Racial Socialization,Color-Blind Racial Ideology,and Mental Health Among Black College Students

Abstract

The ecological model of racial socialization (EMRS) was tested among a sample of 207 Black college students from a predominately White Midwestern university. The EMRS explored the relations between the racial composition of participants’ social contexts and racial socialization provided by both parent and peer sources. In addition, the model addressed the relations among racial socialization provided by multiple sources, color-blind racial ideology (CBRI), and mental health. Findings from hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated partial support of the EMRS. Specifically, the racial composition of participants’ neighborhood and friend group accounted for a unique amount of variance in messages about cultural pride and alertness to racism participants received from both parents and peers. Additionally, peer alertness to racism messages accounted for a significant amount of variance in both CBRI and mental health. Finally, CBRI moderated the relation between parental mainstream racial socialization messages and mental health, such that Black young adults, who have higher levels of color-blind racial beliefs, are negatively affected by mainstream socialization messages provided by parents of participants. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Keywords

racial socialization Black college students color-blind racial ideology mental health

Black parents have had the unique challenge of raising their children within a society where being Black has negative implications due to racial discrimination. To contend with this challenge, many parents socialize their children about race, personal and group identities, and intergroup relationships, commonly referred to as racial socialization. The content of racial socialization messages varies considerably from family to family. For the purposes of the current study, we adopted Stevenson’s (1994) typology because it captures the general themes identified by previous scholars. From this perspective, Black American parents generally focus on giving their children both proactive and protective racial socialization messages. Proactive socialization refers to messages focusing on the positive aspects of one’s racial/ethnic group (e.g., instilling a positive self-image and strong commitment to the Black race). In contrast, protective socialization messages warn of the realities of racism and provide strategies to effectively handle future oppression and discrimination. These messages highlight the presence of racism and are designed to prepare children and emerging adults for future encounters with racial discrimination and prejudice. Both types of messages have been found to be related to a range of mental health indicators, including less psychological distress and lower levels of low self-esteem and lethargy (Bynum, Burton, & Best, 2007; G. Y. Davis & Stevenson, 2006).Some parents provide their children with racial messages that conform to the dominant mainstream racial discourse; one in which minimizes race and racism in society. These messages de-emphasize the importance of race and often focus on the commonalities of all people. To capture these sentiments, we were also interested in examining a third type of racial socialization message. Although mainstream socialization has been highlighted in the literature (Lesane-Brown, 2002, Sanders Thompson, 1994), little empirical research exists on these types of messages.

Much of the empirical literature in this area focuses on the influence of protective and proactive racial socialization on racial beliefs, particularly, racial and ethnic identity (e.g., Bennett, 2006). However, recent empirical findings suggest that racial socialization is related to other dimensions of racial beliefs among Black American emerging adults, specifically color-blind racial ideology (CBRI; Barr & Neville, 2008). CBRI refers to the dominant racial ideology in the United States that serves to deny or minimize the existence of structural racism in shaping people’s lived experiences (Bonilla-Silva, 2003; Neville, 2009). Similar to racial identity, CBRI is connected to one’s racial worldview. However, unlike racial identity, CBRI focuses on one’s understanding of racism in the United States. This type of understanding is important as it is related to a range of social justice and political behaviors that can potentially hinder or promote positive racial justice outcomes (Lewis, Neville, & Spanierman, 2012).

The current investigation builds on previous racial socialization studies by proposing an ecological model to account for not only the messages youth and emerging adults receive from their parents but from their peers as well. The model also is designed to account for the influence of contextual factors, such as neighborhood and high school, on the racial socialization process and the influence of these messages on emerging adults’ racial beliefs and psychological adjustment.

Ecological Model of the Racial Socialization

The ecological model of the racial socialization (EMRS) is designed to examine the contexts and correlates of racial socialization for Black American emerging adults. The EMRS is based on Umaña-Taylor and Fine’s (2004) model of adolescent ethnic identity development. Lending support for their model, Umaña-Taylor and Fine found that racial composition of the youths’ high school was related to youths’ report of familial ethnic socialization, which in turn influenced their ethnic identity expression. Specifically, they found that youth who attended high schools with fewer Mexican Americans received more familial ethnic socialization. They also found that familial ethnic socialization was positively related to ethnic identity achievement.

In the EMRS (see Figure 1), we propose that the racial composition of young adults’ high school contexts (e.g., neighborhood, school, peer group) will be related to types (e.g., protective, proactive, and/or mainstream), frequency, and sources (e.g., parents and/or peers) of racial socialization. In addition, we extend the Umaña-Taylor and Fine (2004) model by examining another aspect of racial beliefs (i.e., CBRI). We also propose that CBRI will moderate the relation between racial socialization and mental health outcomes.

Figure 1.

Ecological model of the racial socialization.

Ecological factors and racial socialization

We suggest in the EMRS that the racial composition of emerging adults’ high school environment is related to the content of racial socialization they received. A number of studies have suggested that there is a relation between neighborhood context and racial socialization in Black American families (Caughy, Nettles, O’Campo, & Lohrfink, 2006; Thorton, Chatters, Taylor, & Allen, 1990; Stevenson, McNeil, Herrero-Taylor, & Davis, 2005). For example, Caughy et al. (2006) found that neighborhood composition was related to the content of racial socialization provided in Black families. Specifically, they found that protective socialization was less likely to be reported by parents living in predominately White neighborhoods compared with parents in predominately Black neighborhoods. Similarly, Stevenson et al. (2005) found that adolescent Black boys reported receiving more protective racial socialization in ethnically diverse neighborhoods while adolescent girls reported receiving more cultural pride messages in predominately Black neighborhoods. Although this finding seems counterintuitive, Tatum (1999) has suggested that Black parents living in predominately White neighborhoods have an acute desire to prepare their children for racial encounters compared with their counterparts living in predominately Black neighborhoods and are more likely to give protective racial socialization messages.

