Looking White But Feeling Asian: The Role of Perceived Membership Permeability and Perceived Discrimination in Multiracial-Monoracial Alliances

Abstract

Relatively little is known about the extent to which multiracial people stand in solidarity with their parent groups. Here, we draw from social identity theory to examine predictors of Asian-White multiracial people’s solidarity with Asian and White people, Asian monoracial people’s meta-perceptions of these solidarity levels, and consequences of these meta-perceptions for intergroup relations. Studies 1a–b show that Asian-White multiracial people stand in solidarity more strongly with Asian people than White people, especially when they perceive high levels of anti-Asian discrimination, and even when they believe they physically look White. Studies 2a–b demonstrate that Asian monoracial people incorrectly believe that physically White-looking Asian-White multiracial people stand in solidarity more strongly with White people, and these pessimistic meta-perceptions are associated with more rejection of multiracial people. Study 3 provides a causal link between meta-perceptions and rejection while providing preliminary evidence that correcting these solidarity meta-perceptions can improve intergroup attitudes.

Keywords

multiracial Asian Americans permeability social identity intergroup relations

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Albuja

A. F.

Sanchez

D. T.

Gaither

S. E.

(2018). Fluid racial presentation: Perceptions of contextual “passing” among biracial people. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 77, 132–142. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2018.04.010

Albuja

A. F.

Sanchez

D. T.

Gaither

S. E.

(2019). Identity denied: Comparing American or white identity denial and psychological health outcomes among bicultural and biracial people. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 45(3), 416–430. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167218788553

Armenta

B. M.

Stroebe

Scheibe

Van Yperen

N. W.

Stegeman

Postmes

(2017). Permeability of group boundaries: Development of the concept and a scale. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 43(3), 418–433. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167216688202

Branscombe

N. R.

Schmitt

M. T.

Harvey

R. D.

(1999). Perceiving pervasive discrimination among African Americans: Implications for group identification and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77(1), 135–149. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.77.1.135

Brewer

M. B.

(2007). The importance of being we: Human nature and intergroup relations. American Psychologist, 62(8), 728–738. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.62.8.728

Brunsma

D. L.

(2005). Interracial families and the racial identification of mixed-race children: Evidence from the early childhood longitudinal study. Social Forces, 84(2), 1131–1157. https://doi.org/10.1353/sof.2006.0007

Chen

J. M.

Kteily

N. S.

A. K.

(2019). Whose side are you on? Asian Americans’ mistrust of Asian–white biracials predicts more exclusion from the ingroup. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 45(6), 827–841. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167218798032

Cronin

T. J.

Levin

Branscombe

N. R.

van Laar

Tropp

L. R.

(2012). Ethnic identification in response to perceived discrimination protects well-being and promotes activism: A longitudinal study of Latino college students. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 15(3), 393–407. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430211427171

Csizmadia

Brunsma

D. L.

Cooney

T. M.

(2012). Racial identification and developmental outcomes among Black–White multiracial youth: A review from a life course perspective. Advances in Life Course Research, 17(1), 34–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.alcr.2011.10.003

10.

Davenport

L. D.

(2016). The role of gender, class, and religion in biracial Americans’ racial labeling decisions. American Sociological Review, 81(1), 57–84. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122415623286

11.

Davenport

L. D.

Franco

Iyengar

(2022). Multiracial identity and political preferences. The Journal of Politics, 84(1), 620–624. https://doi.org/10.1086/714760

12.

Davenport

L. D.

Iyengar

Westwood

S. J.

(2022). Racial identity, group consciousness, and attitudes: A framework for assessing multiracial self-classification. American Journal of Political Science, 66, 570–586. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12674

13.

Davis

F. J.

(1991). Who is Black? One nation’s definition. Pennsylvania State University Press.

14.

Ellemers

Haslam

S. A.

(2012). Social identity theory. In Van Lange

P. A. M.

Kruglanski

A. W.

Higgins

E. T.

(Eds.), Handbook of theories of social psychology (pp. 379–398). Sage Publications Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446249222.n45

15.

Ellemers

Knippenberg

Wilke

(1990). The influence of permeability of group boundaries and stability of group status on strategies of individual mobility and social change. British Journal of Social Psychology, 29(3), 233–246. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8309.1990.tb00902.x

16.

Ellemers

Kortekaas

Ouwerkerk

J. W.

(1999). Self-categorisation, commitment to the group and group self-esteem as related but distinct aspects of social identity. European Journal of Social Psychology, 29(2–3), 371–389. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-0992(199903/05)29:2/3<371::AID-EJSP932>3.0.CO;2-U

17.

Ellemers

Spears

Doosje

(1997). Sticking together or falling apart: In-group identification as a psychological determinant of group commitment versus individual mobility. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72(3), 617–626. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.72.3.617

18.

Ellemers

van Knippenberg

De Vries

Wilke

(1988). Social identification and permeability of group boundaries. European Journal of Social Psychology, 18(6), 497–513. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2420180604

19.

