Date of Award

2023

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Psychology

Abstract

This study aimed to describe the relation between experiences of intrafamilial racism (i.e., racism perpetrated by family members against other family members), caregiver support, and identity conflict in biracial individuals. Identity conflict is defined as perceived incompatibility with two or more aspects of one’s identity (Sarno et. al., 2015) and is an experience likely to be common among biracial individuals. Regression analyses were conducted to determine the relation between intrafamilial racism, caregiver support, and identity conflict. Moderation analyses were performed to determine the impact of intrafamilial racism on identity conflict at different levels of caregiver support. We hypothesized that intrafamilial racism will have a main effect on identity conflict, such that higher levels of intrafamilial racism will lead to higher levels of identity conflict – this hypothesis was supported by the data. Furthermore, we posited that caregiver support would moderate the relation between intrafamilial racism and identity conflict such that caregiver support would buffer effects of intrafamilial racism on identity conflict. This hypothesis was also supported, suggesting that caregiver support does indeed provide a buffer against identity conflict at low levels of intrafamilial racism, especially for participants with more support from their caregivers. Future studies should include qualitative instruments to deepen understanding of the findings detected here.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

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