Tuesday, August 7, 2018

Study: Ancestry Seekers Accept, Reject Certain DNA Results Based on Race Biases

By: Alexa Lardieri

A study published in the American Journal of Sociology showed that 59% of participants who buy at home DNA tests, reject the results and do not change their views of their identity after receiving DNA results...even after receiving new results. People who did embrace their new identities, "cherry-picked", as in they only picked the ones they wanted to embrace. "They embraced identities they viewed ass positive and thought others would accept as well. Some test results  were rejected or ignored if participants did not like them, according to the Guardian". 
They were looking as the genetic information as not definitive and were allowing their social influences to cause them to overlook the information presented to them. For example, a mexican-american participant found out he was really native american, celtic and jewish ancestry after taking a DNA test, however only embraced his Jewish heritage. 
The study also found that White participants identified with their new ancestries and were more likely to embrace their new identities. "They were really excited to try on this identity that made them anything other than just white..they can try it on mention it when it's to their advantage and ignore it otherwise." 

source: https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2018-07-02/study-ancestry-seekers-accept-reject-certain-dna-results-based-on-race-biases

related article: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/jul/01/home-dna-test-kits-race-ethnicity-dna-ancestry


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