Although research suggests that the racial makeup of the neighborhood may influence the frequency and content of racial socialization that parents provide their children (Caughy et al., 2006; Stevenson et al., 2005; Thorton et al., 1990), to date there has not been an examination of how the racial composition of other contexts (i.e., school and peer group) within the youths’ environment influence the content and frequency of racial socialization. Examining the influence of other contexts may help broaden our understanding of the racial socialization process given how much time youth spend in their school contexts and with friends. In addition, the influence of racial composition has not been examined in an emerging adult sample. Using an older sample is necessary to better understanding the context and content of racial socialization across the life span.

Racial socialization and color-blind racial ideology

Previous research has also examined the association between racial socialization and youths’ racial beliefs. These findings suggest that protective racial socialization provided by parents is related to CBRI in racial minority college students (Alvarez, Juang, & Liang, 2006; Barr & Neville, 2008). Barr and Neville (2008) explored the relations between CBRI and racial socialization in Black American college students. In this study, students’ report of protective racial socialization was inversely related to their CBRI. These findings suggest that the messages parents give about preparing for future discrimination is related to lower levels of denial and minimization of institutional racism among emerging adults.

Racial socialization and mental health

Depending on the content, parental racial socialization is related to both positive and negative mental health outcomes. Proactive racial socialization consistently has been found to be related to positive mental health outcomes (Bynum et al., 2007; G. Y. Davis & Stevenson, 2006). For example, Bynum et al. (2007) found that racial pride socialization was related to lower levels of psychological distress. There have been mixed findings surrounding the relation between protective racial socialization and mental health outcomes. Some authors have found that adolescent reports of parental protective racial socialization were related to higher levels of psychological distress, instrumental helplessness, depression, and externalizing behaviors (Bynum et al., 2007; Wilson, Foster, Anderson, & Mance, 2009). Other researchers have found that protective racial socialization has been found to buffer the negative influence of racial discrimination on mental health outcomes (Fisher & Shaw, 1999; Bynum et al., 2007). More research is needed to identify additional factors that may help make sense of relationship between racial socialization and mental health outcomes.

Racial socialization, color-blind racial ideology, and mental health

In the EMRS, we propose that CBRI will moderate the relation between racial socialization and mental health. There is research suggesting that Black Americans’ CBRI is related to psychological processes. For example, Neville, Coleman, Falconer, and Holmes (2005) found that the adoption of CBRI in Black college students was related to increased internalization of negative racial stereotypes, social dominance orientation, and victim-blame ideology in which Black people are thought to be primarily responsible for racial inequalities in society. We were unable to locate a study linking CBRI to mental health among Black Americans. However, the racial identity research indicates that internalized negative racial messages about Blacks is more likely than not to be related to decreased mental health, particularly self-esteem (e.g., Vandiver, Fhagen-Smith, Cokley, Cross, & Worrell, 2001).

There is contradictory evidence suggesting that protective racial socialization can sometimes lead to negative mental health outcomes. We suggest that the disparate findings in part may be explained by CBRI. We assert that CBRI may moderate the relation between protective racial socialization and mental health outcomes. Conceptually, it makes sense that young adults who did not receive protective racial socialization and who adopt higher levels of CBRI will have more negative mental health outcomes than those who have lower levels of CBRI. We believe that lower mental health may only exist for Black emerging adults who have not been socialized to think about race(ism) or who have been told that race is unimportant and who adopt greater levels of CBRI because such individuals would not attribute racial disparities to structural and institutional racism. Rather, they may interpret these messages as indicators of pathology in their own racial group.

Rationale and Purpose

The overarching goal of the study was to test the EMRS. Cumulatively, findings from the research provide support for various aspects of the theoretical model. Although researchers suggest that racial socialization can be provided by other sources such as peers, there is little empirical exploration of these additional sources. The EMRS model also extends previous empirical work by including additional contextual factors (e.g., school and peer racial composition). Four hypotheses were tested

Hypothesis 1: The greater percentages of Black Americans in one’s environment while in high school (i.e., neighborhood, school, and peer groups) would be related to increased protective and proactive racial socialization provided by parents and peers.

Hypothesis 2: Increased frequency of protective racial socialization provided by parents and peers would be related to lower levels of CBRI.

Hypothesis 3: Increased frequency of racial socialization provided by parents and peers would be related to mental health, such that protective messages would be related to increased mental health and mainstream messages to decreased mental health.

Hypothesis 4: On the basis of the conceptual model, we assert that CBRI would moderate the relations between racial socialization messages and mental health, such that higher levels of CBRI would be related to decreased levels of positive mental health for those who report fewer protective or more mainstream racial socialization messages.

Method

Participants

Participants were 207 self-identified Black college students (124 women, 77 men, and 6 unknown sex) from a large, predominately White university in the Midwest. Participants’ age ranged from 18 to 22 years (M = 18.73 years, SD = 2.09). In addition to racial background, participants were asked to report their ethnic background. Participants’ self-reported ethnicity included Black American (79.4%), multiethnic (12.9%), Black (3.6%), West Indian (3.1%), Afro-Latino (1%).

Measures

Personal information

All participants completed an information sheet requesting demographic data, including age, sex, religious affiliation, and parents’ education level. Participants were also asked to provide their racial (e.g., White, Black, Asian, Latino, etc.) and ethnic identification (e.g., Black American, Jamaican American, Ghanaian, etc.).

