Racial Socialization Messages Research Articles

White parents' racial socialization during a guided discussion predicts declines in white children's pro-white biases.

Although parent-child conversations about race are recommended to curb White U.S. children's racial biases, little work has tested their influence. We designed a guided racism discussion task for U.S. White parents and their 8-12-year-old White children. We explored whether children's and parents' (a) pro-White implicit biases changed pre to postconversation, (b) racial socialization messages (color conscious, external attributions for prejudiced behavior and colorblind racial ideology [CBRI]) predicted changes in each other's implicit biases, and (c) associations varied by the type of racism (subtle vs. blatant) discussed. Children's and parents' biases significantly declined, pre to postdiscussion. Parents' color conscious messages predicted greater declines and messages reflecting CBRI and external attributions predicted smaller declines in children's bias. These patterns were observed during discussions of subtle, but not blatant bias. Effects of children's messages on parents' bias were mixed. Our findings suggest that color conscious parent-child discussions may effectively reduce implicit pro-White bias in White children. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Predictors of White parents' racial socialization: Links to attributions for racial inequalities and views of White privilege

AbstractTo explore predictors of variations in White parents’ racial socialization messages, we collected data on racial socialization practices, attributions for racial inequalities, and views about White privilege from White parents of White children between the ages of 10 and 14 (N = 194). After controlling for education and political ideology, endorsement of external attributions for racial inequality was related to sending more frequent messages about awareness of racism and White privilege, whereas endorsement of internal attributions was related to sending more frequent messages about colorblindness and preparation for bias. Further, beliefs about White privilege were associated with socialization regarding awareness of racism and acknowledgment of White privilege and negatively related to colorblind and preparation for bias messages. Results highlight the ways in which White parents’ racial socialization approaches reflect underlying views of race and racism.

Who, what, and where? How racial composition and gender influence the association between racial discrimination and racial socialization messages.

This study investigated the moderating roles of contextual racial composition (neighborhood, school, and job) and parent-adolescent gender dyads on the relation between familial racial discrimination experiences and parental racial socialization messages. The analytic sample included 565 Black parents (Mage = 44.7; 56% mothers, 44% fathers) who reported on their personal and adolescents' racial discrimination experiences and their communication of cultural socialization and preparation for bias messages. Regression analyses in a structural equation modeling framework (path analyses) revealed that parents who personally experienced more racial discrimination or were in workplaces with more Black people communicated higher cultural socialization messages. They communicated high preparation for bias messages when reporting personal and adolescent racial discrimination. Racial discrimination experiences were positively related to preparation for bias messages among parents who worked in jobs with fewer Black people but were unrelated among parents working with more Black people. Multiple-group analyses indicated no gender differences in these associations. The findings demonstrate that Black parents vary in their racial socialization messages based on their family's contexts and experiences. The findings highlight the importance of parents' work contexts for adolescent development and family processes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Gendered Racial Socialization and Interracial Dating Attitudes Among Black Women

The current study examines the association between gendered racial socialization messages received by Black women and their attitudes towards Black interracial relationships. Hierarchal linear regression was used to examine participant's (N = 269) exposure to messages regarding 1) racial gender pride and empowerment, 2) internalized gender racial oppression, and 3) family responsibilities and attitudes towards Black interracial relationships. Results indicated greater messages regarding gender racial pride and empowerment were associated with more positive attitudes toward interracial dating. Conversely, greater internalized gendered racial oppression and family responsibilities and expectations were associated with less favorable attitudes toward Black interracial relationships broadly. However, greater internalized gendered racial oppression and family responsibilities and expectations did not influence one's own willingness to date someone of a different race. These results have implications for future research directions related to Black women's gendered racial socialization using the Black Feminist Thought framework.

They raised me to resist: Examining the sociopolitical pathways between parental racial socialization and Black youth's racial justice action

AbstractIn a sample of 500 self‐identified Black adolescents from across the United States, this study investigated the pathways between youth's experiences of parental racial socialization (RS) and their sociopolitical development. Findings from structural equation modelling reveal that RS messages and actions were positively associated with youth's awareness of racial inequality (critical reflection) and confidence and motivation in addressing racism (critical agency). Further, there were direct and indirect associations between RS and multiple forms of racial justice actions (interpersonal, political/communal, and online). Racial barriers messages were directly positively associated with political/communal and indirectly positively associated with interpersonal and online action, while cultural socialization actions were directly positively associated with all three forms of action. These findings support theoretical contentions that RS messages and actions may be powerful tools for cultivating Black youth's understanding and capacity to transform racially unjust systems. Further, parents' behaviours to racially socialize their children may be more impactful than their verbal messages in cultivating multiple forms of racial justice action. Finally, recommendations for future research and practice related to Black youth's consciousness and activism are presented. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.

