At the Interface of Cultures: Multiethnic/Multiracial High School and College Students

Multiethnic youths did not differ from monoethnics regarding self-esteem, and in some cases, multiethnic students had more positive attitudes toward other groups than monoethNics did.

Abstract

Data from 2 studies conducted in the United States--1 with high school students and 1 with college students--are reported. Two hundred forty-one multiethnic/multiracial youths (also termed biethnic/biracial, mixed ethnic/mixed racial, and interracial) were selected using 2 large surveys and compared with 1,041 of their monoethnic peers. Although more than 10% of the students across both studies were multiethnic, less than one third of these respondents labeled themselves as such. Ethnic self-labels varied with setting, type of question, and parental ethnicity. Multiethnic youths did not differ from monoethnics regarding self-esteem. In some cases, multiethnic students had more positive attitudes toward other groups than monoethnics did.