Racial composition

Three indicators of racial composition were collected: (a) neighborhood, (b) high school, and (c) friends. The racial composition of the neighborhood in which participants were raised was assessed using U.S. Census Bureau block data. To gather this information, participants were asked to provide their last home address while in high school. The participants’ addresses were then entered into http://factfinder.census.gov to locate demographic information at the block level. Participants also provided the name of their high school. The high school racial composition was acquired by accessing high school websites and other internet sources including: www.schoolmatters.com, www.publicschoolreview.com, and www.greatschools.net. Participants were also asked to estimate the racial composition of their close friends during high school using a modified version of the Racial Composition subscale of the Racial and Life Experiences Subscale (RALES; Harrell, 1997). Participants were asked to rate the racial composition of their friends on a scale of 0 to 5, where 0 indicated that none of their friends were of the same race and 5 indicated that all of their friends were of the same race.

Racial socialization

A slightly modified version of the Cultural and Racial Experiences of Socialization Scale (CARES; Stevenson & Bentley, 2007) was used. The original CARES was created to unify previous measures of racial socialization and explore both the breadth and depth of Black Americans’ racial socialization experiences. Using a 3-point scale—1 (never) to 3 (a lot of times)—the measure examines the frequency that participants experienced racial socialization, the sources from which they received racial socialization messages, and the degree to which they believed each message was accurate. The reported reliability estimates for the original CARES total scores are acceptable (α = .93-.96; C. P. Davis, 2008; Stevenson & Bentley, 2007). In the original CARES, the authors examined frequency of racial socialization message received overall. In this study, we chose to modify the CARES to examine both the frequency and source of each message. Specifically, we asked participants to report the frequency of racial socialization messages received from parents and/or peers.

The original Youth-CARES included seven subscales: (a) Alertness to Racism (AR; 9 items), which reflects messages warning youth about the realities of racism (e.g., “Whites have more opportunities than Blacks.”). (b) Coping with Antagonism (CA; 6 items) includes messages focused on strategies to contend with racism (e.g., “You should speak up when someone says something that is racist.”). (c) Religious Coping with Antagonism (R-CA; 6 items) includes messages that focus on the importance of spirituality and religion in coping with discrimination and racism (e.g., “A family that prays together, stays together.”). (d) Cultural Legacy (CL; 10 items) focuses on African American history (e.g., “Knowing your African heritage is important for the survival of Black people.”). (e) Cultural Pride (CP; 9 items) centers on pride and knowledge of African American culture (e.g., “You should be proud to be Black.”). (f) Internalized Racism (IR; 19 items) focuses on negative perceptions about Black people (e.g., “Black people are their own worst enemy.”). (g) Mainstream/Bicultural Coping (MC; 16 items) focuses on preparing youth to interact with White people and mainstream culture (e.g., “You need to learn how to live in a White world and a Black world.”).To identify the number of potential factors represented in the slightly modified CARES measures for both parents and peers a principal components analysis (PCA) followed by an exploratory factor analysis were completed. Specifically, two separate PCAs were performed for each source of racial socialization (e.g., parents and peers) to determine the potential number of components present for each source. The data were evaluated using the Kaiser (1958) criterion for examining eigenvalues and Cattell’s (1966) recommendations for using scree plots to determine the number of factors that best fit the data. On the basis of the results of the PCA, exploratory factor analysis using the principal axis factoring extraction method was conducted to assist in the identification of the factors present in this sample. The promax rotation, an oblique rotation, was chosen for each of the analysis because it was assumed that the items were correlated. Using recommendations provided by Tabachnick and Fidell (2007) the Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin statistics and Bartlett test were used to determine the adequacy of the correlations for factor analyses. Items were retained if they had a factor loading of at least .40 on one and only one factor (see Table 1).

Table 1.

Factor Loadings for Exploratory Factor Analysis With Promax Rotation of CARES Scale.

Item	Parents			Peers
Item	CP	AR	MS	CP	AR	MS
11. It is important to remember the experience of Black slavery.	.72			.60
42. It is important to go to Black festivals and African American History Museums.	.69			.45
50. You should learn more about Black history so that you can prevent people from treating you unfairly.	.67			.70
57. Black children should be taught early that God can protect them from racial hatred.	.66			.60
32. Knowing your African heritage is important for the survival of Black people.	.60			.47
49. “Train up a child in the way he should go, and he will not turn away from it.”	.60			.53
10. A family that prays together stays together.	.54			.56
23. Never be ashamed of your color.	.53			.74
67. It is ok if you want to move to the beat of music no matter who is around.	.53			.53
38. Sometimes you have to correct White people when they make racist statements about Black people.	.52			.42
34. Doing well in school doesn’t make you any less Black.	.52			.54
12. Don’t forget who your people are because you may need them someday.	.52			.61
16. Racism is real, and you have to understand it or it will hurt you.	.50			.42
21. Spirituality is an important part of a person’s life.	.45			.55
55. You should speak up when someone says something that is racist.	.45			.50
60. Black youth are harassed by police just because they are Black.		.70			.51
36. You have to work twice as hard as Whites in order to get ahead in this world.		.63			.84
45. Whites make it hard for people to get ahead in this world.		.61			.79.
3. When Black people make money, they try to forget they are Black.		.59			.44
53. Whites have more opportunities than Blacks.		.59			.67
30. You have to watch to work twice as hard as Whites in order to get ahead in this world.		.57			.83
66. Sometimes you have to make yourself less threatening to make White people around you comfortable.		.48			.52
63. More jobs would be open to African Americans if employers were not racists.		.48			.60
48. Life is easier for light-skinned Black people than it is for dark-skinned Black people.		.46			.51
64. America built its wealth off the backs of slaves.		.42			.55
39. Black children don’t have to know about Africa to survive life in America.			.61			.45
14. Living in an all-Black neighborhood is no way to show that you are successful.			.51			.42
35. Sometime you have to turn your back on Black people to get ahead.			.51			.44
15. Since the world has become so multicultural, it is wrong to focus on Black issues.			.48			.58

Note: Factor loadings <.40 have been deleted for clarity. CARES = Cultural and Racial Experiences of Socialization; CP = Cultural Pride; AR = Alertness to Racism; MS = Mainstream Socialization.