Confronting Whiteness in Developmental Science: Disrupting the Intergenerational Transmission of White Racism.

This special section situates White racial socialization (WRS) in its rightful place-in the context of White supremacy. The first article offers a conceptual framework to guide research on White adolescents' racial identity development in this context. The second employs a critical ethnographic approach to explore White racial identity development among incarcerated White adolescents. Additional studies use qualitative, observational, and mixed methods to understand WRS practices in White families. The final article presents a conceptual model of digital WRS. Authors provide recommendations for future research, such as engaging in critical researcher self-reflexivity and focusing on content of racial socialization messages. Two commentaries highlight cross-cutting themes and urge developmental scientists to view this special section as a call to action.

Examining Critical Reflection as a Mediator Between School Racial Climate Experiences and Anti-Racist Action.

Little is known about how different school racial climate experiences influence the critical reflection and subsequent critical action behaviors of racially minoritized youth. Therefore, the current study examined how critical reflection mediated the relationship between school racial climate profiles and critical action behaviors. Participants were 559 Black and Latinx adolescents, aged 13–17 who completed an online survey. Results indicated that critical reflection significantly mediated the relationships between interpersonal interactions (i.e., equal status) and anti‐racist critical action behaviors. Similarly, the relationships between school racial socialization messages (i.e., cultural and critical consciousness socialization) and anti‐racist critical action behaviors were also mediated by critical reflection. Findings have implications for how dimensions of the school racial climate differentially relate to racially minoritized youth's critical consciousness.

Racial Socialization Messages in White Parents' Discussions of Current Events Involving Racism With Their Adolescents.

This study presents a thematic analysis of socialization messages about race and racism in White parents’ reports of their discussions with adolescents about current events involving racism (e.g., police brutality toward Black Americans). Two samples of White parents of primarily White adolescents ages 14–17 were recruited online in September 2019 (Study 1, N = 123) and June 2020 (Study 2, N = 104). Key themes included color‐conscious messages, color‐blind messages, endorsing equal treatment, and references to Whiteness. Rates of discussion in 2020 (79–81%) were double that of 2019 (40.2–43.4%). However, color‐conscious messages were less common in 2020 compared to 2019, and references to Whiteness were rare in 2020. Color‐blind messages were similarly prevalent across both studies.

Profiles of Racial Socialization Messages from Mothers and Fathers and The Colorblind and Anti-Black Attitudes of Asian American Adolescents.

Racial equality requires coalitions and solidarity across racial groups, but there continues to be racially colorblind and anti-Black attitudes within the Asian American community, a diverse community consisting of individuals with ancestral origins in East, Southeast, and South Asia. However, there is limited research on the factors that contribute to the development of these attitudes among Asian Americans. Parents could potentially play an important role in perpetuating or challenging the colorblind and anti-Black messages that pervade U.S. society. Thus, the current study investigates how 309 Asian American adolescents’ (M age = 16.8; SD = 1.15; 50.5% female) perceptions of parents’ racial socialization messages about race and racism relate to the youth’s racial attitudes. Latent profiles of youth’s perceptions of mothers’ and fathers’ racial socialization messages and their associations with colorblind racial attitudes and anti-Black attitudes were examined. For mothers, three socialization profiles were identified: Race Avoidant, Race Hesitant, and Race Embracing; for fathers, two socialization profiles were identified: Race Avoidant and Race Embracing. Adolescents with Race Embracing mothers reported less anti-Black attitudes compared to those who had Race Hesitant mothers. For fathers, there were no differences among the profiles and anti-Black attitudes. However, surprisingly, adolescents with Race Embracing fathers were more likely to have colorblind racial attitudes compared to those with Race Avoidant fathers. The findings highlight the importance of racial socialization in the development of Asian American adolescents’ racial attitudes to continue fighting for interracial solidarity.

Racial Microaggressions and African American Undergraduates’ Academic Experiences: Preparation for Bias Messages as a Protective Resource

Using a sample of 108 African American undergraduates at a minority serving institution, this quantitative study investigated the relationships among aspects of parental racial socialization messages, on-campus racial microaggressions, and academic outcomes. The analysis indicated a negative relationship between academic inferiority microaggressions and school belonging. Results showed a positive intercorrelation between the academic outcomes (academic engagement and school belonging). Findings from multiple linear regressions, using Hayes PROCESS model, revealed the frequency of receiving preparation for bias messages (PBM) moderated the relationship between academic engagement and academic inferiority microaggressions. For undergraduates who reported receiving a low amount of PBM from their parents, experiencing high amounts of academic inferiority microaggressions predicted lower academic engagement. In contrast, among students who reported receiving a high amount of PBM, experiencing more academic inferiority microaggressions predicted higher academic engagement. These results indicated PBM can serve as a protective factor for the extent to which African American undergraduates’ academic engagement is harmed by experiences of academic-related racial microaggressions.

