55–68.
63. Haley CE, Zawati MH. Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Tests and Canadian Genetic Counselors: A Pilot Exploration of Professional Roles in Response to Novel Biotechnologies. Genes (Basel) 2024;15(2).
64. Hong SJ. Cross-Cultural Differences in the Influences of Spiritual and Religious Tendencies on Beliefs in Genetic Determinism and Family Health History Communication: A Teleological Approach. J Relig Health 2019;58(5):1516–36.
65. Müller S, Riedmüller R. How will the mild encephalitis hypothesis of schizophrenia influence stigmatization? Front Psychiatry [Internet] 2017;8(MAY). Available from: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85032566937&doi=10.3389%2ffpsyt.2017.00067&partnerID=40&md5=584b59ff4eac7a968651868f9a5acf32
66. Findyartini A, Greviana N, Hanum C, Wiyarta E, Novarianto JK, Nugroho Supranoto YT, et al. “How is social media used for learning?”: relationships between social media use by medical students with their self-regulated learning skills. BMC Med Educ 2024;24(1).
67. Indrawati MFN, Satrya A. The Impact of Employees’ Paradox Mindset on Innovative Behavior Mediated by Thriving at Work: A Quantitative Study of Banking Employees. 2023. page 453–61.
68. Liu Y, Zhang H. Making things happen: How employees’ paradox mindset influences innovative performance. Front Psychol 2022;13.
69. Akbar Hidayat WGP. Innovation in Human Resource Management to Create a Better Work Environment and Contribute to Organizational Success: A Systematic Literature Review. Open Access Indonesia Journal of Social Sciences 2023;6(6):1176–84.
70. Zirar A. Can artificial intelligence’s limitations drive innovative work behaviour? Review of Managerial Science2023;17(6):2005–34.
71. Jennings K, and Braun E. Beyond Suppressing Testosterone: A Categorical System to Achieve a “Level Playing Field” in Sport. The American Journal of Bioethics [Internet] 2024;24(11):4–17. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1080/15265161.2023.2232750
72. Gineviciene V, Utkus A, Pranckeviciene E, Semenova EA, Hall ECR, Ahmetov II. Perspectives in Sports Genomics. Biomedicines 2022;10(2).
73. Lillydahl A, Clayton J. “DNA Doesn’t Lie:” Genetic Essentialism and Determinism in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Journal of Medical Humanities 2025;
74. Donovan BM, Weindling M, Salazar B, Duncan A, Stuhlsatz M, Keck P. Genomics Literacy Matters: Supporting the Development of Genomics Literacy Through Genetics Education Could Reduce the Prevalence of Genetic Essentialism. J Res Sci Teach 2021;58(4):520–50.
75. Roque R, Ribeiro IP, Figueiredo-Dias M, Gourley C, Carreira IM. Current Applications and Challenges of Next-Generation Sequencing in Plasma Circulating Tumour DNA of Ovarian Cancer. Biology (Basel)2024;13(2).
76. Hubbard AR, Monnig LA. Using Anthropological Principles to Transform the Teaching of Human “Difference” and Genetic Variation in College Classrooms. Sci Educ (Dordr) 2020;29(6):1541–65.
77. Donovan BM, Semmens R, Keck P, Brimhall E, Busch KC, Weindling M, et al. Toward a More Humane Genetics Education: Learning About The Social and Quantitative Complexities of Human Genetic Variation Research Could Reduce Racial Bias in Adolescent and Adult Populations. Sci Educ 2019;103(3):529–60.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Nindiana Choirunisa, Siti Zubaidah, Hendra Susanto (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The article is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Unless otherwise stated, associated published material is distributed under the same licence.
