Developing identity formation and self‐concept in preschool‐aged biracial children

Monoracial and Biracial Children: Effects of Racial Identity Saliency on Social Learning and Social Preferences

“…By contrast, priming a biracial child's majority (i.e., White) identity did not yield stronger in‐group preferences in comparison to monoracial White children. Although it only included biracial Black/White children, one study showed that the assumed identity for these biracial children is more often Black (Morrison, ). On the basis of those results, we argue that being biracial may support the development of in‐group preferences for both of biracial children's identities, thereby making it easier for them to identify with their minority in‐group.…”

“…First, there is empirical evidence that children across different races tend to endorse a “White is good” approach toward their social preferences (e.g., Alejandro‐Wright, ; Clark & Clark, ; Cross, ; Dunham et al., ; Johnson, ; Neto & Paiva, ; Spencer, ; Spencer & Markstrom‐Adams, ; “Study: White and Black Children,” ) and perhaps priming a biracial child's White identity leads toward a stronger endorsement of this view. Second, minority children have lower overall preferences for their own racial group (Aboud, ; Dunham et al., ; Morrison, ; Spencer & Markstrom‐Adams, ). In comparison to children who belong to the majority race, they more strongly believe that peers from racial out‐groups can be friends, often due to parent and family socialization at home (Margie, Killen, Sinno, & McGlothlin, ).…”

“…There are data highlighting biracial children's enhanced cognitive flexibility in racial identification—especially those who are born to a majority race (e.g., White) parent and a minority race (e.g., Black) parent. For instance, in an interview study with mothers of biracial children, Morrison () found that family environment and discussions about race helped biracial Black/White children in flexibly choosing or acknowledging different racial identities. Similarly, biracial Black/White children often do not have difficulty in identifying with more than one racial in‐group, based on the varying definitions they hear concerning their mixed racial background (Chiong, ).…”

“…Contextual factors, such as the environment in which a biracial individual lives and the racial makeup of his or her friends and family, can also sway how that person chooses to self‐identify, often leading to different, self‐selected, racial category labels (e.g., Herman, ; Porter & Washington, ; Rockquemore & Brunsma, ; Root, ). In order to avoid possible cognitive dissonance and lack of loyalty to one of their racial in‐groups, biracial Black/White individuals may choose to label themselves as Black when in the presence of Black peers and as White when in the presence of White peers (Morrison, ; Root, ). In sum, biracial individuals actually can—and often do—switch between their two racial identities, suggesting that they may be more sensitive to social context than their monoracial peers, but this question has yet to be examined.…”

Multiracial Children’s and Adults’ Categorizations of Multiracial Individuals

“…How multiracial individuals identify racially depends heavily on their context. For instance, mothers' discussions about race help multiracial children understand their multiple racial backgrounds (Morrison, 1995), and priming multiracial children's racial identity influences which identity they associate themselves with (Gaither et al, 2014). Also, how multiracial individuals self-identify varies across time and contexts (Hitlin, Scott Brown, & Elder, 2006; Rockquemore & Brunsma, 2006).…”