Talk:Biracial and multiracial identity development

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This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 14 January 2020 and 5 May 2020. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Chandler07. Peer reviewers: Matt roze.

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Requested move 30 July 2016

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section. 

The result of the move request was: Moved. EdJohnston (talk) 02:52, 8 August 2016 (UTC)

Biracial Identity Development → Biracial identity development – correct capitalization 208.44.84.138 (talk) 12:06, 30 July 2016 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

Add to This Page Or Create A New Page. Suggestions?
I have been working on a Wiki page for Multiracial identity development, and I am running into a few logistical issues that I want to work out before launching the new page. Initially, I decided to create a new page because the "Biracial identity development" page was not inclusive of multiracial individuals.

Therefore, I was going to create a page and include the following topics: - Definition of Multiracial identity development - Brief History - Census Demographics - Early Theories - Modern Theories

However, I have found that the theories of Multiracial identity development evolved out of early Biracial identity development theories, and the term "multiracial" was coined by one of the Biracial identity development theorists to be more inclusive of those belonging to two or MORE racial categories.

If I create a separate page, will it be redundant of the Biracial identity development page? Or should I merge my information onto this existing page, and change the title to "Biracial and Multiracial identity development"? Paige.hernandez (talk) 06:43, 3 May 2017 (UTC)

Factors to Consider in Biracial/Multiracial Identity Development
Parental Influence:

Outside actors' perceptions of biracial youth's parents can prove to be a systemic advantage for them at times. In a longitudinal study following students from Kindergarten through 8th grade, it was found that Biracial students with white mothers socially benefited from enhanced perceptions of performance when the teacher was also a white woman. Davis, T. M. (2016). This could have effects from better grades, less punishment, and improved confidence. The article describes these youth as having access to social capital via their mother's whiteness. While this study does struggle to control for a significant number of factors, they are able to demonstrate that biracial students can be perceived and engaged with differently based on their parents' race; potentially gaining an advantage compared to their monoracial minority peers that they are themselves potentially unaware of. Further research could examine how this observed discrepancy in perception of biracial students affects how the student identifies themselves.

Parent's engagement with their children can influence mental health and social outcomes in multiracial children as compared to their mono-racial counterparts. Biracial Youth report feeling less connected with and less supported by their mothers when compared with mono-racial counterparts. Lorenzo-Blanco, E. I., Bares, C. B., & Delva, J. (2013). This study also noted that multiracial children reported stronger connections to their fathers compared to their monoracial peers. It is important to note that the researchers reported sample size and statistical power as possibly accounting for both of these findings.

Social Interactions:

Multiracial individuals are often asked about their race or mislabeled. One study demonstrated that Multiracial students engage in more discussions on diverse topics. Whether out of necessity or other factors biracial students on college campuses consistently engage in more discussions about diversity than their mono-racial peers. Biracial students from varying heritages and cultural backgrounds all reported engaging in more discussions regarding diversity and race than a group of their monoracial peers. Future research could focus on why there is such a difference in this type of engagement between biracial and monoracial individuals. This discussion could be formed purely out of necessity from the frequency of questions about race or mislabeling levied at multiracial individuals. It could also potentially come from a place of comfort. As multiracial individuals are consistently made aware of their vague position within the current cultural narratives involving race, comfort around the topic could have been built up, leading to more readiness to discuss diversity and race topics.

Access to Services:

Multiracial students can find it difficult to find programs equipped to deal with the duality of their identity. A study by Johns Hopkins University Press found that biracial college students often found challenges when attempting to access college services related to race. Literte makes it clear that these programs do not intend to harm students. Instead they were created with specific racial groups in mind and, as a result, implicitly assume students are operating from a monoracial background. This, unfortunately, does not allow these types of services to be equipt to work with biracial students even if the student identifies as part of the racial group that the service is intended for. Within this same study, biracial students reported feeling unwelcome or out of place at events thrown by racial specific groups as if it was not something that was for them. Biracial students who had experienced race-related family trauma from their youth also reported not utilizing these services or attending events as they felt that "they would not be understood". (Literte 2010, P.127). The very nature of racially defined programs puts biracial students in a position where they need to choose rather than embrace their duality; something that could potentially reinforce racial conflicts from their youth. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Trterp (talk • contribs) 22:59, 14 August 2019 (UTC)

Linking this article to the Multiracialism page
I'm currently working on developing the "multiracialism" page on Wikipedia, and I've been thinking about what references would be valuable to include (both in terms of scholarly articles and links to other Wikipedia pages). In doing so, I thought that this page on biracial/multiracial identity development would be a great resource to have as a link on the multiracialism page under a section on American experiences of mixed-race identities. My goal is to expand the theories of multiracialism present on the multiracialism page and provide more transnational examples and perspectives. Would anyone be opposed to including this page as a stub on the multiracialism page? Or have any more recommendations? --Tmsloan (talk) 02:44, 26 September 2019 (UTC)
 * Hello, all! I've decided to change my approach in regards to editing this article. I've included additional information in my sandbox if anyone is interested or has suggestions.--Tmsloan (talk) 03:49, 2 October 2019 (UTC)