Ellemers

Wilke

van Knippenberg

(1993). Effects of the legitimacy of low group or individual status on individual and collective status-enhancement strategies. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64(5), 766–778. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.64.5.766

20.

Faul

Erdfelder

Buchner

Lang

A.-G.

(2009). Statistical power analyses using G*Power 3.1: Tests for correlation and regression analyses. Behavior Research Methods, 41(4), 1149–1160. https://doi.org/10.3758/BRM.41.4.1149

21.

Franco

M. G.

Holmes

O. L.

(2017). Biracial group membership scale. Journal of Black Psychology, 43(5), 435–450. https://doi.org/10.1177/0095798416657260

22.

Garstka

T. A.

Schmitt

M. T.

Branscombe

N. R.

Hummert

M. L.

(2004). How young and older adults differ in their responses to perceived age discrimination. Psychology and Aging, 19(2), 326–335. https://doi.org/10.1037/0882-7974.19.2.326

23.

Goh

J. X.

Lei

R. F.

Zou

L. X.

(2023). Positioning Asian Americans in social cognition. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 17(6), Article e12760. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12760

24.

Harris

D. R.

Sim

J. J.

(2002). Who is multiracial? Assessing the complexity of lived race. American Sociological Review, 67(4), 614. https://doi.org/10.2307/3088948

25.

Helms

J. E.

(1993). Black and white racial identity: Theory, research, and practice. Praeger.

26.

A. K.

Kteily

N. S.

(2022). Monoracial perceivers’ sociopolitical motives and their inclusion versus exclusion of multiracial people. European Review of Social Psychology, 33(1), 1–44. https://doi.org/10.1080/10463283.2021.1954379

27.

A. K.

Kteily

N. S.

Chen

J. M.

(2017). “You’re one of us”: Black Americans’ use of hypodescent and its association with egalitarianism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 113(5), 753–768. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000107

28.

A. K.

Kteily

N. S.

Chen

J. M.

(2020). Introducing the sociopolitical motive × intergroup threat model to understand how monoracial perceivers’ sociopolitical motives influence their categorization of multiracial people. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 24(3), 260–286. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868320917051

29.

A. K.

Roberts

S. O.

Gelman

S. A.

(2015). Essentialism and racial bias jointly contribute to the categorization of multiracial individuals. Psychological Science, 26(10), 1639–1645. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797615596436

30.

A. K.

Sidanius

Levin

D. T.

Banaji

M. R.

(2011). Evidence for hypodescent and racial hierarchy in the categorization and perception of biracial individuals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100(3), 492–506. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021562

31.

Hobbs

(2014). A chosen exile: A history of racial passing in American life. Harvard University Press.

32.

Hud-Aleem

Countryman

(2008). Biracial identity development and recommendations in therapy. Psychiatry (Edgmont (Pa. : Township)), 5(11), 37–44.

33.

Jackson

L. A.

Sullivan

L. A.

Harnish

Hodge

C. N.

(1996). Achieving positive social identity: Social mobility, social creativity, and permeability of group boundaries. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70(2), 241–254. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.70.2.241

34.

Jardina

(2019). White identity politics (1st ed.). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108645157

35.

Jardina

Mickey

(2022). White racial solidarity and opposition to American democracy. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 699(1), 79–89. https://doi.org/10.1177/00027162211069730

36.

Juang

L. P.

Park

Kim

S. Y.

Lee

R. M.

Qin

Okazaki

Swartz

T. T.

Lau

(2018). Reactive and proactive ethnic–racial socialization practices of second-generation Asian American parents. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 9(1), 4–16. https://doi.org/10.1037/aap0000101

37.

Kahn

A. K.

Sidanius

Pratto

(2009). The space between us and them: Perceptions of status differences. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 12(5), 591–604. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430209338716

38.

Kang

S. K.

DeCelles

K. A.

Tilcsik

Jun

(2016). Whitened résumés: Race and self-presentation in the labor market. Administrative Science Quarterly, 61(3), 469–502. https://doi.org/10.1177/0001839216639577

39.

Khanna

Johnson

(2010). Passing as black: Racial identity work among biracial Americans. Social Psychology Quarterly, 73(4), 380–397. https://doi.org/10.1177/0190272510389014

40.

Kinch

J. W.

(1963). A formalized theory of the self-concept. American Journal of Sociology, 68(4), 481–486. https://doi.org/10.1086/223404

41.

Krosch

A. R.

Amodio

D. M.

(2014). Economic scarcity alters the perception of race. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(25), 9079–9084. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1404448111

42.

Kteily

N. S.

Hodson

Bruneau

(2016). They see us as less than human: Metadehumanization predicts intergroup conflict via reciprocal dehumanization. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 110(3), 343–370. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000044

43.

Kteily

N. S.

Richeson

J. A.

(2016). Perceiving the world through hierarchy-shaped glasses: On the need to embed social identity effects on perception within the broader context of intergroup hierarchy. Psychological Inquiry, 27(4), 327–334. https://doi.org/10.1080/1047840X.2016.1215212

44.

