scholarly journals A Laboratory Procedure to Facilitate Color Conscious Racial Socialization Methods Among White Parents in the U.S.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvia Perry ◽  
Jamie L Abaied ◽  
Allison Skinner-Dorkenoo ◽  
Sara Waters
Keyword(s):  
Racial Socialization ◽  
Current Work ◽  
Laboratory Procedure ◽  
White Families ◽  
Additional Intervention ◽  
White Parent ◽  
White Parents ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Parent Child

For years, White U.S. parents have strived to raise colorblind children, yet mounting evidence indicates that color conscious racial socialization is needed to cultivate an anti-racist orientation. The current work evaluates a new semi-structured laboratory procedure to facilitate color conscious racial socialization in 87 White parent-child (8-12-year-olds) dyads. Contrasting with prior research, qualitative findings revealed that most parents used racial labels and color conscious racial socialization methods. However, a subset of parents pushed back against the color conscious guidance, encouraging racial ignorance or external attributions for racist behaviors. This work highlights promising evidence of a means for facilitating color conscious socialization in White families, and additional intervention targets for future efforts to foster anti- racism in White families.

scholarly journals Applying What Evidence We Have: Support for Having Race Conversations in White U.S. Families

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvia Perry ◽  
Allison Skinner-Dorkenoo ◽  
Jamie L Abaied ◽  
Sara Waters
Keyword(s):  
Racial Socialization ◽  
Parental Socialization ◽  
White Families ◽  
Racial Biases ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Outcomes For Children ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Parent Child

Popular press articles have advocated for parent-child conversations about race to prevent children from developing racial biases, yet empirical investigations of the impact of racial socialization in White families in the U.S. are scarce. Scott et al. (2020) warn that, given the lack of empirical evidence, parents might actually do more harm than good by talking to their children about race. In this comment, we draw upon the literature on (1) racial socialization, (2) parenting and parent-child discourse, and (3) the role of nonverbal communication in parental socialization to inform our understanding of parents’ ability to engage in race-related conversations in the absence of empirical guidance. We also highlight emerging evidence of the potential benefits of these conversations (even if parents are uncomfortable). In sum, the wealth of existing literature suggests that parents can successfully navigate challenging conversations with their children—which tends to result in better outcomes for children than avoiding those conversations. Thus, although we support Scott et al.’s call for researchers to develop more empirical research, we part with the authors’ assertion that White parents should wait to have these conversations with their children—we believe that the time to begin talking is now.

White Parents’ Socialization of Racial Attitudes: A Commentary on Scott et al. (2020)

2021 ◽  
pp. 174569162110299
Author(s):  
Rebecca S. Bigler ◽  
Erin Pahlke ◽  
Amber D. Williams ◽  
Brigitte Vittrup
Keyword(s):  
Racial Socialization ◽  
Racial Attitudes ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Popular Press ◽  
Race And Racism ◽  
White Families ◽  
Rigorous Research ◽  
White Parents ◽  
Media Reports ◽  
The Ideal

In the September 2020 issue of Perspectives, Scott et al. argued that there is insufficient empirical work on White parents’ racial-socialization strategies to support generalizations about the topic and, therefore, that journalists’ recommendation that White parents discuss race and racism with their children represents a case of speculation without evidence. Although we strongly support Scott et al.’s call for additional, rigorous research on racial socialization in White families, we argue that their critique of popular-press pieces was unwarranted. Specifically, we argue that, although definitive tests of the effects of specific White parental racial-socialization strategies are lacking, the recommendation for parents to discuss race and racism with their children is both appropriate and empirically grounded. We describe research on racial socialization, intergroup contact, and cognitive development that is consistent with recommendations from developmental scientists reported in the popular press. Furthermore, we argue that parents may be the ideal socializers of racial attitudes. We conclude with a discussion of the broad context concerning media reports of findings from psychological science.

scholarly journals Exploring how Parent-Child Conversations about Race influence Children's Implicit Biases

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvia Perry ◽  
Allison Skinner-Dorkenoo ◽  
Jamie L Abaied ◽  
Adilene Osnaya ◽  
Sara Waters
Keyword(s):  
Racial Socialization ◽  
White Americans ◽  
Prior Work ◽  
White Families ◽  
White American ◽  
Implicit Biases ◽  
Racial Biases ◽  
Racial Issues ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Parent Child

Although parent-child conversations about race are recommended as a way to curb children’s racial biases, no prior work has directly tested the impact of such conversations. In fact, most White American parents avoid talking about racism with their children. We designed a method to facilitate parental racial socialization conversations with their 8-12-year-old children and examined the impact on children’s implicit anti-Black attitudes. We also investigated whether parents’ nonverbal discomfort and physiological arousal moderated the impact of racial socialization on children’s implicit attitudes. White American children’s (and parents’) implicit anti-Black attitudes significantly decreased, pre-to-post conversation, and we found no evidence that parental tenseness, anxiety, or arousal increased implicit anti-Black attitudes among children. Our findings suggest the discomfort that White Americans often experience when openly discussing racial issues need not be a barrier to conversation, and that facilitating parent-child racial socialization in White families may be an effective tool to reduce implicit anti-Black attitudes.

