News & Media

Student Research: Racial Socialization

How do ethnic minority and majority parents talk to their children about race, and how do those conversations affect their children?

Psychology student Morgan Christie ’16 conducted a qualitative study that examined the types of messages transmitted by ethnic minority and majority parents to their adolescents regarding race and its intersection with society, as well as how these messages about race prepare minority and majority adolescents to cope with discriminatory experiences. She presented her project at the 2016 OWU Student Symposium.

In her study, participants included 119 adolescents: 80 participants self-identified as Caucasian and 39 self-identified as a minority race. Individuals wrote two narratives; the first narrative asked them to describe a conversation with a parental figure regarding race, and the second asked them to describe a time they experienced discrimination.

Minority parents were no more likely to engage in a conversation about race than their majority counterparts, but their conversations were more likely to focus on preparing their adolescents for future racial conflicts and providing emotional support. Minority adolescents were significantly more likely to report racial discrimination.

Christie says that additional analyses will examine the relationship between coping responses and racial ideologies and the racial socialization experiences of minority and majority adolescents.

Project Title: Conversations About Race: Links Between Racial Socialization, Coping, and Racial Beliefs
Student: Morgan Christie ’16
Mentor: Dr. Sarah Bunnell

Read the full symposium abstract.