It’s No Joking Matter: The Perception of Racial/Ethnic Teasing in Ethnically Diverse Immigrant-Origin Youth

• In Event: Poster Session 04
  In Poster Session: PS 04 Topic - Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context

Abstract

Although racial/ethnic teasing is prevalent in popular culture, very few empirical studies examine the role of racial/ethnic teasing in adolescence. While some argue that racial/ethnic teasing could alleviate anxiety (Borgella, Howard, Maddox, 2020), others suggest the opposite (Douglass, Mirpuri, English, & Yip, 2016). Roberts, Bell, and Murphy (2008) also suggested that racial/ethnic teasing is a form of resistance in silencing talks about race/ethnicity. The current mixed-methods study using a perceived racial/ethnic teasing scale and semi-structured interviews explores the perceptions of racial/ethnic teasing in immigrant adolescents and the variations by gender and race/ethnicity.
The study draws from a longitudinal study, New York Academic and Social Engagement Study (NYCASES), with 517 immigrant youth attending public schools in New York City across three waves. In this study, we focus on racial/ethnic minority youth in 12th grade. Perceived racial/ethnic teasing was measured by a modified version of the Societal, Attitudinal, Familial and Environmental Acculturative Stress Scale (Padilla et al., 1985). Cronbach's alpha was 0.81 and the exploratory factor analysis with the six questions explained 51.74% of the variance. The semi-structured interviews did not specifically ask about racial/ethnic teasing. However, the students mentioned racial/ethnic teasing in response to questions about cultural engagements.
Semi-structured interviews suggest that youth are confused about and hesitant to have conversations on racial/ethnic teasing. Within the theme of confusion and vagueness, there were patterns of resistance to social stereotypes on race/ethnicity and hesitancy in talking about racial/ethnic teasing. For example, 50% of participants mentioned that there was a difference between what was “funny” or “just a joke” versus what was “real racist” or “too serious.” However, repetition of phrases such as “I don’t know” or “um” and differing opinions on whether to believe racial/ethnic stereotypes or not, suggest that racial/ethnic teasing is a confusing topic.
Mixed method results also suggest that perceived racial/ethnic teasing differed by race/ethnicity groups. Asian students perceived more racial/ethnic teasing than Latinx and African American students. Perceptions also varied by gender for different race/ethnicity groups. African American and Asian female students perceived more teasing than male students but Latinx male students perceived more teasing than female students. Racial/ethnic discrimination and socioemotional distress has been shown to be stronger for Asian or Latinx adolescents compared to African adolescents (Benner et al., 2018). Our results are similar in that Asian youth perceived racial/ethnic teasing more than Latinx and African American youth. Perhaps some students perceive the teasing as discrimination but are also placed in a situation where they are unsure of how to react. When everyone else is laughing along, it makes it difficult for one to stand up and resist. Resisting would risk losing a peer group, which could be considered a crucial factor in the adolescent world.
In a society that holds a color-blind ideology and silences race/ethnicity, adolescents seem to hold a deeply rooted confusion and struggle to learn about race/ethnicity. Research on the perceptions of racial/ethnic teasing can help adolescents learn about racial/ethnic identities. Implications of the study will be discussed.

Authors

• Elysia Choi, New York University
  Presenting Author

• Esther Sin, New York University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Selcuk R. Sirin, New York University
  Non-Presenting Author