Correlates of African American and Latino parents' messages to children about ethnicity and race: a comparative study of racial socialization

Recently, social scientists have become increasingly interested in the nature of communications from parents to children regarding ethnicity and race. Termed racial socialization, race-related messages to children may have important consequences for children's identity development and well-being. This study examined the frequency and correlates of two dimensions of racial socialization—messages about ethnic pride, history, and heritage (Cultural Socialization) and messages about discrimination and racial bias (Preparation for Bias)—among 273 urban African American, Puerto Rican, and Dominican parents. Parents reported more frequent Cultural Socialization than Preparation for Bias. There were no significant ethnic group differences in the frequency of Cultural Socialization. However, African American parents reported more frequent Preparation for Bias than did Dominican parents who, in turn, reported more frequent messages of this sort than did Puerto Rican parents. Ethnic identity was a stronger predictor of Cultural Socialization among Puerto Rican and Dominican parents than among their African American counterparts. In contrast, perceived discrimination experiences was a stronger predictor of Preparation for Bias among African American and Dominican parents than among Puerto Rican parents. Finally, race-related phenomenon accounted for more variance in both Cultural Socialization and Preparation for Bias among parents reporting on their behaviors with children 10–17 years old as compared to parents reporting on their behaviors with children 6–9 years old.     

儿童基于心理本质论的种族认知及其影响因素

心理本质论将类别成员视为由共同的本质所决定,且这些本质对应着一些表面的不可改变的属性。其中,种族本质论就是心理本质论的一种。研究种族本质论的发展对于了解儿童的种族认知具有重要意义。种族本质论者认为,种族具有遗传不变性、有较强的归纳强度和标签具有客观性等特征。但是,基于不同特征的种族本质论的发展存在差异。类属语言、社会文化背景和群体地位,均可能影响儿童种族本质论的发展。这些影响因素提示,可通过减少类属语言的描述和促进民族融合等方式改变儿童的种族本质论。比较儿童对种族本质论的建构与自然世界的建构之间的差异,方便我们探索类别学习跨领域的一致性问题。如何确保种族本质论的发展是适宜的,这需要未来开展一些干预性的研究。     

儿童基于心理本质论的种族认知及其影响因素

心理本质论将类别成员视为由共同的本质所决定,且这些本质对应着一些表面的不可改变的属性。其中,种族本质论就是心理本质论的一种。研究种族本质论的发展对于了解儿童的种族认知具有重要意义。种族本质论者认为,种族具有遗传不变性、有较强的归纳强度和标签具有客观性等特征。但是,基于不同特征的种族本质论的发展存在差异。类属语言、社会文化背景和群体地位,均可能影响儿童种族本质论的发展。这些影响因素提示,可通过减少类属语言的描述和促进民族融合等方式改变儿童的种族本质论。比较儿童对种族本质论的建构与自然世界的建构之间的差异,方便我们探索类别学习跨领域的一致性问题。如何确保种族本质论的发展是适宜的,这需要未来开展一些干预性的研究。     

The Ethnic Context of Child and Adolescent Problem Behavior: Implications for Child and Family Interventions

This article links the empirical literature on race and ethnicity in developmental psychopathology with interventions designed to reduce adolescent problem behavior. We present a conceptual framework in which culture is endogenous to the socialization of youth and the development of specific self-regulatory strategies. The importance of cultural influence is identified at three levels: (a) intrapersonal developmental processes (e.g., ethnic identity development, development of coping modifies mechanisms and self-regulatory mechanisms), (b) family socialization processes (e.g., racial and ethnic socialization), and (c) interaction with larger societal contexts (e.g., maintenance of bicultural competence in adapting to mainstream and ethnic cultures). We discuss limitations of current assessment and intervention practices that focus on reducing adolescent problem behavior with respect to the cultural issues identified above. We propose that empirically supported adaptive and tailored interventions for adolescent problem behavior are optimal for serving multicultural children and families. To empower such interventions to better serve children and families of color, it is essential that assessments that guide the adaptation and tailoring process include culturally salient dynamics such as ethnic identity, racial socialization, and culturally informed parenting practices. This work is supported by an NRSA grant to the first author, and the following for the second author: grants DA07031, DA13773, and DA16110 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.     

