Could the explosion of genetic research in recent decades affect our conceptions of race? In Backdoor to Eugenics, Duster argues that reports of specific racial differences in genetic bases of disease, in part because they are presented as objective facts whose social implications are not readily apparent, may heighten public belief in more pervasive racial differences. We tested this hypothesis with a multi-method study. A content analysis showed that news articles discussing racial differences in genetic bases of disease increased significantly between 1985 and 2008 and were significantly less likely than non–health-related articles about race and genetics to discuss social implications. A survey experiment conducted with a nationally representative sample of 559 adults found that a news-story vignette reporting a specific racial difference in genetic risk for heart attacks (the Backdoor Vignette) produced significantly greater belief in essential racial differences than did a vignette portraying race as a social construction or a no-vignette condition. The Backdoor Vignette produced beliefs in essential racial differences that were virtually identical to those produced by a vignette portraying race as a genetic reality. These results suggest that an unintended consequence of the genomic revolution may be the reinvigoration of age-old beliefs in essential racial differences.
Abu El-HajNadia. 2007. “The Genetic Reinscription of Race.” Annual Review of Anthropology36:283–300.
2.
BastianBrockHaslamNick. 2006. “Psychological Essentialism and Stereotype Endorsement.” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology42:228–35.
3.
BatesBenjamin R.PoirotKristanHarrisTina M.ConditCeleste M.AchterPaul J.2004. “Evaluating Direct-to-Consumer Marketing of Race-Based Pharmacogenomics: A Focus Group Study of Public Understandings of Applied Genomic Medication.” Journal of Health Communication9:541–59.
4.
BolnickDeborah A.FullwileyDuanaDusterTroyCooperRichard S.FujimuraJoan H.KahnJonathanKaufmanJay S.MarksJonathanMorningAnnNelsonAlondraOssorioPilarReardonJennyReverbySusan M.TallBearKimberly. 2007. “The Science and Business of Genetic Ancestry Testing.” Science318:399–400.
5.
BrewerMarilynn B.BrownRupert J.1998. “Intergroup Relations.” Pp. 554–94 in The Handbook of Social Psychology, 4th ed., Vol. 2, edited by GilbertD. T.FiskeS. T.LindzeyG.New York: McGraw-Hill.
6.
ChangAlicia. 2006. “Study: Genetics Not Smoking Habits May Be Responsible for Lung Cancer Disparities among Races.” Associated Press, January26, Domestic News.
7.
ConditCeleste M.BatesB. R.2005. “How Lay People Respond to Messages about Genetics, Health and Race.” Clinical Genetics68:97–105.
8.
ConditCeleste M.ParrottRoxanne L.BatesB. R.BeyanJenniferAchterP. J.2004. “Exploration of the Impact of Messages about Genes and Race on Lay Attitudes.” Clinical Genetics66:402–408.
9.
DeBellMatthewKrosnickJon A.LupiaArthur. 2010. Methodology Report and User’s Guide for the 2008–2009 ANES Panel Study. Palo Alto, CA and Ann Arbor, MI: Stanford University and the University of Michigan.
10.
DustserTroy. 1990. Backdoor to Eugenics. New York: Routledge.
11.
DustserTroy. 2003a. Backdoor to Eugenics, 2nd ed.New York: Routledge.
12.
DustserTroy. 2003b. “Buried Alive: The Concept of Race in Science.” Pp. 258–77 in Genetic Nature/Culture: Anthropology and Science beyond the Two-Culture Divide, edited by GoodmanA.HeathD.LindeeS.Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
13.
EpsteinSteven. 2007. Inclusion: The Politics of Difference in Medical Research. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
14.
FanonFrantz. 1967. Black Skin, White Masks. New York: Grove Press.
15.
FarleyReynoldsFreyWilliam H.1994. “Changes in the Segregation of Whites from Blacks during the 1980s: Small Steps toward a More Integrated Society.” American Sociological Review59:25–45.
16.
FeaginJoe. 2001. Racist America: Roots, Current Realities, and Future Reparations. New York: Routledge.
17.
FrankReanne. 2007. “What to Make of It? The (Re)emergence of a Biological Conceptualization of Race in Health Disparities Research.” Social Science and Medicine64:1977–83.
18.
FullwileyDuana. 2007. “The Molecularization of Race: Institutionalizing Human Difference in Pharmacogenetics Practice.” Science as Culture16:1–30.
19.
GaertnerSamuel L.DovidioJohn F.1986. “The Aversive Form of Racism.” Pp. 61–89 in Prejudice, Discrimination, and Racism, edited by DovidioJ. F.GaertnerS. L.Orlando, FL: Academic.
20.
GossettThomas F.1965. Race: The History of an Idea in America. New York: Schocken Books.
21.
GradyDenise. 2006. “Imperfect, Imprecise but Useful: Your Race.” New York Times, July4, Section F, Column 5, p. 5.
