Ultimate Attribution in the Genetic Era: White Support for Genetic Explanations of Racial Difference and Policies

Abstract

This study uses a nationally representative survey to examine the relationship between attitudes about genetics and race. We focus on the ways in which negative out-group behavior can be explained as innate and genetic (Pettigrew’s “ultimate attribution error”), and how this may underlie racial prejudice and racial individualism—the notion that individual capabilities, not structural inequality or discrimination, drive racial stratification. We examine the relationship between attitudes about genetics and racially ameliorative policies. We find whites are more accepting of genetic explanations for blacks’ traits and behaviors. Our analyses show that racialized genetic attribution, among other factors, increases opposition to racial policies. When linked with racial individualism, though, genetic attribution can actually reduce opposition to racial policies—a finding that paints a disconcerting picture of how biological determinism is embedded in white racial ideology. Findings are discussed in relation to efforts to reduce racial inequality.