Adolescent Racial Identity: Self-Identification of Multiple and “Other” Race/Ethnicities

Posted in Articles, Campus Life, Identity Development/Psychology, Media Archive, Teaching Resources, United States on 2015-09-02 21:30Z by Steven

Adolescent Racial Identity: Self-Identification of Multiple and “Other” Race/Ethnicities

Urban Education
Published online before print: 2015-03-18
DOI: 10.1177/0042085915574527

Bryn Harris, Assistant Professor of Psychology
University of Colorado, Denver

Russell D. Ravert, Associate Professor
Department of Human Development & Family Studies
University of Missouri, Columbia

Amanda L. Sullivan, Associate Professor of Psychology
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

This mixed methods study focused on adolescents who rejected conventional singular racial/ethnic categorization by selecting multiple race/ethnicities or writing descriptions of “Other” racial/ethnic identities in response to a survey item asking them to identify their race/ethnicity. Written responses reflected eight distinct categories ranging from elaborative descriptions of conventional race categories to responses refusing the construct of race/ethnicity. Students’ endorsement of multiple or “Other” ethnicities, and the resultant categories, differed by gender, grade, school type, and school compositions. Findings support scholars’ concern that common conceptualizations of race may not capture the complexity of self-identified racial categories among youth.

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