Results from the factor analyses indicated that a 29-item, three-factor solution best fit the modified version of the CARES for both the Parental and Peer versions: (a) Cultural Pride (similar to the original CARES Cultural Pride and Cultural Legacy subscales)—a type of proactive racial socialization which reflects the importance of being proud to be Black and being aware of racial heritage (15 items; e.g., “You should learn more about Black history so that you can prevent people from treating you unfairly.”); (b) Alertness to Racism (similar to the original CARES Coping with Antagonism subscale)—a type of protective racial socialization that discuss the racial disparities that many Black Americans face (10 items; e.g., “You have to work twice as hard as Whites in order to get ahead in this world”.); and (c) Mainstream Socialization (similar to the original CARES Mainstream/Bicultural Coping subscale)—includes items assessing messages designed to minimize race as a strategy to fit into the mainstream American (4 items; e.g., Black children don’t have to know about Africa to survive life in America.). The alpha coefficient estimates for the Parental version of the Cultural Pride, Alertness to Racism, and Mainstream subscales were acceptable (α = .87, .83, and .71, respectively); the reliability estimates for the Peer version were also acceptable (α = .91, .86, and .72, respectively).

Color-blind racial ideology

The Color-Blind Racial Attitudes Scale-14 (CoBRAS; Neville et al., 2005) was used to assess CBRI in the study. The CoBRAS uses a 6-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree). Scores are totaled and averaged so that higher scores reflect a greater denial of institutional racism. There is growing psychometric support for the CoBRAS. Greater CoBRAS has been found to be related to lower support for affirmative action (Awad, Cokley, & Ravitch, 2005; Oh, Choi, Neville, Anderson, & Landrum-Brown, 2010) and other social justice beliefs in multiracial samples, including Black college students (Lewis et al., 2012). The internal consistency estimates for the CoBRAS total score has been acceptable with alphas ranging from .70 (Neville et al., 2005) to .74 (Barr & Neville, 2008). Cronbach’s alpha estimate for the current sample was .76.

Mental health

The Mental Health Inventory–18 (MHI-18; Ware, Manning, Duan, Wells, & Newhouse, 1984) was used to assess positive and negative mental health, including depression, anxiety, positive and negative affect, and general distress. The MHI-18 is a shortened version of the original 36-item scale which was developed for use in general populations and is scored on a 6-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (all of the time) to 6 (none of the time). The scale includes items such as, “In the past 4 weeks, how often have you felt downhearted and blue.” The total scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating increased mental health. The MHI-18 has excellent psychometric properties, including strong 1-year test-retest reliability, internal consistency, and evidence of convergent and discriminant validity (Weinstein, Berwick, Goldman, Murphy, & Barsky, 1989). Acceptable reliability estimates have been found for Black American college student populations (α = .87-.94; Fisher & Shaw, 1999; Whittaker & Neville, 2010). Cronbach’s alpha estimate for this sample was .91.

Procedures

Students were recruited from five undergraduate Black American studies courses at a predominately White university in the Midwest. All students had the opportunity to complete the survey regardless of race. However, only the data from Black students who were emerging adults at the time of the study (age 18-25 years; Arnett, 2000) were used in the current analysis. At the beginning of each class, the first author provided a brief overview of the current study and discussed the purpose of the research and the voluntary nature of the study. The students were given the opportunity to enter into a raffle to win one of three Visa gift cards valued at $100, $100, and $50. Informed consent for participation in the research and participation in the raffle were obtained. The survey took approximately 45 minutes to complete.

Results

Descriptive Information

According to the Census data, participants lived in neighborhoods and attended schools where the racial composition was as low as 1% Black to as high as 100% Black (M = 65.43%; SD = 35.77% for neighborhoods and M = 55.47%; SD = 34.53% for high schools). On average, participants reported that the majority of their friends in high school were Black American (M = 3.29; SD = 0.93). The participants reported that Racial Pride messages were most frequent from peers and parents and Mainstream messages were the least frequent type of message from both peers and parents. The participants reported, on average, high rates of mental health (M = 4.43; SD = 0.79) and low rates of CBRI (M = 1.62; SD = 0.66; see Table 2 for the means, standard deviations, and intercorrelations among all study variables).

Table 2.

Summary of Intercorrelations, Means, and Standard Deviations for Study Variables.