Bias awareness predicts color conscious racial socialization methods among White parents

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvia Perry ◽  
Allison Skinner ◽  
Jamie Abaied
Keyword(s):  
Individual Difference ◽  
Racial Socialization ◽  
Racial Bias ◽  
Color Blindness ◽  
Interracial Contact ◽  
White American ◽  
White Parents ◽  
Potential Impact ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The U.S

The majority of White parents in the U.S. are uncomfortable discussing race with their children and tend to avoid it. When they do discuss race with their children, they often take a color blind approach—in which they emphasize a belief that race does not matter—instead of a color conscious approach—in which they acknowledge race-related issues. In the current study, we sought to explore the individual difference factors that may be associated with White American parents’ racial socialization practices. Results indicated that parents’ racial bias awareness was associated with greater willingness to discuss race with their children, increased color consciousness, and decreased color blindness; when statistically controlling for their racial attitudes, motivations to respond without prejudice, and interracial contact. The potential impact of bias awareness interventions on White parents’ racial socialization behaviors are discussed.

scholarly journals Applying the Evidence We Have: Support for Having Race Conversations in White U.S. Families

2021 ◽  
pp. 174569162110299
Author(s):  
Sylvia P. Perry ◽  
Allison L. Skinner-Dorkenoo ◽  
Jamie L. Abaied ◽  
Sara F. Waters
Keyword(s):  
Racial Socialization ◽  
Sufficient Evidence ◽  
Parental Socialization ◽  
Race And Racism ◽  
White Families ◽  
Racial Biases ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Outcomes For Children ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Parent Child

Popular press articles have advocated for parent–child conversations about race and racism to prevent children from developing racial biases, yet empirical investigations of the impact of racial socialization in White U.S. families are scarce. In an article published in Perspectives on Psychological Science in 2020, Scott et al. warned that, given the lack of empirical evidence, parents might actually do more harm than good by talking to their children about race. In this comment, we draw upon the literature on (a) racial socialization, (b) parenting and parent–child discourse, and (c) the role of nonverbal communication in parental socialization to inform our understanding of parents’ ability to engage in race-related conversations in the absence of empirical guidance. We also highlight emerging evidence of the potential benefits of these conversations (even if parents are uncomfortable). In sum, the wealth of existing literature suggests that parents can successfully navigate challenging conversations with their children—which tends to result in better outcomes for children than avoiding those conversations. Thus, although we support Scott et al.’s call for researchers to develop more empirical research, we part with the authors’ assertion that researchers need to wait for more sufficient evidence before providing recommendations to White parents—we believe that the time for White families to begin talking about race and racism is now.

From Kindness and Diversity to Justice and Action: White Parents’ Ethnic–Racial Socialization Goals

2021 ◽  
pp. 0192513X2199639
Author(s):  
Cari Gillen-O’Neel ◽  
Virginia W. Huynh ◽  
Taylor Hazelbaker ◽  
Asya Harrison
Keyword(s):  
Racial Socialization ◽  
Consensual Qualitative Research ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
White Children ◽  
White Families ◽  
Socialization Goals ◽  
White Parents ◽  
Research Procedure ◽  
Value Diversity ◽  
Racial Ethnic

Ethnic–racial socialization (ERS) is the collection of practices by which individuals learn about norms, values, and customs regarding ethnicity and race (Hughes et al., 2006). In contrast to research with families of color, few studies have examined ERS among White families (Umaña-Taylor & Hill, 2020). In this study, we used the Consensual Qualitative Research procedure (Hill et al., 2005) to analyze the ERS goals expressed by 35 White parents of White children during semi-structured interviews. We identified 11 domains (privilege awareness, take action, racism, value diversity, egalitarianism, children lead the way, informed, embracing the difficulty of being anti-racist, empathy, protection, and racial–ethnic identity) that generally map onto Hughes et al.’s (2006) existing ERS framework. Our results suggest that some White parents have ERS goals that move beyond kindness and diversity to delve into issues of equity and justice in order to support children in their own anti-racist journies.

White parents’ racial socialization and young adults’ racial attitudes: Moral reasoning and motivation to respond without prejudice as mediators

2020 ◽  
pp. 136843022094106
Author(s):  
Erin Pahlke ◽  
Meagan M. Patterson ◽  
Julie Milligan Hughes
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Moral Reasoning ◽  
Racial Socialization ◽  
Racial Attitudes ◽  
The United States ◽  
Moral Orientation ◽  
Race And Racism ◽  
Internal Motivation ◽  
White Parents

This study examined relations between parental racial socialization messages (i.e., egalitarianism, racemute, and preparation for bias) and racial attitudes in a sample of 282 White young adults (ages 18–22) in the United States. Egalitarianism messages were positively related to warmth toward racial outgroup members, whereas preparation for bias was negatively related to warmth toward racial outgroup members. In both cases the relation between racial socialization and racial attitudes was mediated by internal motivation to respond without prejudice and fairness/reciprocity moral orientation. Contrary to our expectations, racemute socialization messages were not directly related to participants’ warmth toward racial outgroup members. However, racemute socialization predicted internal motivation to respond without prejudice and fairness/reciprocity moral orientation, which in turn predicted outgroup warmth. These findings suggest possible mechanisms by which parents’ messages about race and racism may shape youths’ racial attitudes.

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