Self-Identified Multiracial Individuals Realize Real Benefits According to Stanford Business School Research

STANFORD, Calif.--(Business Wire)--
In drafting questionnaires probing ethnicity, educational and governmental
organizations are under increasing pressure to include a multiracial option
rather than forcing individuals with complex racial heritages to choose just one
category.

As reported in this month`s Stanford Knowledgebase, this prompted scholars Kevin
Binning, Miguel Unzueta, Yuen Huo, and Ludwin Molina, to raise a provocative
question: Does identifying themselves as multiracial help or hinder the
psychological well-being of individuals of diverse ethnicity?

Previous studies had assumed that if an individual had a multiracial heritage
that he or she automatically identified with that heritage. Yet Binning and his
fellow researchers hypothesized that simply belonging to multiple racial groups
did not guarantee that a person would psychologically identify with all of those
groups. "We thought that digging deeper into the multiracial category to examine
how such individuals interpreted their racial identity would help our
understanding of multiracial psychology," said Binning, a post-doctoral scholar
at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and coauthor of "The Interpretation
of Multiracial Status and Its Relation to Social Engagement and Psychological
Well-Being," published recently in the Journal of Social Issues.

In the study, high school students who belonged to multiple racial groups were
asked to indicate their ethnic heritage by checking as many boxes as necessary
on a form. They were also asked an open-ended question about which groups they
primarily identified with. They were then classified as identifying with a group
the researchers had designated for benchmarking purposes as having a relatively
low social status (black or Latino), a relatively high social status, (Asian or
white), or multiple groups (for example, black and white or "multiracial").
Those who identified with multiple groups reported either equal or higher
psychological well-being and social engagement than those who identified
primarily with a single group.

Interestingly, it didn`t matter whether the groups the students identified with
were characterized as low or high-status. "We were surprised to find virtually
no differences between individuals who identified with either low- or
high-status groups," said Binning. "What mattered was whether they acknowledged
their multiracial identity." In the past, research suggested that members of
high- and low-status groups differed psychologically.

Binning and his associates have some theories about why there might be some
psychological benefits associated with having a multiracial identity. "For one,
perhaps being able to 'stand one`s ground' and reject social pressure to
identify with a single racial group indicates resiliency," said Binning.
Additionally, instead of falling between the cracks of two separate cultures,
individuals who identify with multiple groups might be better equipped to
assimilate into both racially homogenous and racially mixed environments. In
this way, multiracial individuals in diverse environments might have a broader
sense of "fitting in," which can boost both their psychological and social
well-being.

Alternatively, being forced to identify with one race over another can be
disconcerting. "If I'm a member of multiple groups and forced to identify with
only one group, I'm - by necessity - rejecting part of my identity," said
Binning. "Typically, this means taking on the race or ethnicity of one parent
over another. This can put people on the defensive, emotionally."

The authors also felt that individuals who feel comfortable in several different
cultures might be able to better "frame switch" between different cultural mind
sets.

"Such individuals might be able to seamlessly switch between their different
cultures' ways of perceiving the world, which could help them navigate through
racially diverse environments," said Binning.

Given that this research highlights the benefits of possessing a multiracial
identity, should society encourage individuals to adopt this attitude? "Much
more research is needed to determine an answer to this," said Binning. A major
question, for example, is whether adopting a multiracial identity causes
psychological and social well-being, or if the reverse is true. "It could simply
be that better-adjusted individuals tend to accept their multiracial identity,"
said Binning. "We're not sure at this point what the causal relationship is."

The data reported in this article is part of a larger data set collected with a
UCLA Center for Community Partnership Grant awarded to Yuen J. Huo, an associate
professor in social psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Coauthor Unzueta is an assistant professor at the UCLA Anderson School of
Management. Molina is an assistant professor of social psychology at the
University of Kansas.

One of the reasons that this research study is getting a lot of attention is
President Barack Obama`s own mixed-race heritage. "In his books he stresses his
own mixed ethnicity, and how he struggled with that during his teenage years,"
said Binning. And as the U.S. population becomes increasingly heterogeneous,
"this issue is only going to become more important in coming years."

(This story reports on research at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and
appears in the May 2009 issue of Stanford Knowledgebase, the free monthly
information source for thoughts, ideas and research at the Stanford Graduate
School of Business. For related research citations and to dig deeper, visit
http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/news/knowledgebase.html.)

Stanford Graduate School of Business
Helen Chang, 650-723-3358
chang_helen@gsb.stanford.edu

Copyright Business Wire 2009