Measuring Hispanics/Latinxs: Racial Heterogeneity and Its Consequences for Modeling Social Outcomes in U.S. Population Samples

Abstract

Quantitative sociologists have recognized the challenges of studying Latinx Americans, given their unique racial heterogeneity and unique measurement in surveys through dedicated Latinx-ethnicity questions. Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, the author examines who identifies as Hispanic/Latinx when the option is a permitted response on a combined race/ethnicity question. The study reveals that national origin, connection to Latinx communities, racial appearance, and consistency in prior ethnic identification as Latinx affect the likelihood of racial identification as Latinx. These associations have heterogeneous consequences for modeling social outcomes in samples with both Latinx and non-Latinx respondents. Latinx Americans divide on skin tone in models of education and health, but they divide on national origin in models of interracial dating. This suggests that researchers should operationalize Latinxs using measures recognizing a modal group of Latinx-only identifiers while capturing heterogeneity by skin tone and national origin across the broader ever-Latinx population.