Americans’ Attitudes on Individual or Racially Inflected Genetic Inheritance
This chapter proffers a political science perspective on how Americans view the ways in which genetics affect identity. It lays the groundwork for exploring possible relationships in the eyes of the public between genetics and race, by developing hypotheses based mainly on extrapolations from popular media or American history. Next the chapter introduces a 2011 public opinion survey of approximately 4,000 US adults. The Genomics Knowledge, Attitudes, and Politics Survey includes questions designed to reveal Americans' views about the importance of genetics in explaining various traits, behaviors, and diseases. The chapter then shows that respondents' understanding of the relationships among race, genes, and phenotypes is coherent and sensible (regardless of whether it is right or wrong).