Social studies is one of the main courses of the elementary and middle school curriculum in Turkey. Social studies took educators attention because it prepares students as exemplary citizens. The term of social studies has been started to use at the end of 1960's in Turkey. Thus, there have been several definitions and classification of the social studies. Understanding the nature of the social studies is crucial for pre-service social teacher because they will teach this course two-three years later. The purpose of this study is to investigate pre-service social studies teachers' understandings about the nature of the social studies. The author used descriptive survey model in this study. The sample consisted of 309 pre-service social studies teachers from a public university in the middle west of Turkey. The data were collected through Social Studies Preference Scale. The results indicated that Turkish pre-service social studies teachers have positive attitudes toward all of the three traditions of the social studies (Social Studies as Citizenship Transmission, Social Studies as Social Science, and Social Studies as Reflective Inquiry). Also, according to the results, male pre-service social studies had more positive attitudes than female pre-service social studies to the social studies as citizenship transmission tradition. In addition, participants in the lower grade level produced more superior acceptance on Reflective Inquiry traditions in comparison with students in the higher grades.