Second, in a survey experiment, we found that participants randomly assigned to read the Backdoor Vignette had beliefs in essential racial differences that were very close to those of participants assigned to read a vignette emphasizing Race-as-Genetic-Reality but were significantly higher than participants who read a vignette emphasizing Race-as-Social-Construction or participants who did not read a vignette. This suggests that the very specific message in the Backdoor Vignette had an impact on very broad beliefs about racial differences, of the same magnitude as a vignette that explicitly argued for broadly based genetic differences between racial groups.
