Family Matters: The Implications of Family Support on Multiracial Identity Development

Although research has investigated ethnic identity development in minority groups, few studies have focused on the interaction between multiracial identity and personal identity development. The present study seeks to determine how the strength of family support interacts with identity exploration in multiracial individuals during emerging adulthood. A self-report questionnaire was distributed to Psychology students from a public university in a metropolitan city of the Pacific Northwest. Additional participants were collected from the general public via social media and through Amazon Mechanical Turk. While data collection will not conclude until August, preliminary results yield unanticipated similarities between mono-racial and multiracial groups. It is crucial to the development of future generations of multiracial adolescents that their experience is understood so that psychologists, doctors and community workers may have a better understanding of individual differences.