hereditarian
Genes determine traits
A hereditarian believes that genetic inheritance largely determines human traits like intelligence, personality, or behavior—as opposed to environmental factors like upbringing or education.
The term often appears in debates about IQ and race, where it carries controversial implications: The hereditarian position on intelligence remains hotly contested.
As an adjective, it describes this view: hereditarian assumptions about ability.
Genetic share of variation
- twin studiesResearch comparing identical siblings
- nature versus nurtureDebate over innate versus acquired traits
- behavioral geneticsStudy of inherited behavioral traits
- IQIntelligence score
intelligence · g-factor · psychometrics · cognitive ability · genetic determinism · GWAS · mental ability · aptitude
Observable characteristics of organism
- genotypeOrganism's complete allele set
- alleleGene variant at one locus
- mutationPermanent DNA alteration
- natural selectionDifferential reproductive success
adaptation · fitness · variation · dominance · recessive · gene expression · Mendelian · chromosomal
Debate over innate versus acquired traits
- environmentalismAdvocacy for nature protection
- blank slateUnmarked starting point
- nativismPreference for native-born citizens
- interactionismTheory of mutual social influence
controversy · taboo · acquired traits · plasticity · meritocracy · inequality
Controlled reproduction for traits
- racial hygienePseudoscientific selective breeding ideology
- Nazi ideologyTotalitarian racist German doctrine
- master raceClaimed superior human group
- sterilizationComplete elimination of microbes
social Darwinism · biopolitics · degeneracy · genetic determinism · scientific racism · population control · human enhancement
heritability
Genetic share of variation
- twin studiesResearch comparing identical siblings
- nature versus nurtureDebate over innate versus acquired traits
- behavioral geneticsStudy of inherited behavioral traits
IQ · intelligence · g-factor · psychometrics · cognitive ability · genetic determinism · GWAS · mental ability · aptitude · achievement
phenotype
Observable characteristics of organism
- genotypeOrganism's complete allele set
- alleleGene variant at one locus
- mutationPermanent DNA alteration
natural selection · adaptation · fitness · variation · dominance · recessive · gene expression · Mendelian · chromosomal · DNA
nature versus nurture
Debate over innate versus acquired traits
- environmentalismAdvocacy for nature protection
- blank slateUnmarked starting point
- nativismPreference for native-born citizens
interactionism · controversy · taboo · acquired traits · plasticity · meritocracy · inequality
selective breeding
Controlled reproduction for traits
- racial hygienePseudoscientific selective breeding ideology
- Nazi ideologyTotalitarian racist German doctrine
- master raceClaimed superior human group
sterilization · social Darwinism · biopolitics · degeneracy · genetic determinism · scientific racism · population control · human enhancement
hereditarianenvironmentalist
Natural world protection advocate
behaviorist · situationist · Skinnerian · empiricist · contextualist
heritage, inherit, inheritance, inherited, heredity, hereditary, inheritor, inherits, disinherit