22.
HaneyDaniel Q.1995. “Genetic Mutation Linked to Stroke Risk in Blacks.” Associated Press, February11, Domestic News.
23.
HaneyDaniel Q.1997. “Prostate Cancer Gene Appears More Common in Black Men.” Associated Press, April16.
24.
HernsteinRichard J.MurrayCharles. 1994. The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life. New York: Free Press.
25.
HoffmanCurtHurstNancy. 1990. “Gender Stereotypes: Perception or Rationalization?”Journal of Personality and Social Psychology58:197–208.
26.
HuntMatthew O.2007. “African American, Hispanic, and White Beliefs about Black/White Inequality, 1977–2004.” American Sociological Review72:390–415.
27.
International HapMap Consortium. 2003. “The International HapMap Project.” Nature426:789–96.
28.
JayaratneToby EpsteinGelmanSusan A.FeldbaumMerleSheldonJane P.PettyElizabeth M.KardiaSharon L. R.2009. “The Perennial Debate: Nature, Nurture, or Choice? Black and White Americans’ Explanations for Individual Differences.” Review of General Psychology13:24–33.
29.
JayaratneToby EpsteinIbarraOscarSheldonJane P.BrownTony N.FeldbaumMerlePfefferCarla A.PettyElizabeth M.2006. “White Americans’ Genetic Lay Theories of Race Differences and Sexual Orientation: Their Relationship with Prejudice towards Blacks, and Gay Men and Lesbians.” Group Processes and Intergroup Relations9:77–94.
30.
KellerJohannes. 2005. “In Genes We Trust: The Biological Component of Psychological Essentialism and its Relationship to Mechanisms of Motivated Social Cognition.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology88:686–702.
31.
KevlesDaniel J.1985. In the Name of Eugenics. New York: Knopf.
32.
KevlesDaniel J.HoodLeroy, eds. 1992. The Code of Codes: Scientific and Social Issues in the Human Genome Project. Cambridge, MA: Harvard.
33.
KluegelJames R.1990. “Trends in Whites’ Explanations of the Gap in Black-White Socioeconomic Status, 1977–1989.” American Sociological Review55:512–25.
34.
KolataGina. 2002. “2 Altered Genes Are Linked to Congestive Heart Failure.” New York Times, October10, Section A, Column 1, p.1.
LinkBruce G.PhelanJo C.2001. “Conceptualizing Stigma.” Annual Review of Sociology27:363–85.
37.
LippmanAbby. 1991. “Prenatal Genetic Testing and Screening: Constructing Needs and Reinforcing Inequities.” American Journal of Law and Medicine17:15–50.
38.
LynchJohnBevanJenniferAchterPaulHarrisTinaConditCeleste M.2008. “A Preliminary Study of How Multiple Exposures to Messages about Genetics Impact on Lay Attitudes towards Racial and Genetic Discrimination.” New Genetics and Society27:43056.
39.
LynchJohnConditCeleste M.2006. “Genes and Race in the News: Competing Theories of News Coverage.” American Journal of Health Behavior30:125–35.
40.
MartinCarol LynnParkerSandra. 1995. “Folk Theories about Sex and Race Differences.” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin21:45–57.
41.
MasseyDouglasDentonNancy. 1998. American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
42.
MorleyDavid. 1994. “Active Audience Theory: Pendulums and Pitfalls.” Pp. 255–61 in Defining Media Studies: Reflections on the Future of the Field, edited by LevyM.GurevitchM.New York: Oxford University Press.
43.
MorningAnn. 2008. “Reconstructing Race in Science and Society: Biology Textbooks, 1952–2002.” American Journal of Sociology114(S1):S106–S137.
44.
MorningAnn. 2009. “Toward a Sociology of Racial Conceptualization for the 21st Century.” Social Forces87:1167–92.
45.
NassirRamiKosoyRomanTianChaoWhitePhoebe A.ButlerLesley M.SilvaGabrielKittlesRickAlarcon-RiquelmeMarta E.GregersenPeter K.BelmontJohn W.De La VegaFrancisco M.SeldinMichael F.2009. “An Ancestry Informative Marker Set for Determining Continental Origin: Validation and Extension Using Human Genome Diversity Panels.” BMC Genetics10:39. doi:10.1186/1471-2156-10-39.
46.
National Human Genome Research Institute.2013. “June 2000: President Clinton, British Prime Minister Blair Mark Completion of the First Survey of the Entire Human Genome.” Retrieved January 6, 2013 (http://www.genome.gov/10001356).
47.
NeergaardLauren. 1996. “Researcher Hunting Ways for Blacks to Fight Off Diabetes.” Associated Press, February6, Washington Dateline.
48.
NelkinDorothyLindeeM. Susan. 1995. The DNA Mystique: The Gene as a Cultural Icon. New York: W.H. Freeman & Company.