Variable	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
1. Age	—
2. Gender	−.76***	—
3. Mother’s education	−.02	.08	—
4. Father’s education	−.07	.08	.35***	—
5. % Black neighborhood	.12	−.05	−.15*	−.08	—
6. % Black high school	.08	−.05	−.08	.00	.41***	—
7. % Black friends	−.07	−.03	−.11	−.08	.41***	.38**	—
8. Parent Cultural Pride RS	−.03	.01	−.13	−.07	.25***	.02	.15*	—
9. Parent Alertness to Racism RS	.06	−.04	−.15*	−.13	.10	−.06	.17*	.60***	—
10. Parent Mainstream RS	.01	.05	−.06	.01	.12	.01	.13	.47***	.61***	—
11. Peer Cultural Pride RS	−.02	.04	−.22***	−.14	.28***	.16*	.21***	.65***	.43***	.39***	—
12. Peer Alertness to Racism RS	.04	−.06	−.18**	.04	.15	.12	.22***	.48***	.65***	.42***	.62***	—
13. Peer Mainstream RS	−.06	.05	−.03	.11	.08	−.01	−.07	.18**	.27***	.60***	.21***	.27***	—
14. CoBRAS	−.11	.11	−.04	.10	−.20**	−.09	−.06	−.10	−.05	.20***	−.17**	−.16*	.28***	—
15. MHI-18	−.10	.03	−.02	−.04	.07	−.01	.04	.03	−.10	−.15*	−.01	−.16*	−.07	−.09	—
M	18.73	—	—	—	65.83	55.64	3.31	2.24	1.89	1.52	2.05	1.91	1.44	1.62	4.43
SD	2.09	—	—	—	35.51	34.56	0.90	0.44	0.47	0.40	0.44	0.43	0.39	0.20	0.79

Note: RS = Racial Socialization as measured by the modified Cultural and Racial Experiences of Socialization (CARES; range 1-3) where higher scores are indicative of more racial socialization; CoBRAS = Color-Blind Racial Attitudes Scale (range 1-6) where higher scores indicate more endorsement of color-blind racial attitudes; MHI-18 = Mental Health Inventory–18 (range 1-5) where higher scores are indicative better mental health. Gender is recoded as male = 0 and female =1.

p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

Potential sex differences were examined on each of the dependent variables included in the investigation using one-way analyses of variances. Prior to conducting the analyses, the CoBRAS was transformed using a square root transformation method because the variable was negatively skewed. The transformed variable was normally distributed; skewness = 0.75 and kurtosis = 1.78. Results from the analyses of variance indicated that men had higher scores only on the CoBRAS, F(1, 198) = 8.35, p < .001.

Main Analyses

Because our sample size was not large enough to provide us with ample power to test the complexities of the complete model, we tested the first half of the model (i.e., predictors of racial socialization messages) separate from the second half of the model (i.e., predictors of racial beliefs and mental health). Although not ideal, testing the model in two phases provides us with preliminary information about the contextual aspects of the model (as tested in Umaña-Taylor and Fine’s ecological model) and also the relations between racial socialization and mental health.

Hypothesis 1: Greater percentages of Black Americans in one’s environment while in high school (i.e., neighborhood, school, and peer groups) would be related to increased protective and proactive racial socialization messages provided by parents and peers.

Six hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to determine if the racial composition of various high school contexts (i.e., neighborhood, school, and peer group) accounted for a significant amount of variance in types of racial socialization messages received, after controlling for demographic information. The criterion variable for each analysis was the racial socialization message subscale (i.e., Parental Cultural Pride, Parental Alertness to Racism, Parental Mainstream, Peer Cultural Pride, Peer Alertness to Racism, and Peer Mainstream). Sex, a dichotomous variable, was dummy coded (0 = male and 1 = female). To control for Type I error, p values were set at a point value calculated using the linear step up procedure, as described by Benjamini and Hochberg (1995), to test for the false discovery rate for conducting multiple tests. Tolerance scores were examined as a check of multicollinearity and each were within an acceptable range. For each analysis, the demographic factors sex, age, mother’s education, and father’s education were entered into Step 1. In Step 2, the percentage of Black people in participants’ neighborhood, high school, and peer group were entered.

The analyses predicting cultural pride and alertness to racism were significant for some but not all parent and peer sources (see Tables 3 and 4). Increased percentage of Black people in the high school neighborhood was a unique predictor for both Parental (β = .23) and Peer Cultural Pride (β = .20). Increased percentage of Black friends in high school was a unique predictor of both Parental (β = .30) and Peer Alertness to Racism (β = .21). The regression analyses on Parental Mainstream and Peer Mainstream were not statistically significant, F(7, 135) = 1.57, ns and F(7, 135) = 1.07, ns, respectively.

Hypothesis 2: Increased frequency of protective racial socialization provided by parents and peers would be related to lower levels of CBRI.

Table 3.

Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analyses Predicting Parental Cultural Pride Socialization and Parental Alertness to Racism Socialization.

	Parental Cultural Pride				Parental Alertness to Racism
	B	SE B	β	ΔR²	B	SE B	β	ΔR²
Step 1				.02				.05
Age	.02	.04	.04		−.03	.04	.06
Gender	−.06	.08	−.07		−.07	.08	−.07
Mother’s education	−.06	.03	−.16		−.06	.03	−.16
Father’s education	−.01	.03	−.03		−.03	.03	−.10
Step 2				.06**				.06**
Age	.02	.04	−.04		−.04	.04	−.08
Gender	−.10	.08	−.10		−.08	.08	−.08
Mother’s education	−.05	.03	−.12		−.05	.03	−.13
Father’s education	−.004	.02	−.01		.02	.03	−.07
% Black neighborhood	.003	.001	.23*		.001	.001	−.06
% Black high school	−.001	.001	−.09		−.002	.001	−.15
% Black high school friends	.08	.04	.17		.13	.05	.30***
Full model adjusted R²				.08**				.08**
N				143				143

p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

Table 4.

Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analyses Predicting Peer Cultural Pride Socialization and Peer Alertness to Racism Socialization.

