Contrary to our expectations, beliefs about the relative contribution of genes and environment in psychiatric disorders did not seem to play a significant role, if any, in Blacks’ willingness to participate in genetic research. This may have been because of our particular study items, which were not high in internal consistency (see factors 7 and 8), and, therefore, did not yield particularly meaningful information. In contrast, there have been mixed findings with regard to ethnic group differences in beliefs about genetic contributions to mental disorders (Schnittker et al., 2000; Singer et al., 2007) showing that Blacks may be more or less likely than Whites to endorse genetic causes, depending on the specific disorders or traits, and the way in which the questions are asked. This suggests that the Blacks may be using attribution or essentialist notions of genetics, depending on the situation, thereby canceling out specific effects and leading to different outcomes. However, the scope of this study did not allow for the examination of hypothetical influences of particular theories in determining the relative contribution of genes or the environment, and their effects on willingness to participate in genetic research. This is an important area that calls for further research.
