The Genomic Revolution and Beliefs about Essential Racial Differences

A Backdoor to Eugenics

Bibliographic Data

ID4522306
AuthorsJo C Phelan (0000-0002-5031-4839, Columbia University), Jo Phelan (0009-0002-9068-9085, Columbia University), Bruce G Link (0000-0001-9980-7450, Columbia University and New York State Psychiatric Institute), Naumi Mira Feldman (Columbia University)
Year2013
Volume78
Issue2
Pages167-191
Publication date2013-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Sociological Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0003-1224 • E-ISSN: 1939-8271
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0003122413476034
PMID24855321
PMCIDPMC4026366
OpenAlexW2094303510
LanguageEN
Citations received59
References cited55

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

Sociology · Psychology · Race, Genetics, and Society