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Multiracial Identity Development

Multiracial Identity Development refers to the process of identity development of individuals who belong to multiple racial heritages. (CITE) Multiracial individuals are defined as those whose parents are of two or more different and distinct federally recognized racial or ethnic groups.'

Background

Literature and research about the identity development of multiracial individuals has been extremely limited. However as the United States and global community become more racially diverse and inter-mixed, the need for research about multiracial identity development is necessary in order to understand this growing population.

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Theories

Renn’s Ecological Theory of Mixed Race Identity Development

Dr. Kristen A. Renn, a professor of Higher, Adult, & Lifelong Education (HALE) in the Department of Educational Administration at Michigan State University, recognized the lack of research in this area and conducted three studies at six higher education institutions across the eastern and midwestern United States. From the analysis of written responses, observations, focus groups, and archival sources, Renn identified five, non-exclusive patterns of identity among multiracial college students in 2000 (CITE, Renn, 2000, 2004). The five identity patterns recognized by Renn include the following:

1. Monoracial Identity

Students identified with one of the racial categories that made up their heritage background. If one parent was white, then most often students would identify with their non-dominant racial heritage. Males were more likely to identify as monoracial, than their female counterparts. (CITE)

2. Multiple Monoracial Identities

Students identified with two or more racial categories that made up their heritage background. All parental heritages were represented and students tended to be knowledgeable about all their racial heritage groups. (CITE)

3. Multiracial Identity

Students identified as a part of a “multiracial” or “mixed” category, instead of identifying with one racial or other racial categories. Those who identified as multiracial felt more connected and related to other multiracial students than they did with a specific racial group. (CITE)

4. Extraracial Identity

Students in this identity pattern either chose to “opt out” of racial categorization or chose not to identify with one of the racial categories presented in the U.S. racial categories. Those who identified with this category saw race as a social construct with no biological roots. (CITE)

5.Situational Identity

Students identified differently depending on the situation or context, reinforcing the notion that racial identity is both fluid and contextual. Renn stated that this shift in identity is both intentional and subconscious, and saw the ability to shift one’s identity based on the context as a highly evolved skill. (CITE)

Of Renn’s sample of fifty-six college students, 89 percent identified as belonging to a “multiracial” identity group (pattern of Multiracial Identity), and almost one-half of students (48 percent) identified with the Monoracial Identity and Multiple Monoracial Identities patterns. While 23 percent identified with the Extraracial Identity pattern and 61 percent identified situationally. (CITE)

Students could fall under more than one identity pattern, which explains why the total percentage within these identity patterns are more than 100 percent. For example, a student of European and African-American descent may have identified as multiracial, but also as Monoracial or Multiple Monoracial depending of the context of their environment or interactions with other individuals.