The Marginal Man? An Exploration of the Impact of Racial Identification and Esteem upon Self-Esteem and Self-Perceived Marginality in Biracial Adults
Loading...
Authors
Kellman, Hildy
Issue Date
2000
Type
Dissertation
Language
en
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between cognitive and affective aspects of racial identity and self-esteem and self-perceived marginality among biracial adults. Two hundred and two biracial adults from varied ethnic and cultural backgrounds participated. Seventy-two percent of the sample was female, 82% were 20 years old or younger, and 77% lived on the East or West Coast. Eighty-four percent of the sample had either a mother or father who were European American. Sixty-eight percent of the sample identified themselves as biracial or multiracial. Each subject completed five scales: a simple demographic questionnaire, Hocoy's (1996) Ethnic Esteem scale, Hocoy's (1996) Ethnic Self-Perception scale, a marginality scale, and the Rosenberg (1965) self-esteem scale. A new marginality scale was generated from Berry's (1989) Acculturation Measure, Soto's (1995) Outsiderness scale, and items created by the author. After factor analysis, three interpretable factors emerged: Interpersonal Discomfort, Sociocultural Difficulty, and Biracial Discomfort. All three of these subscales are interrelated, but the subscale correlations are low enough to conclude that the three constructs do not provide redundant information. Biracial Esteem predicted the most variance in Interpersonal Discomfort, followed by Biracial Self-Perception. High Biracial Esteem predicted lower Interpersonal Discomfort, and high Biracial Self-Perception predicted higher Interpersonal Discomfort. Biracial Self-Perception predicted the most variance in Sociocultural Difficulty, followed by Biracial Esteem. High Biracial Self-Perception predicted lower Sociocultural Difficulty, and high Biracial Esteem predicted higher Sociocultural Difficulty. Biracial Self-Perception was the sole significant predictor of Biracial Discomfort. High Biracial Self-Perception predicted higher Biracial Discomfort. Biracial Esteem was the sole significant predictor of Self-Esteem. High Biracial Esteem predicted higher Self-Esteem. These findings suggest complex and powerful relationships among aspects of biracial identification and feelings of marginality and self-esteem.