Racial identity invalidation is a form of discrimination experienced by Biracial and Multiracial people, where one’s racial identity is negated or denied by others. There is limited research on experiences of racial identity invalidation from Biracial individuals’ own family members. The goals of this study were to examine which family members invalidate Biracial people’s racial identities most frequently and extend prior research findings to other groups beyond Black Biracials. The sample included 400 Biracial college students (Mage = 21.3, SD = 5.8; 72.5% female; 25.8% male; 1.7% transgender/gender non-conforming). Participants ranked which family members denied their racial identity the most, based on a list of provided options (e.g., primary caregiver, maternal grandparents, paternal grandparents, etc). Nearly half of participants (46.8%) reported invalidation by at least one family member. Of these participants, they reported more invalidation from extended family (79.5%) compared to immediate family (20.5%), x2(1) = 59.66, p < .001. Additional analyses will examine whether rates of invalidation vary within racial subgroups (e.g., Asian-White, Black-White, Latine-White) and by racial group of family members perpetrating invalidation (i.e., racial majority vs. racial minority).

Based on narrative-style interviews (n = 35) with women with curly and afro-textured hair in England and Germany, this talk highlights how the process of ‘going natural’, i.e. the transition from chemically straightened to naturally curly hair is described as an identity-transformative process, which is lived out on and experienced in the body. The women perceived their transition as altering their intersectionally gendered and racialised identities in complex and often contradictory ways. In turn, identity presentation and performative strategies (e.g. use of make-up, verbal communicative acts) were used to strategically and agentically take back control over their social identities and to negotiate how the women saw themselves and how they were seen by relevant others in different contexts. Through an exploration of Black hair as a site for studying embodied social identity transformations, the talk thus calls attention to the body as a site where social identities are lived out on and negotiated in interactions with others, contributing to the social psychological literature on social identity transformations.

Intervening in White youths’ ethnic racial identity (ERI) development during adolescence can support the development of anti-racist ERIs that challenge privilege and oppression, increase awareness of and reduce implicit bias, and support the development of positive intergroup contact attitudes and behaviors. However, little is known regarding how White youth develop their ERI within the U.S. sociohistorical context. Consistent with the suggestion of Seaton et al. (2018) that the Integrative Model (García Coll et al., 1996) could be a useful framework for understanding White youth development within a white supremacist system, this paper presents how the Integrative Model can serve as a heuristic to understand and investigate White American adolescents’ ERI development. We review existing research and discuss how the Integrative Model identifies important contexts and mechanisms to investigate, including ethnic-racial socialization within schools and families, and color-evasive or anti-racist adapting cultural systems. Finally, we offer implications for future research including: assessment of both ethnic and racial aspects of identity development for White adolescents; examining the psychometric properties of ERI measures when used with White youth; and utilizing methodologies that allow for investigation of White youths’ meaning making related to ethnicity, race, and their white identity.

Adaptive development and academic resilience during young adulthood are characterized by securely defining oneself and confidently aligning one’s behaviors with values (i.e., self authorship), taking control of interpersonal relationships, and identifying and regulating one’s emotional responses (i.e., emotional intelligence, EI; Chickering & Reisser, 1997; Baxter Magolda, 2007). Ethnic racial identity (ERI) is a developmental competency that promotes cohesive self concept, yet is missing from models of young adult development and post secondary educational success (Williams et al., 2020). Although extant studies have separately connected ERI (e.g., Rivas Drake et al., 2014; Yip et al., 2019) and EI (e.g., Compas et al., 2017) with academic and psychological adjustment, few have explored the interconnection between ERI and EI. The current study examined associations among ERI (i.e., exploration, resolution, public regard, affirmation, centrality), EI (i.e., emotional regulation, intrapersonal emotional awareness, interpersonal emotional awareness), and adjustment (e.g., global identity cohesion, academic engagement) among 755 young adults (i.e., 15 25 years, Mage = 20.33, SD = 1.64; 13.11% Asian American, 20% Black, 9.54% Latinx, 42.78% White, 10.33% Middle Eastern/Native American/Pacific Islander/Other) in the U.S. Findings support the notion that ERI is an important means of promoting emotional development and academic outcomes during young adulthood.