	Peer Cultural Pride				Peer Alertness to Racism
	B	SE B	β	ΔR²	B	SE B	β	ΔR²
Step 1				.06*				.07*
Age	−.01	.04	−.18		−.01	.04	−.03
Gender	.12	.08	.13		−.04	.08	−.04
Mother’s education	−.08	.03	−.22**		−.09	.03	−.26***
Father’s education	.01	.03	−.03		−.01	.02	−.03
Step 2				.07**				.08**
Age	−.01	.04	−.02		−.01	.04	−.02
Gender	.09	.08	.10		−.06	.07	−.07
Mother’s education	−.07	.03	−.17*		−.08	.03	−.21**
Father’s education	.01	.02	−.03		.00	.02	−.01
% Black neighborhood	.002	.001	.20*		.00	.001	.07
% Black high school	.00	.001	−.01		.00	.001	−.01
% Black high school friends	.06	.04	.13		.04	.04	.21**
Full model adjusted R²				.16***				.12***
N				143				143

p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was used to test if racial socialization provided by parents and peers accounted for a significant amount of variance in CBRI as measured by the CoBRAS (see Table 5). The total CoBRAS score was the criterion variable in this analysis. Demographic variables (i.e., age, gender, mother’s education, father’s education) were entered into Step 1. The racial composition of the high school neighborhood, high school, and peer group were entered into Step 2. The six types of racial socialization were entered into Step 3 to determine if racial socialization contributes unique variance outside of racial composition. The overall model was significant, F(13, 128) = 2.84, p < .001, and accounted for 15% of the variance. Only Peer Alertness to Racism accounted for a unique amount of variance (β = −.28).

Hypotheses 3 and 4: Increased frequency of racial socialization provided by parents and peers would be related to mental health; the relation between racial socialization and mental health would be moderated by CBRI.

Table 5.

Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analyses Predicting CBRI.

	B	SE B	β	ΔR²
Step 1				.03
Age	.01	.02	.05
Gender	−.09	.03	−.21**
Mother’s education	−.01	.01	−.04
Father’s education	.02	.01	.13
Step 2				.04*
Age	.01	.02	.06
Gender	−.07	.03	−.18*
Mother’s education	−.01	.01	−.08
Father’s education	.02	.01	.13
% Black neighborhood	.00	.001	−.15
% Black high school	.00	.001	−.04
% Black high school friends	−.02	.02	−.12
Step 3				.08***
Age	−.004	.02	−.02
Gender	−.05	.03	−.13
Mother’s education	−.02	.01	−.13
Father’s education	.01	.01	.08
% Black neighborhood	.00	.001	−.16
% Black high school	.00	.001	−.05
% Black high school friends	−.005	.02	−.03
Parental Cultural Pride RS	−.002	.06	−.004
Parental Alertness to Racism RS	−.03	.06	−.08
Parental Mainstream RS	−.07	.06	.14
Peer Cultural Pride RS	−.05	.06	−.11
Peer Alertness to Racism RS	−.08	.06	−.28**
Peer Mainstream RS	.12	.05	.16
Full model adjusted R²				.15***
N				141

Note: CBRI = color-blind racial ideology; RS = Racial Socialization.

p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was used to test if racial socialization provided by multiple sources (parents and peers) accounted for a significant amount of variance in mental health (see Table 6). In addition, the analysis tested if CBRI moderated the relation between racial socialization provided by parents and peers and mental health. All predictor variables were standardized to reduce multicollinearity as recommended by Baron and Kenny (1986) and Frazier, Tix, and Barron (2004). Procedures outlined by Aiken and West (1991) were used to interpret statistically significant interactions. The total MHI score was the criterion variable in this analysis. Demographic variables (age and gender) were entered into Step 1. The six racial socialization variables and CoBRAS were entered into Step 2. Six interaction terms (Parental Cultural Pride × CoBRAS, Parental Alertness to Racism × CoBRAS, Parental Mainstream × CoBRAS, Peer Cultural Pride × CoBRAS, Peer Alertness to Racism × CoBRAS, and Peer Mainstream × CoBRAS) were entered into Step 3. The overall model was significant, F(15, 181) = 2.36, p < .001, and accounted for 10% of the variance. Peer Alertness to Racism accounted for a unique amount of variance in MHI and two of the interaction terms were significant (Parental Mainstream × CoBRAS and Peer Mainstream × CoBRAS).

Table 6.

Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analyses Predicting Mental Health.

	B	SE B	β	ΔR²
Step 1				.01
Age	−.05	.04	−.11
Gender	−.05	.08	−.06
Step 2				.04*
Age	−.05	.04	−.10
Gender	−.07	.08	−.08
Parental Cultural Pride RS	−.09	.08	.11
Parental Alertness to Racism RS	−.02	.08	−.03
Parental Mainstream RS	−.09	.08	−.11
Peer Cultural Pride RS	−.09	.08	.11
Peer Alertness to Racism RS	−.27	.09	−.34***
Peer Mainstream RS	.06	.08	.08
CoBRAS	−.11	.06	−.13
Step 3				.05**
Age	−.05	.04	−.09
Gender	−.06	.04	−.09
Parental Cultural Pride RS	−.11	.08	.13
Parental Alertness to Racism RS	.02	.08	.02
Parental Mainstream RS	.05	.08	−.02
Peer Cultural Pride RS	.10	.09	−.13
Peer Alertness to Racism RS	−.27	.09	−.34**
Peer Mainstream RS	.06	.08	.07
CoBRAS	−.10	.06	−.11
Parental Cultural Pride × CoBRAS	.10	.08	.11
Parental Alertness to Racism × CoBRAS	−.13	.10	.13
Parental Mainstream × CoBRAS	−.21	.10	−.24**
Peer Cultural Pride × CoBRAS	−.09	.09	.10
Peer Alertness to Racism × CoBRAS	−.10	.09	−.11
Peer Mainstream × CoBRAS	.22	.09	.25**
Full model adjusted R²				.10***
N				176