Lessons of Resistance from Black Mothers to their Black Sons.

In negotiating the anti-Black oppression, Black mothers communicate lessons of resistance in their racial socialization messages to their Black adolescent boys. We investigate whether distinct strategies of resistance for survival, characterized by individual-focused immediate strategies of resistance, and resistance for liberation, strategies of resistance that disrupt systems of anti-Black oppression rooted in furthering collective Black empowerment, are employed in Black mothers' messages to their sons. In this manuscript, we use longitudinal data of Black mothers' of adolescent boys interviews (N = 31) across three time points (6th-11th grade). Our findings indicate the presence of various strategies of resistance for survival and resistance for liberation within Black mothers' preparation for bias socialization.

Parenting despite discrimination: Does racial identity matter?

Previous research suggests that parents' characteristics and race-related experiences shape the racial socialization messages they give their children. Parents' beliefs about race may also relate to how they interpret and respond to race-related stressors. The current study drew on the Sociohistorical Integrative Model for the Study of Stress in Black Families to examine the moderating roles of gender and racial identity subscales (i.e., racial centrality, private regard, and public regard) on the relations between race-related stressors (i.e., personal, vicarious, and anticipated racial discrimination) and racial socialization. Path analyses were conducted in Mplus 8.2 using online survey data from a national sample of 567 African American parents of adolescents. There were seven significant three-way interactions. Racial centrality and gender moderated the relations between both personal and vicarious racial discrimination and each racial socialization message. Private regard and gender moderated the relations between personal racial discrimination and preparation for bias and between vicarious racial discrimination and cultural socialization. Public regard and parent gender moderated the relation between personal racial discrimination and cultural socialization. The findings highlighted that parents' experiences of personal, vicarious, and anticipated racial discrimination have different relations with their racial socialization messages. In addition, they highlighted that racial identity and parent gender are related to the type of racial socialization messages African American parents who are exposed to race-related stressors give their children. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Regular White People Things: The Presence of White Fragility in Interracial Families

ObjectiveTo better understand how biracial/multiracial millennials make meaning of their multiple identities and racial socialization messages within their interracial families.BackgroundA small body of research suggests that the content of parents' race messages to their biracial/multiracial children may have profound social and psychological ramifications. Changing American demographics, including the growth of biracial/multiracial populations, have created a demand for careful examination of this group's racialized experiences.MethodTo examine the racial socialization experiences of biracial/multiracial participants (n = 30), this qualitative substudy used thematic analysis, an intersectional theoretical framework, and a phenomenological approach in analyzing open‐ended responses.ResultsWe found that interracial families employed a number of racial socialization messages, including those that extol mainstream cultural values as well as communications that fuel race‐related stress and identity politics.ConclusionFindings highlight the prevalence of dominant Western cultural values and racial silence in the socialization messages within interracial families and the reality of racism and racial awareness among individuals identifying as biracial/multiracial.ImplicationsThe findings in this study suggest a need to examine racial socialization as a function of parents' salient identities, including gender, race, and immigration status.

The relationship between neighborhood racial composition and African American parents' racial socialization.

This study assessed the degree to which the racial composition of one's neighborhood was related to the racial socialization messages parents communicated to their children in a sample of 307 African American families. Linear regression analyses were conducted. Neighborhoods were classified as predominantly African American, predominantly European American, or racially integrated. Even after controlling for parents' education, mental health, and family income, parents in predominantly European American and racially integrated neighborhoods gave more preparation for bias messages than those in predominantly African American neighborhoods. Parents of boys conveyed more cultural empowerment messages in racially integrated and predominantly European American neighborhoods than in predominantly African American neighborhoods. Older girls were more likely to receive egalitarian messages than older boys. African American parents may use more empowerment and preparation for bias messages when they feel their children are culturally isolated or likely to experience racial discrimination.

White parents’ racial socialization and young adults’ racial attitudes: Moral reasoning and motivation to respond without prejudice as mediators

This study examined relations between parental racial socialization messages (i.e., egalitarianism, racemute, and preparation for bias) and racial attitudes in a sample of 282 White young adults (ages 18–22) in the United States. Egalitarianism messages were positively related to warmth toward racial outgroup members, whereas preparation for bias was negatively related to warmth toward racial outgroup members. In both cases the relation between racial socialization and racial attitudes was mediated by internal motivation to respond without prejudice and fairness/reciprocity moral orientation. Contrary to our expectations, racemute socialization messages were not directly related to participants’ warmth toward racial outgroup members. However, racemute socialization predicted internal motivation to respond without prejudice and fairness/reciprocity moral orientation, which in turn predicted outgroup warmth. These findings suggest possible mechanisms by which parents’ messages about race and racism may shape youths’ racial attitudes.

