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Full resolution (TIFF) - On this page / på denna sida - II. Race - 6. Racial Characteristics - 3. Psychic Traits
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146 An American Dilemma
had to say to himself, as most authors are saying today, that psychic differ-
ences simply are to be expected. We know that individuals are different,
and that heredity is an appreciable component in individual differences.
We know also that there are average physical differences between Negroes
and whites, although we have not succeeded in measuring them. Hence
why should there not be innate -psychic differences as well? Why should
not the differences in ancestry and in the natural and cultural factors which
have influenced biological history somewhat differently for the average
American Negro also show up in differences as to average character,
temperament, sensory powers and intelligence? Professor Boas, who cer-
tainly did not share in any bias in favor of racial differences, said:
It does not seem probable that the minds of races which show variations in their
anatomical structure should act in exactly the same way, DiflFerences of structure
must be accompanied by differences of function, physiological as well as psychological;
and, as we found clear evidence of difference in structure between the races, we
must anticipate that differences in mental characteristics will be found.^®
With particular reference to Negro-white differences, Boas said:
... it would be erroneous to assume that there are no differences in the mental
make-up of the Negro race and of other races, and that their activities should mix
in the same lines. On the contrary, if there is any meaning in correlation of anatom-
ical structure and physiological function, we must expect that differences exist.®®
Such statements are made by almost everyone who touches the problem.
In view of these presumptions and biases, whether valid or invalid, the
startling thing is that psychological research has failed to prove what it
set out to prove. Huxley and Haddon—^who, like most of the others,
emphasize that ^^It is clear that there must exist innate genetic differences
between human groups in regard to intelligence, temperament, and other
psychological traits . . —make the important remark that it is ‘^not
without significance that such an enormous mass of investigation has failed
to demonstrate what so many are eager to prove.”^^ This fact is of some
importance as it should increase our right to feel confident in the results
of the scientific trend, on the part of scientists, toward finding no psychic
difference between Negroes and whites. The desire to attain methodolog-
ically valid results is tending to overcome—^in the long run—^presumptions
and biases.
Research on psychic differences has, almost from the beginning, been
dominated by methodological criticism and a gradual refinement of research
methods. The story has been told several times in technical and popular
works and will not be retold here.®® A few generalizations may suffice.
As in the case of the similar problems in regard to the differences be-
tween social classes and between the two sexes, the great differences between
individuals within each of the two groups tended from the beginning to
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