Racial Self-Categorization in Adolescence: Multiracial Development and Social Pathways

• Steven Hitlin ^[1] ; J. Scott Brown ^[2] ; Glen H. Elder Jr. ^[3]
  1. [1] University of Iowa

     University of Iowa

     City of Iowa City, Estados Unidos

     
  2. [2] Miami University

     Miami University

     Township of Oxford, Estados Unidos

     
  3. [3] University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

     University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

     Township of Chapel Hill, Estados Unidos

     

  Mostrar afiliaciones +
• Localización: Child development, ISSN 0009-3920, Vol. 77, Nº. 5, 2006, págs. 1298-1308
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Research on multiracial individuals is often cross-sectional, obscuring the fluid nature of multiracial self-categorization across time. Pathways of racial self-identification are developed from a nationally representative sample of adolescents aged 14–18, measured again 5 years later. A significant proportion of multiracial adolescents change racial self-identification across time. Youth who ever report being multiracial are 4 times as likely to switch self-identification as to report consistent multiracial identities. Across this time, more multiracial adolescents either add a racial category (diversify) or subtract one (consolidate) than maintain consistent multiracial self-categorization. Exploratory multinomial analyses show few differences between these pathways on select psychological and social characteristics. Results lend quantitative support to qualitative studies indicating the fluidity of racial self-categorization.