title: A religious framework as a lens for understanding the intersection of genetics, health, and disease.
abstract: The primary goal of this study was to determine the extent to which religious frameworks inform lay public understandings of genes and disease. Contrary to existing research, there were minimal differences between racial groups. We did, however, observe two patterns in that data that are worthy of discussion. First, because participants were from the south, the finding that participants from both racial groups ascribe to a religious belief system to make sense of their lived experiences is not surprising. Rather, it appears to be reflective of the religious culture that is an integral part of the south and our identity as a nation. A second noteworthy finding is that while a significant number of participants believe that a relationship exists between health status, genes, and religious behaviors, they also recognize that positive health behaviors must also be adopted as a means for staving off disease. In some cases, however, there was a belief that health issues could dissolve or disappear as a result of certain religious behaviors such as prayer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Speech Communication, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA. tmharris@uga.edu
authors.forename: Tina M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.forename: Bethany
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Keeley
authors.forename: Samantha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Barrientos
authors.forename: Marita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gronnvoll
authors.forename: Jamie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Landau
authors.forename: Christopher R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Groscurth
authors.forename: Lijiang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Youyou
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: J David
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Cisneros
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012067:Religion; D044465:White People