likely affect others, reinforcing the overall impact of stigma-related processes. More specific to the questions addressed in this article, Condit and Bates (2005) proposed a conceptual model in which messages linking genes, race, and health lead to perceived racial difference, and in turn to hierarchicalization and then racism. Some but not all of these links have been established empirically. In this article, we demonstrated a causal effect of backdoor messages on belief in racial differences. In an experimental study, Condit and colleagues (2004) constructed a vignette presenting what we identify as a backdoor message (although their article did not draw explicitly on Duster’s ideas): if a message about a connection between genes and heart disease specified race when describing this connection, measures of genetic attributions for racial differences, denial of racism, modern racism, and support for genetic discrimination were higher than if the message did not mention race. Condit and colleagues’ study thus shows an effect of media messages on outcomes that are further along the path toward policies than the beliefs we measured in the present study. Several studies, including ours, demonstrate that belief in racial differences and belief that racial differences are genetically based are correlated with, but