A meta-analysis of support variables and well-being in ethnic minority populations

Aims: The importance of social support as a predictor of well-being has been documented in the literature for decades. The extent to which social support may be uniquely relevant to the well-being of ethnic minority populations has not yet been empirically supported with meta-analytic techniques. The current meta-analytic study attempted to clarify the nuances of the relationship between support and well-being in ethnic minority populations and to identify what moderators may be relevant to understanding such relationships. Method: Data from 111 articles were included in the analyses that examined both the main effects and moderators of the relationship between social support and well-being. Results: Overall findings revealed a greater effect size (ES) between support and positive well-being (r = .38) than between support and negative well-being (r = −.27). Significant moderators included the proportion of females in the sample, age of the participants, and nature of support. Several ES differences were found in support type and ethnic group interactions as well. Conclusions: Implications of these data include the importance of social support enhancement in efforts to increase the positive well-being and attending to gender and other cultural modifiers in future studies of social support with racial and ethnic minorities.     

Differential Effects of Racial Socialization Messages for African American Adolescents: Personal Versus Institutional Racial Discrimination

Racial socialization is one factor known to attenuate the negative consequences of racial discrimination on adolescents’ anger and depressive symptoms. However, little is known about whether racial socialization messages addressing cultural and racial pride and messages preparing youth for racial discrimination and racial barriers function differently depending upon whether adolescents perceive personal versus institutional racial discrimination. Thus, the present study examined whether racial socialization messages emphasizing racial pride and racial barriers protected against anger and depressive symptoms for African American adolescents’ experience of personal and institutional racial discrimination. Participants were a community sample of 106 urban African American adolescents (57 % girls; mean age = 15.41) residing in a large metropolitan area. Regression analyses revealed that personal racial discrimination was positively associated with anger for youth reporting low cultural pride reinforcement, and positively associated with depressive symptoms for youth reporting low cultural alertness to discrimination; there were no associations between personal racial discrimination and anger or depressive symptoms for youth reporting high racial socialization messages. Neither cultural pride nor racial barrier racial socialization message protected against institutional racial discrimination. Findings suggest that the protective effects of racial socialization messages vary based on the type of racial discrimination adolescents experience.     

Parental Socialization of Emotion

Recently, there has been a resurgence of research on emotion, including the socialization of emotion. In this article, a heuristic model of factors contributing to the socialization of emotion is presented. Then literature relevant to the socialization of children's emotion and emotion-related behavior by parents is reviewed, including (a) parental reactions to children's emotions, (b) socializers' discussion of emotion, and (c) socializers' expression of emotion. The relevant literature is not conclusive and most of the research is correlational. However, the existing body of data provides initial support for the view that parental socialization practices have effects on children's emotional and social competence and that the socialization process is bidirectional. In particular, parental negative emotionality and negative reactions to children's expression of emotion are associated with children's negative emotionality and low social competence. In addition, possible moderators of effects such as level of emotional arousal are discussed.     

Profiles of Racial Socialization Among African American Parents: Correlates,Context, and Outcome

Self report and observational data on racial socialization practices in a sample of 218 African American parents of young children were used to determine whether or not parents could be characterized in terms of their pattern of racial socialization practices. Parents fell into four groups: silence about race, emphasis on cultural socialization, emphasis on cultural socialization and coping strategies, or a balanced approach. Silence about race was more common among parents of boys, whereas an emphasis on cultural socialization was more common among parents of girls. Silence about race was less common in neighborhoods with high levels of negative social climate, and a combination of cultural socialization with coping strategies for discrimination was more common in neighborhoods with high neighborhood potential for community involvement with children. The coping emphasis/cultural socialization approach was associated with significantly lower child problem behavior, although some gender differences were evident. A cultural socialization emphasis was associated with higher cognitive scores among girls, and a combination of cultural socialization, coping with discrimination, and promotion of mistrust was associated with higher cognitive scores among boys. Implications of this profile approach for the study of racial socialization practices in ethnic minority families are discussed.     

