Posted on February 19, 2009

Multiracial Identity Associated With Better Social and Personal Well-Being

ScienceDaily, February 17, 2009

Many people assume that individuals who identify with one race should be better off than multiracial individuals who identify with a mixed race heritage. However, a new study in the Journal of Social Issues found that students who reported they were from multiple ethnic/racial groups were more engaged at school and felt better in general than those who reported they were from a single group.

Kevin Binning, Ph.D., Miguel Unzueta, Ph.D., Yuen Huo, Ph.D., and Ludwin Molina, Ph.D., surveyed roughly 180 high school students to see how they were doing in school and how they felt in general: {snip}.

On several indicators (i.e. happiness, stress, citizenship behavior, and school alienation), students who reported they were from multiple groups were more engaged in school and felt better than those who reported they were from a single group.

Results suggest there may be a positive link between the tendency to embrace a multiracial identity and social and personal well-being.

{snip}

[Editor’s Note: “The Interpretation of Multiracial Status and Its Relation to Social Engagement and Psychological Well-Being,” by Kevin R. Binning, Miguel M. Unzuetam Yuen J. Huo, and Ludwin E. Molina, can be read on-line as an HTML document or downloaded as a PDF file here.]