Others’ questioning and ingroup invalidation force Mixed individuals into chronic self-concept uncertainty

Evidence

We speculate that uncertainty reduction motives may also play an important role for social identity formation and change in Mixed individuals. Moreover, Mixed individuals may experience frequent situations that trigger self-concept uncertainty, for example, when others question their identity by asking about their ‘true’ racial–ethnic background, when their self-categorization and belonging is denied or invalidated by fellow ingroup members (e.g., being ‘not Black enough’; Campion 2019), or in family settings where Mixed individuals feel conflicting expectations or pressures to choose one identity or identify more strongly with one or the other side of their heritage. — Anna X. Huang, Jacqueline M. Chen, and Juliane Degner, Being One or the Other, Both or Neither, 86

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to internalized questioning of ‘authenticity’ in racial passing literature and to the reader’s focal question on whether ingroup invalidation (‘not Black enough’) is precisely where protective solidarity’s homogenizing pressure targets mixed-identity members. — connects to: Mixed-identity individuals reduce self-concept uncertainty by identifying with entitative groups — Anna X. Huang, Jacqueline M. Chen, and Juliane Degner, Being One or the Other, Both or…, 91; Uncertainty drives people to attach to highly entitative groups — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 254; Threatened self-esteem plus uncertainty drives people into rigid group identity. — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide: The Social…, 913 (+2 more)
• QUESTION: Does the ‘not Black enough’ invalidation come from fellow minority-group members enforcing a pure prototype, and is that distinct from majority-driven denial? Worth chasing.
• SHARE: Share with anyone working on mixed-race identity and rejection sensitivity.

Broader Connections

• Identity invalidation by mono-racial others shapes mixed individuals’ self-definition #expands (0.88) — Anna X. Huang, Jacqueline M. Chen, and Juliane Degner, Being One or the Other, Both or Neither, 115
• Mixed-identity individuals reduce self-concept uncertainty by identifying with entitative groups #responds-to (0.85) — Anna X. Huang, Jacqueline M. Chen, and Juliane Degner, Being One or the Other, Both or Neither, 91
• Threatened self-esteem plus uncertainty drives people into rigid group identity. #expands (0.78) — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide, 913
• Uncertainty drives people to attach to highly entitative groups #corroborates (0.72) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 254
• Intergroup and intragroup context boundaries blur for mixed-identity individuals #qualifies (0.72) — Anna X. Huang, Jacqueline M. Chen, and Juliane Degner, Being One or the Other, Both or Neither, 56