The Implications of Racial Misclassification by Observers

Abstract

M ost research on "race" measures race using a respondent's self-identification. As researchers, we commonly use this measure as a proxy for many things, including an individual's racial identity and how an individual is perceived by others. But this entails a fundamentally flawed assumption: that individuals' self-identification consistently matches how others perceive them. In reality, our perceptions of others are unquestionably biased by our own characteristics (Harris 2002;Hill 2002). Moreover, given the demographic trends today toward greater multiracial identification and racial and ethnic heterogeneity, there is good reason to expect increasing mismatch between selfidentification and the perceptions of others. What are the social-psychological consequences of being perceived by others as part of a different racial group than the group one claims for one's self? We investigate this question for one racial group that has high rates of mismatch between self-identification and others' perceptions: American Indians. 1 Given the importance We hypothesize that individuals who self-identify with one racial group but are routinely perceived by observers as "looking like" another racial group may experience negative outcomes associated with this stressful situation. Since American Indians experience very high rates of misclassification, we use them as our case in point. Drawing from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health, our analyses compare young American Indian adults who are perceived as another race by an observer to those who are correctly classified, using several indicators of psychological distress: depression, suicidal thoughts, use of psychological counseling services, suicide attempts, and fatalism. We also investigate differences in racial attitudes and behaviors, such as belonging to an ethnic solidarity organization or believing it is important to have a committed relationship with someone of the same race. The evidence suggests that, on the whole, misclassified American Indians have higher rates of psychological distress. We conclude by discussing our findings and their wider implications, especially in the context of an increasingly heterogeneous and multiracial society.

Dimensions of Racial Identity and Perceived Discrimination in Health Care

“…Consistent with previous reports of racial misclassification prevalence, 12 such a discord was relatively common among Nanic groups were primarily driven by groups in which the racial/ethnic incongruence was more common.…”

“…In one study, more than a third of self-identified Native Americans were classified by interviewers as another racial group, and the discrepancy was linked to negative mental health outcomes. 12 In another study, the discord between self-identified and interviewer-attributed race was associated with poorer health, especially among those who self-identified as White but reported that others perceived them as non-White. 13 Among self-identified Hispanics, socially assigned Whites had better health compared with socially assigned Hispanics; among self-identified Native Americans, socially assigned Whites had better health compared with socially assigned Native Americans; and among multi-…”

Social Influence on Observed Race

“…Apart from socioeconomic characteristics, a link between inconsistent categorization and health has also been discovered: Campbell and Troyer (2007) show evidence that self-classified American Indians experience high rates of psychological distress when classified as a member of another category by the observer. Finally, Stepanikova (2010) finds that being classified as a lower-status racial group by others is associated with negative physical and mental outcomes.…”

“…R ECENTLY, a growing number of studies has been concerned with racial fluidity, providing evidence that individual race is changeable, contextual, and multidimensional (Telles and Lim 1998;Harris and Sim 2002;Hitlin, Brown, and Elder 2006;Ladányi and Szelényi 2006;Campbell and Troyer 2007;Saperstein and Penner 2012). Focusing on multidimensionality, observed race (one's race as classified by others) and its differences from racial self-classification have received significant attention (see Roth 2016).…”

“…At the same time, experiencing discrepancies between someone's own racial self-classification and her observed race is shown to be related to negative health outcomes (Campbell and Troyer 2007;Stepanikova 2010). Therefore, further study-ing observed race and the way it differs from self-classification is a research topic relevant from multiple aspects.…”