Mixed Race Studies

Is Gender More Important and Meaningful Than Race? An Analysis of Racial and Gender Identity Among Black, White, and Mixed-Race Children

Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology
Published online 2016-10-13
DOI: 10.1037/cdp0000125

Leoandra Onnie Rogers, Research Assistant Professor
College of Education, Department of Learning Sciences and Human Development
University of Washington

Andrew N. Meltzoff, Professor of Psychology and Co-Director
Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences
University of Washington

Objectives: Social categories shape children’s lives in subtle and powerful ways. Although research has assessed children’s knowledge of social groups, most prominently race and gender, few studies have examined children’s understanding of their own multiple social identities and how they intersect. This paper explores how children evaluate the importance and meaning of their racial and gender identities, and variation in these evaluations based on the child’s own age, gender, and race.

Method: Participants were 222 Black, White, and Mixed-Race children (girls: n = 136; Mage = 9.94 years). Data were gathered in schools via 1-on-1 semistructured interviews. Analyses focused on specific measures of the importance and meaning of racial and gender identity for children.

Results: We found that: (a) children rate gender as a more important identity than race; (b) the meanings children ascribe to gender identity emphasized inequality and group difference whereas the meaning of race emphasized physical appearance and humanism/equality; and (c) children’s assessments of importance and meaning varied as a function of child race and gender, but not age.

Conclusion: The findings extend research on young children’s social identity development and the role of culture and context in children’s emerging racial and gender identities. Implications for identity theory and development and intergroup relations are discussed.

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Perceptions of Parents’ Ethnic Identities and the Personal Ethnic-Identity and Racial Attitudes of Biracial Adults

Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology
Volume 21, Number 1 (January 2015)
pages 65-75
DOI: 10.1037/a0037542

Cesalie T. Stepney
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey

Diana T. Sanchez, Associate Professor of Psychology
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey

Phillip E. Handy
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey

The present study examined the relationship of perceived parental closeness and parental ethnic identity on personal ethnic identity and colorblindness beliefs in 275 part-White biracial Americans (M age = 23.88). Respondents completed online measures of their personal ethnic identity (minority, White, and multiracial), perceived parental ethnic identity, parental closeness, and attitudes about the state of race relations and the need for social action in the United States. Using path modeling, results show that part-White biracial individuals perceive their ethnic identity to be strongly linked to their parental racial identities, especially when they had closer parental relationships. Moreover, stronger minority identity was linked to less colorblind attitudes, and greater White identity was linked to greater colorblind attitudes suggesting that patterns of identity may influence how biracial individuals view race-relations and the need for social action. Implications for biracial well-being and their understanding of prejudice and discrimination are discussed.

Relationship between physical appearance, sense of belonging and exclusion, and racial/ethnic self-identification among multiracial Japanese European Americans

Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology
Volume 12, Issue 4, October 2006
pages 673-686
DOI: 10.1037/1099-9809.12.4.673

Julie M. AhnAllen, Staff Psychologist
University Counselling Services
Boston College

Karen L. Suyemoto, Associate Professor of Psychology and Asian American Studies
University of Massachusetts, Boston

Alice S. Carter, Professor of Clinical Psychology
University of Massachusetts, Boston

In this study the authors explored the relation of physical appearance, perception of group belonging, and perception of group exclusion to racial/ethnic identity in multiracial Japanese European Americans. Results indicate that physical appearance and social variables of sense of belonging and exclusion related to one monoracial racial/ethnic group significantly predicted self-identity with the corresponding monoracial group. There was also a significant relationship between Japanese American identity and multiracial appearance and social variables. Feelings of exclusion were shown to be the primary influence on all three racial/ethnic identities.

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An Examination of Biracial College Youths’ Family Ethnic Socialization, Ethnic Identity, and Adjustment: Do Self-Identification Labels and University Context Matter?

Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology
2012-08-20
DOI: 10.1037/a0029438

Aerika S. Brittian, Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology
University of Illinois, Chicago

Adriana J. Umaña-Taylor, Professor
School of Social and Family Dynamics
Arizona State University

Chelsea L. Derlan
Arizona State University

This study examined family ethnic socialization, ethnic identity, and adjustment among Latino/White and Asian/White biracial college students (n = 507), with special attention to how ethnic self-identification and university ethnic composition informed the ethnic identity process. Findings indicated that family ethnic socialization was positively related to participants’ ethnic identity exploration and resolution, but not ethnic identity affirmation. Furthermore, ethnic identity resolution and affirmation were associated with higher self-acceptance and self-esteem, and lower depressive symptoms. Importantly, university ethnic composition moderated the association between ethnic identity resolution and anxiety, such that resolution promoted adjustment in contexts that were relatively more ethnically diverse. University ethnic composition also moderated the association between ethnic identity affirmation and both self-esteem and self-acceptance, such that affirmation was associated with better adjustment but only in schools that were less ethnically diverse.

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Perceived discrimination, group identification, and life satisfaction among multiracial people: A test of the rejection-identification model.

Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology
Volume 18, Number 4 (October 2012)
pages 319-328
DOI: 10.1037/a0029729

Lisa S. Giamo
Department of Psychology
Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

Michael T. Schmitt, Associate Professor of Psychology
Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

H. Robert Outten
Department of Psychology
Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

Like other racial minority groups, multiracial people face discrimination as a function of their racial identity, and this discrimination represents a threat to psychological well-being. Following the Rejection-Identification Model (RIM; Branscombe, Schmitt, & Harvey, 1999), we argue that perceived discrimination will encourage multiracial people to identify more strongly with other multiracials, and that multiracial identification, in turn, fosters psychological well-being. Thus, multiracial identification is conceptualized as a coping response that reduces the overall costs of discrimination on well-being. This study is the first to test the RIM in a sample of multiracial people. Multiracial participants’ perceptions of discrimination were negatively related to life satisfaction. Consistent with the RIM, perceived discrimination was positively related to three aspects of multiracial group identification: stereotyping the self as similar to other multiracial people, perceiving people within the multiracial category as more homogenous, and expressing solidarity with the multiracial category. Self-stereotyping was the only aspect of group identification that mediated a positive relationship between perceived discrimination and life satisfaction, suggesting that multiracial identification’s protective properties rest in the fact that it provides an collective identity where one “fits.”

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Being mixed: Who claims a biracial identity?

Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology
Volume 18, Number 1 (January 2012)
pages 91-96
DOI: 10.1037/a0026845

Sarah S. M. Townsend, Visiting Assistant Professor of Management and Organizations and Postdoctoral Fellow
Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University

Stephanie A. Fryberg, Assistant Professor of Psychology and Affiliate Faculty in American Indian Studies
University of Arizona

Clara L. Wilkins, Assistant Professor of Psychology
Wesleyan University

Hazel Rose Markus, Davis-Brack Professor in the Behavioral Sciences
Stanford University

What factors determine whether mixed-race individuals claim a biracial identity or a monoracial identity? Two studies examine how two status-related factors—race and social class—influence identity choice. While a majority of mixed-race participants identified as biracial in both studies, those who were members of groups with higher status in American society were more likely than those who were members of groups with lower status to claim a biracial identity. Specifically, (a) Asian/White individuals were more likely than Black/White or Latino/White individuals to identify as biracial and (b) mixed-race people from middle-class backgrounds were more likely than those from working-class backgrounds to identify as biracial. These results suggest that claiming a biracial identity is a choice that is more available to those with higher status.

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Black identity in biracial Black/White people: A comparison of Jacqueline who refuses to be exclusively Black and Adolphus who wishes he were.

Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology
Volume 7, Number 2 (May 2001)
page 182-196
DOI: 10.1037//1099-9809.7.2.182

Angela R. Gillem
Arcadia University

Laura Renee Cohn
Arcadia University

Cambria Thorne
Arcadia University

Two biracial college freshmen (17 and 19 yrs old), both of whom identify as Black, were chosen from a larger sample of participants in a qualitative study of biracial identity development to exemplify the differences in the paths that 2 biracial individuals could take to achieve racial identity resolution. Through the case study method, the authors describe the course and progression of racial identity development (RID) in these 2 individuals and discuss some key themes in their lives that have contributed to the development of their RID. The purposes are fourfold: to describe, nonclinical subjective experiences of being biracial in the US, to explore the differences in the paths that 2 biracial individuals can take to achieve what looks superficially like similar Black racial identity resolution, to demonstrate how identifying as Black can have different meanings and consequences for 2 biracial people, and to contribute to the differentiation of Black RID from biracial Black/White RID. The authors raise questions about the generalizability of monoracial Black and ethnic identity theories to biracial individuals.

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Existential hazards of the multicultural individual: Defining and understanding “cultural homelessness.”

Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology
Volume 5, Number 1 (February 1999)
pages 6-26.
DOI: 10.1037/1099-9809.5.1.6

Veronica Navarrete-Vivero
University of North Texas

Sharon Rae Jenkins, Professor of Psychology
University of North Texas

Discusses cultural homelessness (CH), the unique experiences and feelings reported by some multicultural individuals. Ethnically related concepts found in the cross-cultural and multiethnic literature (eg., marginality, intercultural effectiveness, ethnic enclaves, and reference group) are used to explain how CH may arise from cross-cultural tensions within the ethnically mixed family and between the family and its culturally different environment, especially due to geographic moves. CH is conceptualized as a situationally imposed developmental challenge, forcing the child to accommodate to contradictory and changing norms, values, verbal and nonverbal communication styles, and attachment processes. Culturally homeless individuals may enjoy a broader, stronger cognitive and social repertoire because of their multiple cultural frames of reference. However, code-switching complexities may lead to emotional and social confusion, which, if internalized, may result in self-blame and shame. Culturally encoded emotion labeling may be disrupted, leading to alexithymia.

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Sources of Self-Categorization as Minority for Mixed-Race Individuals: Implications for Affirmative Action Entitlement

Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology
Volume 16, Issue 4 (October 2010)
Pages 453-460
DOI: 10.1037/a0020128

Jessica J. Good, Assistant Professor of Psychology
Davidson College, Davidson, North Carolina

George F. Chavez
Department of Psychology
Rutgers University

Diana T. Sanchez, Associate Professor of Psychology
Rutgers University

Multiracial individuals are in the unique position of being able to categorize themselves as members of multiple racial groups. Drawing on self-categorization theory, we suggest that similarity to the minority ingroup depends on self-perceptions of physical appearance and connectedness to the minority ingroup. Moreover, we argue that similarity to the ingroup determines self-categorization as minority, which predicts category-based entitlements such as perceived eligibility for minority resources (e.g., affirmative action). Using path analysis, we found support for this model on a convenience sample of 107 mixed-race minority–White participants. The results suggest that affective processes rather than observable characteristics such as prototypical physical appearance better predict self-categorization among mixed-race individuals.

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Biracial Japanese American identity: An evolving process.

Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology
Volume 6, Number 2, (May 2000)
pages 115-133
DOI: 10.1037/1099-9809.6.2.115

J. Fuji Collins, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Student Health & Wellness – Vice Chancellor
University of California, Merced

Explored the complexity of biracial identity development in Japanese Americans, focusing on how Japanese Americans perceive themselves in relation to individuals, groups, and their environment. 15 semistructured interviews with 8 men and 7 women (ages 20–40 yrs), each with 1 Japanese parent and 1 non-Asian parent were conducted. Identity development among participants varied. It was a long-term process involving changes in the individual–environment relationship, which differed in the way individual participants influenced or selected from environmental opportunities, even creating or recreating some aspects. Within a given setting, as youths, the potential for social experiences were relatively fixed and changed only gradually. As adults, there were opportunities for participants to select their own social and geographic settings, providing opportunity for change. In their new environments, participants were exposed to new contacts and role models, acquired new behavioral repertoire, and underwent role transitions. Depending on this, new and different aspects of biracial identity developed. Participants indicated it was an emotional and conflictual process to positive assertion of identity. Before reaching this, all of the participants experienced periods of confusion.

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