Kutlaca

Radke

H. R. M.

(2023). Towards an understanding of performative allyship: Definition, antecedents and consequences. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 17(2), Article e12724. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12724

45.

Leach

C. W.

van Zomeren

Zebel

Vliek

M. L. W.

Pennekamp

S. F.

Doosje

Ouwerkerk

J. W.

Spears

(2008). Group-level self-definition and self-investment: A hierarchical (multicomponent) model of in-group identification. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95(1), 144–165. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.95.1.144

46.

Lees

Cikara

(2019). Inaccurate group meta-perceptions drive negative out-group attributions in competitive contexts. Nature Human Behaviour, 4(3), 279–286. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-019-0766-4

47.

(2017, November 2). Crazy rich Asians: Henry Golding defends his casting—EW.com. Entertainment Weekly. https://ew.com/movies/2017/11/02/crazy-rich-asians-henry-golding-defends-casting/

48.

Mernyk

J. S.

Pink

S. L.

Druckman

J. N.

Willer

(2022). Correcting inaccurate metaperceptions reduces Americans’ support for partisan violence. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(16), Article e2116851119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2116851119

49.

Ngo

(2006). Learning from the margins: The education of Southeast and South Asian Americans in context. Race Ethnicity and Education, 9(1), 51–65. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613320500490721

50.

Ostfeld

M. C.

Yadon

(2022). Skin color, power, and politics in America. Russell Sage Foundation.

51.

Park

(2017, April 24). Jamie Chung on the “double-edged sword” of being a minority in Hollywood. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jamie-chung-on-the-double-edged-sword-of-being-a-minority-in-hollywood/

52.

Pew Research Center. (2015). Multiracial in America: Proud, diverse, and growing in numbers.

53.

Phinney

J. S.

(1996). Understanding ethnic diversity: The role of ethnic identity. American Behavioral Scientist, 40(2), 143–152. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764296040002005

54.

Phinney

J. S.

Romero

Nava

Huang

(2001). The role of language, parents, and peers in ethnic identity among adolescents in immigrant families. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 30(2), 135–153. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010389607319

55.

Quillian

Redd

(2009). The friendship networks of multiracial adolescents. Social Science Research, 38(2), 279–295. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2008.09.002

56.

Ramachandran

(2017, November 25). Henry Golding talks “crazy rich Asians,” casting controversies—variety. Variety. https://variety.com/2017/film/asia/henry-golding-talks-crazy-rich-asians-casting-controversies-1202622817/

57.

Redersdorff

Martinot

Branscombe

(2004). The impact of thinking about group-based disadvantages or advantages on women’s well-being: An experimental test of the rejection-identification model. Cahiers de Psychologie Cognitive/Current Psychology of Cognition, 22, 203–222.

58.

Rockquemore

K. A.

(2002). Negotiating the color line: The gendered process of racial identity construction among Black/White biracial women. Gender & Society, 16(4), 485–503. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243202016004005

59.

Rockquemore

K. A.

Arend

(2002). Opting for white: Choice, fluidity and racial identity construction in post civil-rights America. Race and Society, 5(1), 49–64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.racsoc.2003.12.004

60.

Saenz

Hwang

S.-S.

Aguirre

B. E.

Anderson

R. N.

(1995). Persistence and change in Asian identity among children of intermarried couples. Sociological Perspectives, 38(2), 175–194. https://doi.org/10.2307/1389289

61.

Samuels

G. M.

(2009). “Being raised by white people”: Navigating racial difference among adopted multiracial adults. Journal of Marriage and Family, 71(1), 80–94. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2008.00581.x

62.

Sellers

R. M.

Smith

M. A.

Shelton

J. N.

Rowley

S. A. J.

Chavous

T. M.

(1998). Multidimensional model of racial identity: A reconceptualization of African American racial identity. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 2(1), 18–39. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327957pspr0201_2

63.

Tajfel

Turner

J. C.

(1986). The social identity theory of intergroup behavior. In: Worchel

Austin

W. G.

, (Eds.), Psychology of intergroup relation (pp. 7–24). Hall Publishers.

64.

van Zomeren

Postmes

Spears

. (2008). Toward an integrative social identity model of collective action: A quantitative research synthesis of three socio-psychological perspectives. Psychological Bulletin, 134(4), 504–535. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.134.4.504

65.

Vinluan

A. C.

Remedios

J. D.

(2020). Who do multiracials consider part of their racial in-group? Social Psychological and Personality Science, 11(4), 522–532. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550619876639

66.

Waldfogel

H. B.

Sheehy-Skeffington

Hauser

O. P.

A. K.

Kteily

N. S.

(2021). Ideology selectively shapes attention to inequality. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(14), Article e2023985118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2023985118

67.

Wright

S. C.

Taylor

D. M.

Moghaddam

F. M.

(1990). Responding to membership in a disadvantaged group: From acceptance to collective protest. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 994–1003.

68.

Xie

Goyette

(1997). The racial identification of biracial children with one Asian parent: Evidence from the 1990 census. Social Forces, 76(2), 547–570. https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/76.2.547

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

0.34 MB