Mixed Race Studies

Understanding Hapa Identity: More Research, Not Manifestos

AAPI Voices: Amplifying the voices of Asian Pacific America.
2014-05-29

Danielle Lemi, Guest Columnist and doctoral student
University of California, Riverside

As more details about the tragic events at UC Santa Barbara come to light, so too have details about Elliot Rodger, particularly with respect to his racial background. In response, bloggers have begun discussing racial identity issues among hapas, focusing heavily on issues of internalized racism or psychological problems because of supposed racial identity crises.

But what does the research say?  Do multiracial individuals have more mental health problems than those not identified as such?  Early research that was poorly designed said yes, but more recent research indicates otherwise…

Read the entire article here.

Perspectives and Research on the Positive and Negative Implications of Having Multiple Racial Identities

Psychological Bulletin
Volume 131, Number 4 (June 2005)
pages 569–591
DOI: 10.1037/0033-2909.131.4.569

Margaret Shih, Professor in Management and Organizations
Anderson School of Management
University of California, Los Angeles

Diana T. Sanchez, Associate Professor of Social Psychology
Rutgers University

Much attention has been directed toward understanding the impact having a multiracial background has on psychological well-being and adjustment. Past psychological research has focused on the challenges multiracial individuals confront in defining a racial identity. The implication is that these challenges lead to outcomes that are psychologically detrimental. However, evidence to support this assertion is mixed.  The authors review qualitative and quantitative empirical research examining multiracial individuals’ identity development, depression, problem behaviors, peer relationships, school performance, and selfesteem, finding support for detrimental outcomes only in studies sampling clinical populations. Studies on nonclinical samples find that multiracial individuals tend to be just as well-adjusted as their monoracial peers on most psychological outcomes. Earlier assertions of maladjustment may have been due to reliance on qualitative research that sampled clinical populations. Other implications and futureresearch are discussed.

Tiger Woods has received much attention, not only for being the youngest person to win the prestigious Masters Golf Tournament, but also for being an individual of mixed-race ancestry. His father is Black, Native American, and Chinese, and his mother is Thai, Chinese, and White. Woods represents a growing trend in American society. Since the repeal in 1967 of miscegenation laws prohibiting racial mixing, the number of interracial marriages in the United States has increased dramatically (Kennedy, 2003; Root, 2001). Consequently, the number of individuals who can claim membership in multiple racial categories has also increased dramatically (Root, 1996). The population of multiracial children has multiplied from 500,000 in 1970 to more than 6.8 million in 2000 (Jones & Symens Smith, 2001).

This explosion in the number of individuals with multiracial backgrounds has raised the issue of understanding where these individuals fit into preexisting social categories. Nowhere is this difficulty more clearly illustrated than in the controversy over whether the 2000 Census should have included a multiracial category.  Until then, individuals of mixed ancestry had to choose between their component identities on the census form. However, multiracial groups have argued that picking just one identity forces multiracial individuals to deny other parts of themselves (Gaskins, 1999) and does not accurately reflect the nation’s true racial make-up (Holmes, 1997). On the other hand, prominent civil rights activists, such as Jesse Jackson and Kweisi Mfume, argued against the creation of a separate multiracial category in order to preserve minority numbers and maintain political influence (Rockquemore & Brunsma, 2002).

A federal task force was set up to investigate the political and social implications of creating a new racial classification (Holmes, 1997).  The task force asked questions such as, “If a multiracial category were included, would all people with different combinations of racial backgrounds, such as Black/Asian and Native American/White, be considered members of the same group?  Would there still be individuals with multiracial identities who would choose to identify by a single race?” This issue was finally resolved in 1997, when it was recommended that the category “multiracial” should not be included in census forms but that instead multiracial individuals could check off more than one racial category.

This controversy illustrates that having a multiracial identity challenges American society’s traditional notions and assumptions about race and racial categories (Johnson, 1992; Ramirez, 1996; Root, 1992; Spickard, 1992). Given the seeming difficulty American society has with trying to understand the notion of multiracial identity, psychologists have begun studying many of those questions considered by the U.S. Census Bureau Task Force, such as, how do multiracial individuals understand their racial identities? In addition, because multiracial families and multiracial individuals may pose a challenge to existing racial categories and the social systems upon which these categories rest, psychologists have become interested in understanding the consequence of coming from a multiracial background and in identifying the tremendous difficulties multiracial families and multiracial individuals encounter in navigating their social world (Gibbs, 1987, 1989; Root, 1992). For example, multiracial families contend with hardships such as a lack of social recognition (Nakashima, 1996), disapproval from extended family, exclusion from neighborhood and community (Kerwin & Ponterotto, 1995; Kerwin, Ponterotto, Jackson, & Harris, 1993), discrimination, and social isolation (Brown, 1995; Gaskins, 1999)…

Read the entire article here.

