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Multiracial Identity Integration: Perceptions of Conflict and Distance among Multiracial Individuals
Author(s) -
Cheng ChiYing,
Lee Fiona
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of social issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.618
H-Index - 122
eISSN - 1540-4560
pISSN - 0022-4537
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-4560.2008.01587.x
Subject(s) - perception , negotiation , social psychology , identity (music) , psychology , population , ethnic group , construct (python library) , gender studies , sociology , demography , anthropology , social science , physics , neuroscience , acoustics , computer science , programming language
This article examines how multiracial individuals negotiate their different and sometimes conflicting racial identities. Drawing from previous work on bicultural identity integration (see Benet‐Martínez & Haritatos, 2005 ), we proposed a new construct, multiracial identity integration (MII), to measure individual differences in perceptions of compatibility between multiple racial identities. We found that MII is composed of two independent subscales: racial distance that describes whether different racial identities are perceived as disparate, and racial conflict that describes whether different racial identities are perceived as in conflict. We also found that recalling positive multiracial experiences increased MII, while recalling negative multiracial experiences decreased MII. These findings have implications for understanding the psychological well‐being of multiracial individuals, and the development of social policy and programs catered to this population.