Identity denial decreases belonging, then increases effort to regain inclusion in the excluding group.

Evidence

Acceptance threat may be elicited by experiences of identity denial (e.g., to be perceived as not ‘Black enough’ or not ‘really Asian’; Campion 2019; Chen et al. 2019; Franco et al. 2016). This form of exclusion or rejection from a group may decrease Mixed individuals’ feelings of belonging to this group (Franco et al. 2021), which may in turn increase the need for it (Williams and Nida 2011). Ostracized individuals have been shown to try to reclaim belongingness by gaining re-inclusion in the excluding group (Williams 2007). A simple generalization of these findings to Mixed individuals fuels the hypothesis that identity threats trigger increased attempts to re-establish inclusion into the excluding group. — Anna X. Huang, Jacqueline M. Chen, and Juliane Degner, Being One or the Other, Both or Neither, 108

Categorization

• QUESTION: The mixed member’s alternative exit — shifting to the other parent group — is the article’s own rival hypothesis to re-inclusion (raised in the next paragraph). For the reader’s question, that alternative is precisely what essentialist ingroup pressure should foreclose or permit depending on how the member fits the category.
• XREF: Connects to the reader’s dynamic of the internally heterogeneous member who gets told they’re ‘not really X’ and must decide between redoubling X-identification and defecting, echoing similar identity-denial dynamics from the mixed-literature generally. — connects to: Mixed individuals face recurring identity questions, denials of belonging, and family pressures to choose — Anna X. Huang, Jacqueline M. Chen, and Juliane Degner, Being One or the Other, Both or…, 86; Identity denial may make mixed-race people shift identification to a different ingroup — Anna X. Huang, Jacqueline M. Chen, and Juliane Degner, Being One or the Other, Both or…, 119; Ingroup rejection lowers belonging yet paradoxically heightens the need for it — Anna X. Huang, Jacqueline M. Chen, and Juliane Degner, Being One or the Other, Both or…, 118 (+2 more)

Related

• Ingroup rejection lowers belonging yet paradoxically heightens the need for it (similarity 0.94)
• Identity denial lowers belonging yet raises the need for the group (similarity 0.93)
• Identity denial may make mixed-race people shift identification to a different ingroup (similarity 0.92)
• Mixed-identity members may exit a rejecting group rather than fight for inclusion (similarity 0.89)
• Mixed individuals face recurring identity questions, denials of belonging, and family pressures to choose (similarity 0.89)
• Mixed individuals shift identification within a single social domain. (similarity 0.85)
• Identity shifting to a higher-status group risks poorer well-being and distrust for mixed individuals (similarity 0.84)
• Mixed individuals categorically shift toward whichever mono-racial prototype is absent (similarity 0.83)
• Concealability of an identity and its normative status shape mixed-identity processes. (similarity 0.83)
• Mixed individuals’ identity choices are frequently invalidated by mono-racial others. (similarity 0.82)
• Others’ questioning and ingroup invalidation force Mixed individuals into chronic self-concept uncertainty (similarity 0.82)
• Uncertainty reduction may push mixed-race people toward the most entitative available group. (similarity 0.82)
• Identity invalidation by mono-racial others shapes mixed individuals’ self-definition (similarity 0.82)
• Mixed individuals endorse less essentialist racial beliefs than monoracial peers. (similarity 0.81)
• Mixed-identity people shift self-categorizations situationally because prototype-similarity assessments stay inconclusive (similarity 0.81)

Broader Connections

• Ingroup rejection lowers belonging yet paradoxically heightens the need for it #corroborates (0.95) — Anna X. Huang, Jacqueline M. Chen, and Juliane Degner, Being One or the Other, Both or Neither, 118
• Identity denial may make mixed-race people shift identification to a different ingroup #expands (0.85) — Anna X. Huang, Jacqueline M. Chen, and Juliane Degner, Being One or the Other, Both or Neither, 119
• Unsatisfactory group identity drives exit or group improvement efforts #expands (0.82) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2720
• Identity shifting to a higher-status group risks poorer well-being and distrust for mixed individuals #qualifies (0.75) — Anna X. Huang, Jacqueline M. Chen, and Juliane Degner, Being One or the Other, Both or Neither, 74