Research Overview

"In a society characterized by racial prejudice and discrimination, it follows that the child will acquire attitudes and modes of behavior appropriate in such a society, just as he acquires other responses demanded by the society." (Morland, 1963) Students enter school with both positive and negative stereotypes concerning racial or ethnic groups outside of their own. There is a lack of agreement in the field as to how and when these stereotypes begin to take shape, and at what age intervention if any could successfully address these negative beliefs or perceptions. The first steps are to identify at what age point children become cognitively and socially aware of their own race or ethnicity and how this awareness came to be and then to continue across development into adulthood. Examining how life's experiences affect one's overall perspective of the world and people around themselves is key to understanding the development of both positive and negative stereotypes. By analyzing all of the components that play a role in constructing one's overall cognitive understanding of themselves and others, research may be able to identify how and why stereotypes form. But questions on this topic still remain within adulthood as well, especially when examining race from an alternative angle--by looking at the benefits that come from racial diversity and diverse viewpoints of ethnicity. How can positive exposure to outgroup members promote ideas of tolerance? What makes interracial interactions positive or negative experiences? Research often focuses on the negative outcomes within diversity research, but highlighting the positive outcomes of various intergroup experiences could lead to future methods for reducing ideas of prejudice. And all of these topics have been completely understudied regarding the multiracial population. The mixed-race population is the second fastest growing population in the United States, yet researchers have just begun to explore how this population may differ from their monoracial counterparts. How are biracial or racially ambiguous people perceived? How does their racial identities affects their behavior within interracial settings? Culture and its perspectives have changed dramatically overtime, especially with a rising multiracial population in the world, and researchers have only begun to study all of its causes, consequences and benefits.