Forced
to Choose: The Effects of Multiracial Status on Adolescent Identity
Melissa Herman
Abstract
This paper develops methods of categorizing multiracial
youth and compares the youth to each other and to monoracial youth
along a series of developmental outcomes. The multiracial categories
are based on the youths’ reports of race and reports of their
parents' race(s). Comparisons are also made of multiracial respondents
who, when forced to choose a single monoracial category, make different
choices. For example, Black-Whites who self-identify as Black are
contrasted with Black-Whites who self-identify as White. There are
differences within these groups in strength of ethnic identity,
achievement outcomes, deviance, and psychosocial development. Finally,
multinomial logistic regression models show which factors predict
the race a multiracial adolescent will choose when forced to do
so on a questionnaire. Ethnic identity, socioeconomic status, and
race of the parent(s) with whom the adolescent identifies are strong
predictors of reported race. For those reporting Asian and Hispanic,
generation of immigration is also important. The paper has implications
for public policy funding in education, survey design, statistical
analysis of multiracial samples, and theories of identity development
during adolescence.
Melissa Herman, Department
of Sociology, Northwestern University
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