Ethnic-Racial Identity and Ethnic-Racial Socialization Competency: How Minoritized Parents "Walk the Talk"

• Published in: Cultural diversity & ethnic minority psychology 2023-10, Vol.29 (4), p.493-502
• Main Authors: Kiang, Lisa, Christophe, N. Keita, Stein, Gabriela L., Stevenson, Howard C., Jones, Shawn C. T., Chan, Michele, Anderson, Riana E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Child; Ethnic Identity; Female; Human; Humans; Male; Mothers; Parent Child Communication; Parents; Parents - psychology; Psychosocial Factors; Racial Groups; Racial Identity; Social Identification; Socialization; Stress
• ISSN: 1099-9809; 1939-0106
• DOI: 10.1037/cdp0000605

Objectives: Ethnic-racial identity (ERI) has important implications for individual psychosocial functioning as well as familial processes. For example, parents' ERI can shape children's developmental contexts through ethnic-racial socialization (ERS). Yet, existing research has tended to focus on the content or frequency of socialization messages themselves rather than on internal factors like socialization competence. Such competence, as reflected through confidence, skills, and stress, represents critical dimensions that permeate the socialization process and can impact the delivery of messages. The present study examines whether parents' ERI (i.e., private regard, centrality, exploration) is related to perceptions of their socialization competence. Method: Data from 203 Black, 194 Asian American, and 188 Latinx parents (N = 585, Mage = 44.46 years, SD = 9.14, 59.70% mothers) of adolescents between the ages of 10-18 were collected via Qualtrics panels. Results: Across all parents, private regard, centrality, and ethnic-racial exploration were positively associated with perceived confidence and skills in engaging in ERS. Regard was additionally associated with lower socialization stress. Conclusions: The results point to consistent benefits of ERI in helping parents navigate ERS, furthering the understanding of ERI's developmental implications through parents' comfort with and ability to "walk the talk" with their children. Public Significance Statement While the importance of engaging in ethnic-racial socialization is indisputable, there is limited understanding about parents' feelings of competency or perceptions of stress in doing so. Among Black, Asian American, and Latinx parents, the present study found that greater levels of ethnic-racial identity are linked with greater ethnic-racial socialization confidence and skills and greater feelings of positive ethnic-racial regard is further linked with less socialization stress. With a better understanding of parents' cognitive and emotional reactions underlying ERS, we can build knowledge to maximize its reach and effectiveness.