Poster #122 - Children’s perceptions of Black-White biracial targets’ fluid identity claims

• In Event: Poster Session 01

Abstract

Biracial people are fluid in how they choose to identify, often changing their identity depending on the context (e.g., Miville et al., 2005). However, such identity flexibility can lead to social costs: adults view biracial individuals who switch their chosen identity in a zero-sum context as less likeable and less trustworthy (Albuja et al., 2018). Despite the fact that children show similarities to adults in understanding multiracial categorization (Roberts & Gelman, 2015), little is known about potential downstream effects. Do children also respond negatively to biracial individuals’ who shift their racial identity? Understanding the development trajectory of these perceptions is important for future interventions.

We ran a preliminary study with White adults (N=200) in which participants read about a teacher who favored either White students or Black students. A biracial Black/White target in that teacher’s class decided to maintain their biracial identity or to switch how they identify to match the teacher’s preferred race. Participants were asked to: 1) report whether it was “OK” or “not OK” for the target to claim their chosen identity, and 2) rate the trustworthiness of the target. Participants were more approving when the target maintained their biracial identity: participants said maintaining a biracial identity was more “OK” than switching (X2 (1, 201) = 51.68, p < .001) and rated targets who maintained a biracial identity as more trustworthy than those who switched (t(199) = 12.41, p < .001). Participants also rated different conceptions of biracial identity, including “mixed” (e.g., a mixture of Black and White, but not 100% Black or 100% White) and “protean” (e.g., Black, White, or a combination, depending on the situation). In previous research, higher endorsement of the “mixed” conception was associated with greater racial essentialism, whereas the opposite was true for protean ratings (Roberts et al., 2021). Interestingly, participants who gave higher endorsements to the “protean” view of biracial identity were more likely to say it was “OK” for a target to switch their identity and rated a target who switched his or her identity as more trustworthy.

Here, we will report a preregistered study which will examine whether White children (N= 200, 5 -12 years old), like adults, are less accepting of people who vary their racial identity.
Participants will complete the same measures as adults. Specifically, they will: report whether it is “OK” or “not OK” for a biracial target to maintain or switch their racial identity and rate the trustworthiness of the target. Children will also rate their agreement with “protean” and “mixed” conceptions of biracial identity. We predict that we will replicate the findings seen in the adult sample, at least with older children (9-12 years), and are interested in the age at which this pattern emerges.

This research will increase our understanding of the developmental trajectory of bias against biracial people’s identity flexibility. Relationships with conceptions of biracial identity may serve as a potential mechanism underlying differential responses to identity flexibility.

Authors

• ELIZABETH QUINN-JENSEN, University of California - Santa Barbara
  Presenting Author

• Zoe Liberman, University of California - Santa Barbara