Racial–Ethnic Protective Factors and Mechanisms in Psychosocial Prevention and Intervention Programs for Black Youth

Extending previous reviews related to cultural responsiveness in the treatment of ethnic minority youth, the current review provides a critical assessment and synthesis of both basic and applied research on the integration of three racial–ethnic protective factors (racial identity, racial socialization, Africentric worldview) in psychosocial prevention and intervention programs for Black children and adolescents. Seventeen programs meeting inclusion and exclusion criteria were evaluated for the extent to which racial–ethnic protective factors and related mechanisms were integrated, applied, and tested in such programs. A systematic assessment of these programs revealed that several prevention and intervention programs drew upon the three factors, particularly Africentric worldview. In addition, a number of studies hypothesized and assessed mechanisms, both those previously identified in conceptual literature and those that emerged from the interventions themselves. A set of recommendations encouraging the implementation of these factors into future prevention and intervention programs, examples of how clinicians can infuse these factors into psychotherapy, and areas for future research are discussed.     

Asian Americans and racism: when bad things happen to "model minorities."

Due to the limited psychological research on Asian Americans' experiences with racism, in the current study the authors examined the relationships between racial socialization, racial identity, and perceptions of racism, with a college-aged sample (N = 254) consisting primarily of Chinese Americans and Filipino Americans. With the use of multiple regression analyses, the results indicated that racial socialization, particularly discussions about race and racism, was positively related to one's perceptions of racism. Moreover, the study also showed that the relationship between racial socialization and perceptions of racism was partially mediated by racial identity schemas. To understand how Asian Americans regard racism, it is useful to have an understanding of racial identity theory and the manner in which Asian Americans are socialized to perceive racism.     

Understanding advantaged groups' opposition to diversity,equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies: The role of perceived threat

To combat social inequality, organizations develop and implement initiatives that seek to improve the status of disadvantaged groups (e.g., women, racial/ethnic minority groups). Such diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies are controversial, because people disagree about whether they are necessary and what their (positive and negative) consequences may be. Opposition can be particularly fierce from people who belong to advantaged groups that benefit from the status quo (e.g., men, racial/ethnic majority groups). Given the power wielded by advantaged groups, their opposition can undermine the successful implementation of DEI policies, thus resulting in continued inequality, wasted resources, and potential for tension in the organization. In this paper, I draw on theory and research to consider three types of threat that can explain advantaged groups' opposition to DEI policies: (1) resource threat, or concern about losing access to outcomes and opportunities; (2) symbolic threat, or concern about the introduction of new values, culture, and expectations; and (3) ingroup morality threat, or concern about their group's role in perpetuating inequality. I review strategies identified by the literature to mitigate these threats, and discuss their potential negative consequences. The final section takes stock of the literature and considers directions for future research.     

Academic adjustment across middle school: the role of public regard and parenting

In the current longitudinal study, we examined associations between Black and Latino youths' perceptions of the public's opinion of their racial/ethnic group (i.e., public regard) and changes in academic adjustment outcomes across middle school. We also tested combinations of racial/ethnic socialization and parent involvement in academic activities as moderators of this association. We used a 2nd-order latent trajectory model to test changes in academic adjustment outcomes in a sample of 345 Black and Latino urban youth across 6th, 7th, and 8th grades (51% female). Results revealed a significant average linear decline in academic adjustment from 6th to 8th grade, as well as significant variation around this decline. We found that parenting moderated the association between public regard and the latent trajectory of academic adjustment. Specifically, for youth who reported high racial/ethnic socialization and low parent academic involvement, lower public regard predicted lower academic adjustment in 6th grade. For youth who reported both low racial/ethnic socialization and low parent academic involvement, lower public regard predicted a steeper decline in academic adjustment over time. Finally, among youth who reported high racial/ethnic socialization and high parent academic involvement, public regard was not associated with either the intercept or the slope of academic adjustment. Thus, the combination of high racial/ethnic socialization and parent academic involvement may protect youths' academic motivation and performance from the negative effects of believing the public has low opinions of one's racial/ethnic group. Implications for protecting Black and Latino youths' academic outcomes from decline during middle school are discussed.     

Impact of Racism on Ethnic Minority Mental Health

ABSTRACT— A problem in ethnic minority mental health that can be solved in the foreseeable future is understanding how subtle and covert forms of racism affect psychological health of racial minorities. Although scientific psychology has generated a large body of literature on racial prejudice, stereotypes, intergroup attitudes, and racial bias and their often implicit and automatic nature, relatively little is known about the effects of these subtle racial bias on minority individuals. Following a selective review of recent developments in experimental psychology and multicultural psychology, I suggest some promising approaches and opportunities for future integration that would advance the field.     

