# How Does Genetic Ancestry Testing Affect Perceptions of Race?

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · 2022 · $339,385

## Abstract

Project Summary
We investigate the relative influence of genetic, phenotypic, and social attributes in shaping how
individuals perceive other people's race. We will conduct a conjoint survey experiment with 9,000
non-Hispanic Black, non-Hispanic White (henceforth, Black and White), and Hispanic
respondents in the U.S. to assess the power of genetic ancestry test (GAT) results, facial features,
social attributes like racial self-identification before and after testing, and the social context to
influence the racial classification of others. GATs are one of the most common ways genomic
awareness has increased in the public sphere. Many scholars believe GATs will shape individuals'
beliefs about race, including beliefs in essential racial differences and that races are genetically
determined. Recent research shows that GATs lead some people to change their racial identity
based on the reported genetic information. However, we know little about whether those
genetically-influenced identity claims are accepted by others or whether information about an
individual's genetic ancestry influences how their race is perceived. Increased genomic knowledge
may be shifting norms of racial classification. This could have significant social implications
ranging from changing patient-provider interactions and assessments in healthcare settings to
demographic shifts and identity-based political mobilization. In everyday life, people typically rely
on facial features to racially classify others, often using phenotype as a proxy for ancestry.
However, we know little about how perception of facial features interacts with information about
ancestry, which we will test using photographs of human faces and hypothetical GAT results. In
addition, an abundant scholarship has shown that race is shaped by social context. Nevertheless,
most studies have been observational and may be afflicted by endogeneity. We will provide
rigorous experimental evidence for how social context influences racial classifications: some
respondents will be asked to categorize individuals seeking membership in a cultural affinity
group; others will be told the individual is applying to college, priming a context of competition
for scarce resources; yet others will be told the individual is registering for a bone marrow drive;
the remainder will be given a neutral context. Last, our nation-wide survey will sample Black,
White, and Hispanic respondents, which will allow us to test how racial perceptions vary across
the U.S. and among the nation's largest ethnoracial groups. This project will develop a research
protocol and preliminary data for a larger future study focusing on how genomic information
shapes healthcare providers' racial perceptions and clinical assessments of patients.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10591664
- **Project number:** 1R21HG011979-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
- **Principal Investigator:** WENDY D ROTH
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $339,385
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-09-21 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10591664

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10591664, How Does Genetic Ancestry Testing Affect Perceptions of Race? (1R21HG011979-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10591664. Licensed CC0.

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