A Daily Examination of African American Adolescents’ Racial Discrimination, Parental Racial Socialization, and Psychological Affect

This study examined 164 African American adolescents' (Mage =15) daily reports of racial discrimination and parental racial socialization over 21days. The study examined same-day and previous-day associations of adolescents' discrimination and socialization experiences with their positive and negative psychological affect. It further explored whether racial socialization messages buffered discrimination's effects on affect when messages were received during the same day and on the day prior to discrimination. Findings indicated the deleterious effect of racial discrimination (associated with more negative affect) and highlighted the importance of examining youth's short-term coping in critical developmental years. Findings also showed how messages promote positive youth emotions. However, daily moderating associations differed from prior survey studies, suggesting the importance of examining short-term processes.

Examining changes in African American mothers' racial socialization patterns during adolescence: Racial discrimination as a predictor.

Racial socialization is a culturally relevant parenting strategy known to combat the detrimental consequences of racial discrimination for African American youth. Three limitations hinder our developmental understanding of the racial socialization process. Few studies have accounted for the combination of messages that primary caregivers convey, examined how these messages change over time, or investigated how caregivers and adolescents experiences with racial discrimination predict change in the combination of messages conveyed. Given that African American mothers are often the primary socializers in families, the current study used data from a community sample of 497 African American adolescents (52% Female; Time 1 Mage = 15.69; Time 2 Mage = 18.74) and their mothers (Time 1 Mage = 40.43; Time 2 Mage = 43.39) to identify patterns in mothers' racial socialization messages, identify how mothers' racial socialization patterns change from middle to late adolescence, and investigate whether mother- and adolescent-reported racial discrimination contribute to changes in mothers' racial socialization patterns. Latent profile analysis and latent transition analysis were used to examine these questions. Findings revealed three racial socialization patterns: balanced socializers who mistrust, cultural socialization and preparation for bias emphasizers, and low racial socializers. Most mothers were in the low racial socializers group, and most provided similar messages in middle and late adolescence. Mothers' reports of their own racial discrimination influenced the racial socialization messages mothers delivered; however, adolescent-reported racial discrimination did not. These results have implications for community-based interventions designed to help families manage racial discrimination. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Beyond what, to how: Different ways African American adolescents receive ethnic and racial socialization messages.

Modes of transmission (MOT) of message content reveal nuances about how ethnic socialization and racial socialization occur. This study shifts the focus beyond "what" messages adolescents receive from caregivers to include "how" messages are communicated about ethnicity and race. African American adolescents (N = 55, 72% female, Mage = 16.8) participated in semistructured interviews that were analyzed with theory-driven content analysis and quantitative procedures to derive patterns from the data. Various forms of verbal and nonverbal MOT were discussed by adolescents. Two patterns of associations between MOT and message content were found: Ethnic content was conveyed more often through nonverbal MOT, whereas racial content occurred more often through verbal MOT. These patterns were revealed at both the response and individual levels. This study links the expression aspect of MOT with ethnic and racial content in interviews that highlight teenagers' voices about how verbal and nonverbal messages about ethnicity and race are received. Further research that examines MOT in relation to message content will provide fuller awareness of ethnic and racial socialization processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Family Communication and Messages about Race and Identity in Black Families in the United States

ABSTRACTRacial minority families engage in “racial socialization,” the process by which individuals develop meaning and understanding of what race is, and its implications. While parents are often seen as the site of this socialization, we wanted to explore which racial socialization messages were salient for young adults, and from whom they received these messages. This paper utilized focus groups to explore messages that young Black adults received about race, and what this means for their racial identity. We identified three dominant themes in our analyses: (a) the content of familial messages regarding race, identity, and prejudice, (b) critical incidents that shaped individuals’ understandings of Black racial identity, and (c) familial sources. Each of these themes is constituted by various experiences and examples that shed light on racial socialization in today’s social climate. Overall, parents, extended family members, and community members were sources of socializing what race meant to young Black adults. We discuss implications for research on racial socialization and family communication.

What's Race Got to Do With It? Racial Socialization's Contribution to Black Adolescent Coping.

While youth generally experience stressors from developmental milestones, Black youth also face racialized stressors. Racial socialization has been found to help Black youth cope with racialized stressors, but research has yet to show its contribution to coping beyond general socialization practices. This study examines how racial socialization contributes beyond that of general coping socialization to coping behaviors. Fifty-eight third-eighth-grade (Mage =11.3, SD=1.54) youth reported general coping socialization and racial socialization practices and coping behaviors. Results indicate that for engagement coping, racial socialization messages contributed significantly to parent-provided engaged socialization strategies. Implications are considered for the ways in which Black youth experience stress and require culturally specific practices for successful coping with frequently encountered stressors.