Multiracial and Multicultural Children's Discrimination Attributions: Antecedents and Consequences

该奖项作为美国国家科学基金会社会、行为和经济科学（SBE）博士后研究奖学金（SPRF）项目的一部分提供，并由SBE社会心理学项目提供支持。SPRF计划的目标是为学术界、工业界或私营部门和政府的科学事业准备有前途的早期职业博士级科学家。SPRF奖励包括在知名科学家的赞助下进行为期两年的培训，并鼓励博士后进行独立研究。美国国家科学基金会寻求促进科学界各阶层的科学家，包括那些未被充分代表的群体的科学家，参与其研究项目和活动；博士后阶段被认为是实现这一目标的一个重要的专业发展阶段。每个博士后必须解决各自学科领域的重要科学问题。在杜克大学Sarah Gaither博士的赞助下，这个博士后奖学金奖支持一位早期职业科学家，研究父母如何向他们的多种族和多元文化的孩子传授种族和文化知识，以及这种社会化如何影响孩子对身份相关歧视的发现、意识和内化。这项工作考察了色盲社会化，它不强调种族和文化作为有意义的群体，以及本质主义社会化，它认为，由于种族和文化群体具有潜在的定义本质，这些群体是固定的和有意义的。虽然过去的工作强调了种族和文化社会化对少数民族儿童的关键作用，但很少有研究考察多种族和多元文化家庭（父母中有一方是不同种族背景的家庭，或至少有一方是移民家庭）的社会化，这些家庭反映了美国增长最快的青年人口。事实上，2000年至2010年人口普查期间，多种族人口增长了近50%。大约46%的多种族人口年龄在18岁以下。同样，2017年，26%的孩子至少有一位移民父母。此外，儿童的社会化和对偏见的准备可能会影响儿童通过身份质疑（被问及诸如“你是什么”之类的问题）和身份否认（被告知要以不同的方式识别）来解释对其身份的挑战的方式。鉴于这些经历对成年人有负面影响，在发育早期探索这些归因的前因是至关重要的。本项目将身份否认与质疑的社会心理学研究与父母社会化与歧视归因的发展研究相结合，探讨多种族、多文化儿童身份否认与质疑的歧视归因的前因后果。三项研究(1)考察了多种族和多文化儿童父母的种族/文化社会化实践，以探索色盲和本质主义社会化的频率；(2)检验了多种族和多文化父母和儿童的色盲和本质主义作为儿童歧视归因的前因；(3)以幼儿（5-7岁）和大幼儿（12-14岁）为样本，探讨歧视归因的发展差异；(4)衡量身份否认和质疑的歧视归因对儿童情绪和幸福感的影响。鉴于歧视归因与较差的学习成绩、更大的抑郁和愤怒有关，这些发现可以帮助未来的干预措施支持多种族和多元文化儿童的健康发展。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award is provided as part of NSF's Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE) Postdoctoral Research Fellowships (SPRF) program and is supported by SBE's Social Psychology program. The goal of the SPRF program is to prepare promising, early career doctoral-level scientists for scientific careers in academia, industry or private sector, and government. SPRF awards involve two years of training under the sponsorship of established scientists and encourage Postdoctoral Fellows to perform independent research. NSF seeks to promote the participation of scientists from all segments of the scientific community, including those from underrepresented groups, in its research programs and activities; the postdoctoral period is considered to be an important level of professional development in attaining this goal. Each Postdoctoral Fellow must address important scientific questions that advance their respective disciplinary fields. Under the sponsorship of Dr. Sarah Gaither at Duke University, this postdoctoral fellowship award supports an early career scientist investigating how parents teach their multiracial and multicultural children about race and culture, and how this socialization influences children’s detection, awareness, and internalization of identity-related discrimination. This work examines colorblind socialization, which de-emphasizes race and culture as meaningful groups, and essentialist socialization, which holds that because racial and cultural groups have underlying defining essences, these groups are fixed and meaningful. Though past work has highlighted the pivotal role of racial and cultural socialization for minority children, very little research has examine the socialization of multiracial and multicultural families (those with either parents of different racial backgrounds, or at least one immigrant parent), who reflect the fastest growing youth populations in the U.S. Indeed, the multiracial population grew by nearly 50% between the 2000 and 2010 censuses, and approximately 46% of multiracial people are under 18 years old. Similarly, 26% of children had at least one immigrant parent in 2017. Moreover, children’s socialization and preparation for bias may influence the way children interpret challenges to their identities through identity questioning (being asked questions such as, What are you?) and identity denial (being told to identify differently). Given that these experiences have negative consequences for adults, it is critical to explore the antecedents of these attributions earlier in development. This project integrates social psychological research on identity denial and questioning with developmental research on parent socialization and discrimination attributions to explore the antecedents and consequences of multiracial and multicultural children’s discrimination attributions for identity denial and questioning. Three studies (1) examine the racial/cultural socialization practices of parents with multiracial and multicultural children to explore the frequency of colorblind and essentialist socialization, (2) test multiracial and multicultural parents’ and children’s colorblindness and essentialism as antecedents of children’s discrimination attributions, (3) explore discrimination attributions with samples of younger children (ages 5-7 years) and older children (ages 12-14 years) to explore developmental differences, and (4) measure the outcomes of making discrimination attributions for identity denial and questioning on children’s mood and well-being. Given that discrimination attributions are associated with poorer academic performance, greater depression and anger, these findings can aid future interventions to support the healthy development of multiracial and multicultural children.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.