Note: RS = Racial Socialization; CoBRAS = Color-Blind Racial Attitudes Scale.

p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

To determine how CoBRAS affected the relations between Mainstream messages provided by peers and parents and mental health, simple main effects were calculated to further examine CoBRAS moderator effects. On further examination, the interaction between CoBRAS and Peer Mainstream racial socialization was not significant, F(3, 194) = 0.71, ns; however, the interaction between Parental Mainstream and CoBRAS remained significant F(3, 194) = 3.02, p < .05. Results indicated that when participants reported greater CoBRAS scores, higher frequency of Parental Mainstream racial socialization was associated with negative mental health scores, (β = −.13, p < .05). In contrast, there was no significant relation between parental Mainstream racial socialization and mental health outcomes when students adopted lower CBRI (β = .08). As illustrated in Figure 2, lower CBRI buffered against the negative influence of parental Mainstream messages on mental health outcomes.

Figure 2.

Interaction of color-blind racial attitudes and parental racial mainstream racial socialization on mental health.

Discussion

The overarching purpose of the current investigation was to test the EMRS, which highlights the connection between ecological factors, racial socialization, racial beliefs, and mental health. The findings from the current study provide partial support for the EMRS and contribute to our understanding of racial socialization provided by both parents and peers. One contribution is the exploration of the content and frequency of racial socialization messages emerging adults reported receiving from parents and peers. Similar to research on parental racial socialization, our findings suggest that parents socialize their emerging adult children with messages focused on instilling racial pride and preparing for future encounters with racism (Hughes et al., 2006). In addition, consistent with one of the few published studies to date on peer racial socialization among Black Americans (Lesane-Brown, Brown, Caldwell, & Sellers, 2005), we found that Black emerging adults in this sample received a variety of racial socialization messages from peers with cultural pride being most frequent and mainstream messages being least frequent.

Our findings extend beyond racial messages designed to help youth understand race/racism to include messages conforming to the dominant discourse on race, mainly that it is not important in today’s society. These normative or mainstream messages also reinforce negative stereotypes about Black Americans. There have been few studies that explicitly examine mainstream racial socialization provided by parents (Lesane-Brown, 2002, Neblett, Chavous, Nguyên, & Sellers, 2009; Sanders Thompson, 1994; White-Johnson, Ford, & Sellers, 2010). Similar to these studies, our findings suggest that while less frequent, some parents socialize their children with negative messages or messages that minimize the importance of their cultural group. In addition, our results provide evidence that mainstream racial socialization messages are also provided by the peers.

Contextual Factors Related to Racial Socialization

In addition to including the content of racial socialization provided by parents and peers, the study examined the influence that contextual factors on racial socialization. The racial makeup of participants’ neighborhood was an important factor in students’ reports of Cultural Pride socialization provided by both parents and peers. Specifically, participants who had more Black neighbors when they were in high school reported more Cultural Pride messages from both parents and peers. It may be that institutions within Black neighborhoods facilitate proactive racial socialization (i.e., cultural pride messages). For example, there may be more ethnic-focused activities, foods, and celebrations that take place in these neighborhoods that are available to the residents. In addition, parents who choose to reside in predominately Black neighborhoods may be more likely to associate with racially similar others and may consciously or unconsciously have pro-Black attitudes that they share with their family members.

Surprisingly, neighborhood composition while in high school was not related to Alertness to Racism (protective racial socialization) or Mainstream socialization messages. To date only one study has examined the link between neighborhood racial composition and racial socialization. Caughy et al. (2006) found that the Black parents of young children living in predominantly Black neighborhoods were more likely to give messages that focused on protective racial socialization than those living in predominately White neighborhoods. In contrast to these findings, racial composition while in high school was related to proactive racial socialization in our sample of emerging adults. The findings suggest that similar to racial socialization processes in adolescence, neighborhood composition continues to be important in later development. In older samples, racial composition plays a major role in whether participants report receiving proactive racial socialization messages from parents. The results also suggest that the influence of neighborhood composition can be extended to proactive racial socialization provided by peers.

The racial composition of participants’ high school and peer group accounted for a unique amount of variance in participants’ report of Alertness to Discrimination (protective) racial socialization provided by parents and peers. There has been very little exploration of the connection between racial socialization and friend groups in emerging adults. However, Caughy, O’Campo, Randolph, and Nickerson (2002) found that maternal socialization encouraging social distance between Whites and Blacks was related to Black girls’ in-group preference for friends, television, and music. Thus, protective socialization provided by mothers was related to their daughters having more Black friends and consuming media focused on Black American experiences. The findings from the current study suggest that this relationship extends to those in emerging adulthood. Similar to Caughy et al.’s (2002) work with children, the emerging adults in the current investigation reported having more Black friends when they received more racial socialization focusing on the realities of racism.

Surprisingly, the racial composition of the high school was not related to racial socialization provided by parents or peers. There are a number of possible explanations as to why this was the case. For example, school districting policies may determine the racial composition of participants’ high school. It may be that these institutional policies regarding districting are too far removed from individual level factors such as socialization provided by parents and peers. It may also be the case that other high school factors are related to socialization practices such as school income composition (percentage of students receiving free lunches), public versus private schools, or participants’ participation in ethnic-focused extracurricular activities.

