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Ego Identity and Self-Esteem in Biracial Young Adults
AUBYN FULTON, Ph.D.
NOTE: This is a brief summary of a paper presented at the 77thAnnual Convention of the Western Psychological Association in Seattle on April 24th, 1997. All rights to both this summary and the original paper are reserved.
The current study compared biracial young adults (BYAs) with monoracial black and white peers on identity status and self-esteem. It was expected that BYAs would show no more psychological problems than monoracial counterparts, and it was hypothesized that they would score higher on measures of identity moratorium. Fifty-three participants (19 black, 13 white and 22 black/white biracial) between the ages of 18 and 28 were recruited from university-related venues. Participants completed the Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status, the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory, and race-related questions designed for this study. Among the results, BYAs scored marginally higher on measures of interpersonal moratorium (F = 2.54, p = .08) and self-esteem (F = 2.86, p = .07) than both monoracial groups. Overall, the results were not consistent with the conclusion that BYAs are at increased risk for identity confusion and low self-esteem.
What About The Children?
When two people of different races decide to marry, they are commonly asked "but what
about the children?" Up until recently, the answer from both lay and professional
observers would most probably have been something like "they are in for trouble" (see, for
example, Gibbs & Hines, 1992). Many of these pessimistic predictions would have been
based on the assumption that Biracial individuals suffer from a fundamental confusion
about who they are, resulting in impaired self-esteem (e.g. Teicher, 1968; Herring, 1995).
Loving vs Virginia
The profoundly negative attitude concerning interracial relationships and multiracial
children is illustrated by the fact that only thirty years ago it was illegal in 16 states for a
white person to marry a non-white person (the Supreme Court, in "Loving vs Virginia"
ruled such laws unconstitutional in 1967).
The Idea of Race
The study of Biracial experience may seem to some to imply an acceptance of the popular
notion that there is meaningful biological content to the category of race. A review of the
relevant historical, anthropological, and genetic literature is well beyond the scope of this
modest paper (see Spickard, 1992). It will suffice to note simply that recent scholarship has
raised substantial doubt about the biological status of race, and that the current study only
assumes that race has social significance. The focus of the current study is on black/white
biracial individuals.
Conclusions From Recent Research
Increasingly in the last 20 years, study of psychological development in Biracial individuals
has focused on empirical assessment of non-clinical populations. Such studies tend to
conclude that Biracial individuals do not suffer from any more psychological problems than
so-called "monoracial" counterparts (Poussaint, 1984; Brown, 1991; Cauce, et. al., 1992).
Ego Identity
Identity was described by Erikson (1963) as the central task of adolescence. Marcia (1966)
identified two dimensions to ego identity, the degree of autonomous exploration of potential
identity alternatives, and degree of commitment to a set of identity alternatives. The
combination of high or low positions on each of these two dimensions results in four
possible identity statuses: Diffusion (low commitment and low exploration); Moratorium
(low commitment and high exploration); Foreclosure (high commitment and low
exploration); and Achievement (high commitment and high exploration). Within this
paradigm, Achievement is seen as the attainment of a clear sense of identity, while
Diffusion is seen as identity confusion.
Purpose of the Study
The ego identity status of biracial individuals has not been looked at directly. If the earlier
clinical studies give an accurate picture, biracial individuals should score higher on
measures of diffusion (confused identity), lower on measures of achievement (healthy
identity) and lower on measures of self-esteem than either monoracial black or white
individuals. The more recent literature would suggest that multiracial individuals would be
no different than monoracial individuals on these variables. The current study expected
that biracial individuals will not differ from monoracial individuals on measures of
diffusion, achievement or self-esteem. It was expected that biracial individuals would score
higher on measures of moratorium, as they may in fact be more likely to encounter social
stimulation to actively explore their identities.
Participants
Fifty-three participants for this study were recruited through advertisements in college
newspapers; requests posted on electronic bulletin boards devoted to multiracial issues;
recruitment posters and tables in high-traffic areas on university campuses; and requests
for volunteers from students enrolled in lower division general education courses.
Apparatus The Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory - Adult Form
The Extended version of the Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status (EOMEIS-2)
(Adams et al., 1989) is a 64 item questionnaire. Separate scale scores are derived for each of
the four identity statuses in both the ideological (occupation, politics, world view, religion)
and interpersonal (friendship, dating, sex roles and recreation) domains. Reliability of the
status scales have been reported as ranging from .58 to .75, with a median r = .63.
