Mixed-identity individuals shift between racial identities to meet context-specific needs.

Evidence

While mono-racial individuals can merely increase or decrease their level of identification with one racial–ethnic group to satisfy these motives, Mixed individuals have access to multiple racial–ethnic identities that may satisfy different needs in different contexts. This basic tenet fuels the assumption that Mixed individuals may switch or shift between their racial– ethnic identities (e.g., from identifying as Black to identifying as White; Rockquemore and Brunsma 2002; Shih and Sanchez 2005) depending on which identity (e.g., Black, White, both or neither) is more adaptive to meet their current needs. — Anna X. Huang, Jacqueline M. Chen, and Juliane Degner, Being One or the Other, Both or Neither, 64

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reading purpose: shifting identification is exactly the flexibility that protective solidarity’s homogenizing category pressure would constrain. — connects to: Identity ranges across macro demographic categories, local cultural positions, and fleeting interactional stances. — Mary Bucholtz and Kira Hall, Identity and Interaction: A…, 38; Intersectionality reveals unmarked privileged positions and aids broad inclusive alliances. — Silke Roth, Intersectionality and coalitions in…, 380; Mixed identities involve ambiguously crossing mutually exclusive categories within a single social domain — Anna X. Huang, Jacqueline M. Chen, and Juliane Degner, Being One or the Other, Both or…, 15 (+17 more)
• DEFINE: Establishes the premise of identity shifting that later chapters test—critical scaffolding for the essentialism/entitativity argument.

Broader Connections

• Mixed members treat racial-ethnic identities as context-switchable need satisfiers #expands (0.96)
• Mixed individuals strategically select contextual identity to jointly satisfy affiliation and uniqueness. #expands (0.90) — Anna X. Huang, Jacqueline M. Chen, and Juliane Degner, Being One or the Other, Both or Neither, 92
• Mixed individuals shift racial self-categorization situationally, but only within boundary conditions. #qualifies (0.88) — Anna X. Huang, Jacqueline M. Chen, and Juliane Degner, Being One or the Other, Both or Neither, 102
• Identity denial may make mixed-race people shift identification to a different ingroup #exemplifies (0.82) — Anna X. Huang, Jacqueline M. Chen, and Juliane Degner, Being One or the Other, Both or Neither, 119
• Mixed-identity individuals shift identification toward whichever group is the local numerical minority #exemplifies (0.80) — Anna X. Huang, Jacqueline M. Chen, and Juliane Degner, Being One or the Other, Both or Neither, 88
• Mixed individuals categorically shift toward whichever mono-racial prototype is absent #exemplifies (0.78) — Anna X. Huang, Jacqueline M. Chen, and Juliane Degner, Being One or the Other, Both or Neither, 51
• Different identity motives drive Mixed individuals toward different target groups. #qualifies (0.74) — Anna X. Huang, Jacqueline M. Chen, and Juliane Degner, Being One or the Other, Both or Neither, 105
• Racial identity forms in settings and social exchanges, not just within individuals. #qualifies (0.72)
• Mixed individuals shift identification within a single social domain. #qualifies (0.70) — Anna X. Huang, Jacqueline M. Chen, and Juliane Degner, Being One or the Other, Both or Neither, 79