Racial Socialization Practices of White Mothers Raising Black-White Biracial Children

The purpose of this retrospective qualitative study was to examine the impact of monoracial Black or White parents’ racial socialization practices on the process of biracial identity development for their Black-White biracial children. Data were obtained through in-person, semi-structured interviews with ten White monoracial mothers and 11 of their adult (ages 18–40) biracial children. The phenomenological analysis of participants’ experiences raising biracial children and growing up biracial revealed two overarching themes of racial socialization practices interacting with and influencing biracial identity development: creating a biracial family identity and navigating biracial with the outside world. Findings from this study expand the racial socialization research by connecting parental racial socialization with their child’s biracial identity and adding the unique perspective that racial socialization is an interactive family process in interracial families. Additionally, data from this study has important clinical and future research implications.     

双向偏见引发冲突情境下自我归类对民族社会化觉察的影响——来自景颇族、傣族和汉族初中生的证据

采用情境实验法和故事补全任务,考察双向偏见引发冲突情境下的自我归类对景颇族、傣族与汉族初中生的民族社会化觉察的影响。结果表明,作为冲突事件的当事者,景颇族学生和傣族学生觉察到的促进和睦、文化社会化及促使不信任等民族社会化信息存在差异;景颇族、傣族和汉族学生的自我归类存在差异;自我归类对促进和睦、文化社会化与报告权威等信息的觉察的影响亦存在民族差异。在双向偏见冲突情境下,三族学生的自我归类与民族社会化觉察有一定关系:无论是做当事者/内群体归类、旁观者/外群体归类,还是做调解者/群际归类,被试对促进和睦的觉察均最多。偏见准备主要与当事者归类有关,而进行调解者归类的被试更容易觉察到"报告权威"。     

Racial socialization and racial identity: can they promote resiliency for African American adolescents?

Although there is a rich body of research on resiliency, much of the literature fails to include minority youths or does not take into consideration their distinctive racial and environmental circumstances. Additionally, limited attention has been given to protective factors that are unique to nonmajority populations. This article posits that racial socialization and racial identity protect urban African American adolescents against some of the harmful effects of a discriminatory environment. These factors are hypothesized to influence academic achievement-an indicator of resiliency that has been used in many studies. A theoretical framework is provided that combines character development in a hostile environment, bicultural identity, and urban stress models. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.     

The Training and Supervisory Needs of Racial and Ethnic Minority Students

Despite the increasing attention given to issues of multicultural training in counseling programs, there is a dearth of information available on the unique training needs of racial and ethnic minority trainees. The authors review the sparse literature relevant to the training needs of ethnic minority students, offer examples of training and supervisory issues, and make recommendations for future research and training.     

回族儿童族群偏爱态度的形成与发展

以回族儿童为被试,从发展心理学的视角,两个研究分别考察了回族儿童族群偏爱态度的形成及其发展特点。研究1借鉴经典的学前儿童种族族态度测验法,发现儿童在4岁时开始具有民族类别意识,并产生内群（回族）偏爱态度;研究2运用内隐联想测验范式以及自我报告法,发现无论内隐态度还是外显态度,儿童均表现出强劲的内群（外群体为汉族）偏爱态度,并且内隐偏爱态度随年龄增长而增强,外显态度随年龄增长趋于稳定。最后讨论了本研究与国外研究结果差异的原因,并展望了未来研究的方向。     

Sociocultural factors, resilience, and coping: Support for a culturally sensitive measure of resilience

This investigation presents 1) a literature review concerning how adversity and resilience influence the development of youth from diverse cultural backgrounds; 2) an examination of measures of resilience with regard to cultural factors that relate to the nature of coping and resilience among young adults from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds; and 3) the exploration of aspects of cultural resilience: childhood stressors, global coping, adaptive coping, maladaptive coping, and sociocultural support. Results for 305 college age women indicated that cultural factors were related to measures of these five aspects of resilience. Childhood stressors were experienced differentially by individuals from different racial/ethnic and social class status backgrounds, supporting proposals that ecological aspects, notably cultural background and experiences, influence the development of resilience. A conceptual framework illustrating how culture contributes to resilience and coping is presented. Implications for the development of a measure of cultural resilience and its usefulness for developmental community interventions are discussed.