The rapid growth of genetic ancestry testing has brought concerns that these tests will transform consumers’ racial and ethnic identities, producing “geneticized” identities determined by genetic knowledge. Drawing on 100 qualitative interviews with white, black, Hispanic/Latino, Asian, and Native Americans, the authors develop the genetic options theory to account for how genetic ancestry tests influence consumers’ ethnic and racial identities. The theory maintains that consumers do not accept the tests’ results as given but choose selectively from the estimates according to two mechanisms: their identity aspirations and social appraisals. Yet consumers’ prior racialization also influences their identity aspirations; white respondents aspired to new identities more readily and in substantively different ways. The authors’ findings suggest that genetic ancestry testing can reinforce race privilege among those who already experience it.

中文翻译：

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基因选择：基因祖先测试对消费者种族和民族身份的影响

基因血统检测的快速增长引发了人们的担忧，即这些检测会改变消费者的种族和民族身份，产生由遗传知识决定的“基因化”身份。通过对白人、黑人、西班牙裔/拉丁裔、亚洲人和美洲原住民的 100 次定性采访，作者开发了遗传选择理论，以解释遗传血统测试如何影响消费者的民族和种族身份。该理论认为，消费者不接受测试的结果，而是根据两种机制有选择地从估计中选择：他们的身份愿望和社会评价。然而，消费者先前的种族化也影响了他们的身份渴望；白人受访者更愿意以截然不同的方式获得新身份。