Racial Identity Questionnaire Procedure
Participants were asked to complete the questionnaire and to return it in a self-addressed,
self-stamped envelope provided.
Nineteen of the participants reported having two black parents, 13 participants reported having two white parents, and 22 participants reported having one white and one black parent.
Table 1 contains the results of One-way ANOVA's performed on the eight identity status scales (ideological and interpersonal), self-esteem scale, and the four racial confusion variables by racial group. As can be seen, of the eight identity status scales, the only significant race-group difference found was for ideological foreclosure, with black participants scoring higher than both biracial and white participants. There was a trend for biracial participants to score higher on interpersonal moratorium than white participants. Biracial participants also scored marginally higher on the self-esteem measure than either white or black participants.
Black participants reported more racial confusion in elementary school than white participants. Biracial and black participants reported more confusion in junior high school than white participants. Biracial participants reported more confusion in high school than either black or white participants. There were no significant race group differences on racial confusion reported at the college level.
When asked to choose a racial identification from the choices of "white", "black", "Asian"
and "other", 7 of the 22 participants who reported having one black and one white parent
chose "black" (31.8%) while 15 chose "other" (68.2%). When asked to choose from the
same choices plus "multiracial", 1 chose "black" (4.5%), 20 chose "multiracial" (90.9%)
and 1 chose "other" (4.5%). Participants were also asked to rate their commitment to the
"white", "black" and "biracial" identification. A t-test for paired samples was performed
on all three possible comparisons. Commitment to the "biracial" identity was significantly
stronger (M = 6.14, SD = 1.52) than commitment to either the "black" or "white" identity
(M= 4.64 and 3.64, SD = 1.47 and 1.47, respectively, t(21) = 3.27 and 5.88, p = .004 and
.001). Commitment to the black identity was significantly stronger than commitment to the
white identity, t(21) = 2.15, p = .04.
Main Findings
The pattern of results was consistent with the expectation that there would be few if any
psychological differences between biracial individuals and their monoracial counterparts.
Those differences which were found were actually in favor of biracials. Biracials scored
marginally higher on the measure of self-esteem and interpersonal moratorium, and, along
with white participants, significantly lower than blacks on identity foreclosure.
Racial Confusion
One of the more interesting findings in this study was the changing pattern of reported
racial confusion by each racial group over time. These results appear to be consistent with
the interpretation that non-white individuals are more likely to experience race-related
confusion in the United States than white individuals. Differences between black and
biracial (at least, "black/white" biracial) individuals may have more to do with the timing
of exacerbations of this confusion and its relative resolution.
Racial Identification
Brown (1995) found that 65% of her sample of biracial individuals identified themselves as
black on public forms, but identified themselves as "interracial" in private. She termed this
a compartmentalization into public and private racial identities. A slightly different way of
looking at this phenomena is as identity pluralism. In the current sample of biracial
individuals, the average commitment to a biracial identity was high (6.14 on a seven-point
scale), reliably higher than any other racial identification. However there was also a
relatively strong commitment to a "black" identity (4.6, midway between "medium" and
"fairly strong"), which was significantly stronger than commitment to a "white" identity
(3.6, midway between "fairly weak" and "medium"). This suggests that, for biracial
individuals at least, racial identifications are not mutually exclusive. The relatively weak
commitment to a "white" identity was probably due to hypodescent (see Harris, 1964).
Limitations
There are several serious limitations to the current study. Most importantly, the biracial
participants were about two years older than the monoracial participants, which provides a
possible alternative explanation for the findings. Another limitation is the fact that this
study made use of convenience samples. The biracial participants particulary can not be
viewed as representative of the larger population of biracial individuals. With these
limitations in mind, it seems reasonable to cautiously generalize these results to
middle-class, well-educated biracial individuals who primarily identify themselves as
"biracial".
Conclusions
The results of the current study are not consistent with the common assumption that
biracial individuals are at high risk for developing identify confusion and resulting low
self-esteem. It appears that for this sample, and other biracial individuals similar to them,
the struggles of identity and self-esteem are, at worst, no more difficult than for their
monoracial peers.
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