| Description |
The lack of research on the Multiracial population makes it difficult for us to understand perceptions of Multiracial individuals, including the stereotypes that people hold about Multiracial groups. Since Multiracial people can identify in a number of ways, it is important to examine the role of identification on stereotype content. The present study explores stereotypes of Multiracial people and specifically examines whether racial identification plays a role in the stereotypes formed about Asian/White Biracial people. Through a trait checklist task, we aimed to find out if stronger identification with a monoracial parent group (e.g., Asian versus White) changes the stereotypes people generate Asian/White Biracial people. Consistent with our hypothesis, we found evidence for trait hypodescent. For Asian/White Biracial people, participants attributed more Asian stereotypes when Biracial people identified more strongly as Asian or when we did not specify identification, compared to when Asian/White Biracial people identified more strongly as White. These results suggest that Biracial people are generally perceived more commonly as members of the lower status monoracial parent group unless they specifically identify as the higher status monoracial parent group. Supplementary analysis also revealed that identification with the White identity seemed to induce less positive stereotypes from participants. Considering our mainly White sample, this finding might suggest that people are generally willing to attribute negative traits to their own ingroup. The fear of being viewed as racist might also contribute to the attribution of more positive stereotypes to other racial groups. |