The Social Construction of Race: Biracial Identity and Vulnerability to Stereotypes

Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology
Volume 13, Number 2 (April 2007)
pages 125–133
DOI: 10.1037/1099-9809.13.2.125

Margaret Shih, Assistant Professor, Organizational Psychology
University of Michigan

Courtney M. Bonam
Stanford University

Diana T. Sanchez, Associate Professor of Psychology
Rutgers University

Courtney Peck
Harvard University

Multiracial individuals are more likely to have a heightened awareness of race as a social construct than monoracial individuals.  This article examines the impact that a heightened awareness of race as a social construct has on the relationship between racial stereotypes and performance. Study 1 finds that multiracial individuals reported subscribing less to the notion that race biologically determines ability.  Study 2 finds that monoracial individuals show stereotype activation, whereas multiracial individuals show stereotype inhibition in reaction to race salience. Study 3 draws on the work on stereotypes and performance to test the susceptibility of multiracial individuals to racial stereotypes about ability.  The authors find that Asian/White and Black/White multiracial individuals were less susceptible to racial stereotypes than monoracial individuals. Whereas monoracial participants showed significant performance changes in reaction to race salience, multiracial individuals did not. Study 4 finds that emphasizing the social construction of race buffers individuals from stereotype threat effects.

Read the entire article here.

Exploring Multiracial Individuals’ Comfort with Intimate Interracial Relationships

Journal of Social Issues
Volume 65, Number 1 (2009)
pp. 87–103

Courtney M. Bonam
Stanford University

Margaret Shih, Assistant Professor, Organizational Psychology
University of Michigan

This article explores the relationship between a heightened awareness of race as a social construct and comfort in interracial relationships across varying levels of intimacy among multiracial and monoracial individuals. Study 1 finds that multiracial individuals express higher levels of comfort in intimate interracial relationships than monoracial White and minority individuals. Study 2 finds that belief in race as a social construction mediates the differences between monoracial and multiracial individuals in their comfort in intimate interracial relationships.  Implications of these findings for interracial relationships are discussed.

Interracial relationships in the United States, while on the rise, are still relatively uncommon. Research finds people are more likely to live near (Massey & Denton, 1993; Zubrinsky Charles, 2003), marry (Crary, 2007; Fu, 2001; Lee & Fernandez, 1998; Qian & Lichter, 2001; Root, 2001; Tucker & Mitchell-Kernan, 1990), and develop friendships (Hallinan & Williams, 1989; Moody, 2001; Olfson et al., 2000; Quillian & Campbell, 2003; Tatum, 1997) with those who are ethnically and racially similar to themselves than those who are not. In addition, research suggests that the few interracial relationships that do form tend to be more superficial in nature than relationships between those from the same ethnic/racial background (Sigelman, Bledsoe, Welch, & Combs, 1996; Welch, Sigelman, Bledsoe, & Combs, 2001).  Towles-Schwen and Fazio (2003) found that people’s comfort with interracial relationships tends to be greater at lower levels of intimacy than at higher levels. This may impact the type of interactions that may occur in interracial relationships.  For example, Welch and colleagues (2001) found White families rarely enter the homes of their Black neighbors even though they may have frequent positive interactions and consider these families to be part of their social network.

While this evidence suggests people in the general population are less comfortable with more intimate interracial relationships, the bulk of this research has focused on monoracial populations.We propose these interracial relationship patterns are less likely to be observed among multiracial individuals.  Specifically, multiracial individuals will report more comfort with intimate interracial relationships than will monoracial people of White or minority descent…

Read the entire article here.

Juggling Multiple Racial Identities: Malleable Racial Identification and Psychological Well-Being

Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology
Volume 15, Issue 3, July 2009
pages 243-254
DOI: 10.1037/a0014373

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

Margaret Shih, Professor in Management and Organizations
Anderson School of Management
University of California, Los Angeles

Julie A. Garcia, Associate Professor of Psychology
California Polytechnic State University

The authors examined the link between malleable racial identification and psychological well-being among self-identified multiracial adults.  Malleable racial identification refers to the tendency to identify with different racial identities across different social contexts. Results across three studies suggested that malleable racial identification was associated with lower psychological well-being. Study 2 found that unstable regard (i.e., fluctuating private regard about their multiracial background) was the mechanism through which malleable racial identification predicted lower psychological health.  Results of Study 3 suggested that dialectical self-views played an important moderating role that determines whether malleability is associated with negative psychological outcomes.  The present studies uniquely show that malleable racial identification among multiracial people is maladaptive for psychological health, but that this may depend on whether or not people have tolerance for ambiguity and inconsistency in the self.

When Race Becomes Even More Complex: Toward Understanding the Landscape of Multiracial Identity and Experiences

Journal of Social Issues
Volume 65, Number 1 (March 2009)
pages 1-11
DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.2008.01584.x

Margaret Shih
University of California, Los Angeles

Diana T. Sanchez
Rutgers University, The State University of New Jersey

The explosion in the number of people coming from a multiracial heritage has generated an increased need for understanding the experiences and consequences associated with coming from a multiracial background. In addition, the emergence of a multiracial identity challenges current thinking about race, forcing scholars to generate new ideas about intergroup relations, racial stigmatization, social identity, social perception, discrimination, and the intersectionality of race with other social categories such as social class.  The present issue brings together research and theory in psychology, sociology, education, culture studies, and public policy surrounding multiracial identity and introduces new advances in thinking about race, intergroup relations, and racial identity.  In exploring multiracial identity, the issue will reexamine conceptualization of race and racial identification by examining the social experiences of multiracial individuals.

 Read or purchase the article here.