The Link Between Racial Socialization, Racial Beliefs, and Mental health

Our findings suggest that one type of racial socialization (out of six), Peer Alertness to Racism, accounted for a significant amount of variance of participants’ endorsement of CBRI. Similar to the results in this study, Barr and Neville (2008) found that protective racial socialization (i.e., alertness to racism) provided by parents was inversely related to the adoption of CBRI. Taken together, these findings suggest that more discussions concerning the realities of racism with parents and peers were related to participants’ rejection of the belief that institutional racism is a thing of the past.

Partial support was provided for the hypothesis stating that racial socialization would be related to mental health. Peer Alertness to Racism racial socialization contributed a significant amount of variance to mental health. These results are consistent with the group of scholars who have found that increased reports of receiving protective messages are related to lower overall mental health (e.g., G. Y. Davis & Stevenson, 2006). Previous research on parental racial socialization suggests that socialization is a dynamic process where the content of racial socialization is partially dependent on youth’s experiences (Hughes & Johnson, 2001). For example, Hughes and Johnson (2001) found that adolescents who had personal experiences with discrimination were more likely to receive Preparation for Bias racial socialization from their parents. A similar process may occur with peers. Youth who have personal experiences with discrimination may be more likely to reach out to their peers to discuss their experiences and figure out strategies to contend with these situations. Previous research has also suggested that experiencing racial discrimination is related to a number of negative mental health outcomes (Neblett, Philip, Cogburn, & Sellers, 2006). Therefore, the negative relation between Peer Alertness to Racism socialization messages and mental health may be explained by participants’ personal experiences with discrimination. More research is needed to further explore the potential role of racial discrimination in explaining the relations between protective socialization messages and mental health.

To date, this is the first study to examine the moderating role of CBRI on the relation between racial socialization and mental health outcomes; however, previous research has suggested that the adoption of CBRI for African American is related to self-blame for racial discrimination (Neville et al., 2005). The findings from the current study suggest that Black young adults, who internalize color-blind racial beliefs, are negatively affected by Mainstream Socialization messages provided by parents. In contrast, Black emerging adults, who acknowledge the reality of structural inequalities, are more able to successfully manage messages from parents concerning assimilating into mainstream culture.

Limitations

Although this study adds to the literature on racial socialization, there are a number of noteworthy limitations. First, the findings from this study may not generalize to Black emerging adults who did not attend a predominately White institution (PWI), including those who attended a historically Black college or university or did not attend college at all. The interplay between racial beliefs, racial socialization experiences, and mental health may differ between those who choose to attend college at predominately White institutions and historically Black college or universities. Similarly, those who may not have attended college may have different patterns of racial socialization. Previous research has indicated that educational attainment influences the type and frequency of racial socialization in Black families (Thorton et al., 1990). Educational attainment may also affect the relation between the factors included in the study. Future research should examine if these relationships persist among depressed or anxious college students.

The retrospective nature of the students’ reports of racial messages received from parents, and peers serve as another limitation. Participants were asked to report on their experiences and it is possible that their reports do not accurately reflect what happened in their past. However, we believe that while these reports may not be accurate, they do detail what experiences were salient to the participants. It is also of significance to note that participants were not asked to confirm whether they resided in the reported address during all four years of high school. Therefore, it cannot be assumed that they actually spent the majority of their formative years at that residence. In previous studies, authors used the current residence to determine racial composition of the neighborhood. This was not feasible in the current study because we used a sample from a traditional college setting where the majority participants resided residential on-campus housing at the time of data collection. Because of the relatively modest sample size, we did not have enough power to test the complexities of the EMRS using more sophisticated analyses such as structurally equation modeling. Relatedly, data from this study is cross-sectional so causal relationships cannot be assumed from the findings.

Implications for Future Research

This study contributes to the growing literature on contextual correlates of racial socialization. Similar to previous research (Stevenson et al., 2005) our findings suggest that emerging adults who lived in a predominately Black neighborhood at some point during high school received higher levels of proactive racial socialization. Our findings also extended previous research by examining the relation between the racial composition of other contexts and racial socialization and begins to address the importance of racial socialization provided by others sources outside of parents. The complexities of our findings suggest that relation between context, socialization, racial ideologies, and mental health is not clear cut. Variations in the content of racial socialization and the context in which it is given can have different outcomes for young adults depending on their beliefs. Future studies should test our revised EMRS model on independent samples of Black youth to confirm its validity. In addition, future research should continue to explore contextual factors that may influence mental health outcomes. Given the rather robust literature examining neighborhood effects on mental health outcomes, future studies examining the validity of the EMRS should control for direct effects of neighborhood context on mental health outcomes (Hurd, Stoddard, & Zimmerman, 2012; Wickrama & Bryant, 2003). In addition, future research is needed to explore the content and frequency of racial socialization provided by other sources such as media, teachers, and religious leaders. As we continue to understand the content of racial socialization, research should include investigations of the ecological conditions that make racial socialization more or less likely. This study expands our understanding of Black American racial beliefs. Previous research has suggested that the endorsement of CBRI can have deleterious effects for Black Americans. Similarly, the current study found that endorsement of more color-blind racial beliefs exacerbated the negative influence of Mainstream racial socialization on mental health outcomes. Future studies should also explore other types of racial beliefs such as racial identity moderate the relation between racial socialization by both parents and peers and indicators of mental health.

Footnotes

Authors’ Note

Findings from this study are based on Dr. Barr’s dissertation.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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