Shifting Winds

Using Ancestry DNA to Explore Multiracial Individuals’ Patterns of Articulating Racial Identity

Bibliographic Data

ID18958828
AuthorsBessie Lawton (0000-0003-2657-8209, West Chester University, corresponding author), Anita Foeman (West Chester University)
Year2017
Volume17
Issue2
Pages69-83
Publication date2017-04-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueIdentity (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1528-3488 • E-ISSN: 1532-706X
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/15283488.2017.1303383
OpenAlexW4248632054
LanguageEN
Citations received15
References cited42

This study explored how genotype information affects identification narratives of multiracial individuals. Twenty-one multiracial individuals completed individual interviews before and after receiving a DNA analysis to clarify their genetically based racial ancestry. Based on results, this article proposes patterns of articulating racial identity by multiracial individuals. Four patterns extend evolving research in multiracial identification, namely (1) the individual articulates a monoracial identity; (2) the individual articulates one identity, but this can shift in response to various conditions; (3) the individual articulates an extraracial identity, opting out of traditional categories applied to race; and (4) the person distinguishes traditional categories of race from culture and owns the two identities in different ways. Implications of these findings are discussed. First, adding new ancestry DNA information further muddles the neat categories of race, consistent with the view of race as socially constructed. Second, results emphasize the fluidity of identification for multiracial individuals. Third, DNA information challenges the neat percentages people tend to associate with their backgrounds. Particularly for younger multiracial individuals, there was less of a sense that race was a real thing and more that culture played a big part in how they saw themselves

Aesthetics · Biology · Genetic genealogy · Narrative · Population · Sociology · Demography · Gender Studies · Psychology · Race, Genetics, and Society · Racial and Ethnic Identity Research · Social Psychology

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