49.
NelsonAlondra. 2008. “Bio Science: Genetic Genealogy Testing and the Pursuit of African Ancestry.” Social Studies of Science38:759–83.
50.
NevilleHelen A.LillyRoderick L.DuranGeorgiaLeeRichard M.BrowneLaVonne. 2000. “Construction and Initial Validation of the Color-Blind Racial Attitudes Scale (CoBRAS).”Journal of Counseling Psychology47:59–70.
51.
OliverMelvin L.ShapiroThomas M.2006. Black Wealth/White Wealth: A New Perspective on Racial Inequality, Tenth Anniversary Edition. New York: Routledge.
52.
OmiMichael. 2001. “The Changing Meaning of Race.” Pp. 243–63 in America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences, edited by SmelserN. J.WilsonW. J.MitchellF.Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
53.
OmiMichaelWinantHoward. 1994. Racial Formation in the United States: From the 1960s to the 1990s, 2nd edition.New York: Routledge.
54.
O’NeilJohn. 2004. “Colorectal Cancer and Race.” New York Times, May25, Section F, Column 5, p.7.
55.
ParrottRoxanneLilkKami J.DillowMegan R.KriegerJanice L.HarrisTina M.ConditCeleste M.2005. “Development and Validation of Tools to Assess Genetic Discrimination and Genetically Based Racism.” Journal of the National Medical Association97:980–90.
56.
PayneB. KeithChengClara MichelleGovorunAliceStewartBrandon D.2005. “An Inkblot for Attitudes: Affect Misattribution as Implicit Measurement.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology89:277–93.
RidgewayCecilia L.EricksonKristan Glasgow. 2000. “Creating and Spreading Status Beliefs.” American Journal of Sociology106:579–615.
59.
RischNeilBurchardEstebanZivEladTangHua. 2002. “Categorization of Humans in Biomedical Research: Genes, Race and Disease.” Genome Biology3:1–12.
60.
RothbartM.TaylorM.1992. “Category Labels and Social Reality: Do We View Social Categories as Natural Kinds?” Pp. 13–36 in Language, Interaction and Social Cognition, edited by SeminG. R.FiedlerK.London: Sage.
61.
RothmanBarbara Katz. 1998. Genetic Maps and Human Imaginations. New York: W.W. Norton and Company.
62.
SchumanHowardSteehCharlotteBoboLawrenceKrysanMaria. 1997. Racial Attitudes in America: Trends and Interpretations. Cambridge, MA: Harvard.
63.
SchwartzRobert S.2001. “Racial Profiling in Medical Research.” New England Journal of Medicine344:1392–93.
64.
ShostakSaraFreeseJeremyLinkBruce G.PhelanJo C.2009. “The Politics of the Gene: Social Status and Beliefs about Genetics for Individual Outcomes.” Social Psychology Quarterly72:77–93.
65.
SingerEleanorCorningAmy D.LamiasMark. 1998. “Trends: Genetic Testing, Engineering, and Therapy: Awareness and Attitudes.” Public Opinion Quarterly62:633–64.
66.
SorliePaul D.BacklundEricKellerJacob B.1995. “U.S. Mortality by Economic, Demographic, and Social Characteristics: The National Longitudinal Mortality Study.” American Journal of Public Health85:949–56.
67.
SteeleClaude M.AronsonJoshua. 1995. “Stereotype Threat and the Intellectual Test Performance of African Americans.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology69:797–811.
68.
ThomasMelvin E.HughesMichael. 1998. “The Continuing Significance of Race Revisited: A Study of Race, Class, and Quality of Life in America, 1972 to 1996.” American Sociological Review63:785–95.
69.
WadeNicholas. 2005. “Genetic Find Stirs Debate on Race Based Medicine.” New York Times, November11, Section A, Column 5, p.16.
70.
WadeNicholas. 2006. “Scientists Discover Gene Linked to Higher Rates of Prostate Cancer.” New York Times, May8, Section A, Column 3, p.18.
71.
WailooKeithPembertonStephen. 2006. The Troubled Dream of Genetic Medicine: Ethnicity and Innovation in Tay-Sachs, Cystic Fybrosis and Sickle Cell Disease. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
72.
WilliamsDavid R.CollinsChiquita. 1995. “U.S. Socioeconomic and Racial Differences in Health: Patterns and Explanations.” Annual Review of Sociology21:349–86.
73.
WilliamsMelissa J.EberhardtJennifer L.2008. “Biological Conceptions of Race and the Motivation to Cross Racial Boundaries.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology94:1033–47.
74.
WilsonJames F.WealeMichael E.SmithAlice C.GratrixFionaFletcherBenjaminThomasMark G.BradmanNeilGoldsteinDavid B.2001. “Population Genetic Structure of Variable Drug Response.” Nature Genetics29:265–69.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
