Research ongoing in the lab

In the United States, White nationalism is a far-right extremist ideology that includes beliefs about racial superiority, hatred of non-White groups, and desire to return to what are framed as traditional White, Christian, patriarchal values. White nationalism involves intense emotions of fear and anger regarding the encroaching threat that racial and ethnic diversification is imagined to pose to the cultural and demographic dominance of White citizens (Hills, 2020). In recent years, White nationalist beliefs have been linked to a growing number of violent episodes, including the January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol building (Hawkman & Diem, 2022) and other acts of domestic terrorism (Quek, 2019). Research into the psychological origins of extremist beliefs is a nascent field of study and we are examining the factors that lead to the development of such beliefs in adolescence.  

There are a myriad of forces impacting adolescents’ lives during recent years, including the COVID-19 crisis, the election of Trump, and the tragic deaths of racial minorities at the hands of police forces across the U.S. These events have led to unprecedented pandemic-related lifestyle changes (e.g., social distancing) and to massive protests (e.g., Black Lives Matter). Moreover, the COVID-19- related social distancing practices, the increased COVID-19-related scapegoating of ethnic/racial minorities, and the prevalent racial injustices of this historical period together create a unique racially-charged context that have heightened racism and discrimination. Despite our relatively rich understanding of the implications of discrimination on racially minoritized children, how their parents pre-arm them for experienced racism, and how they foster racial/ethnic identity to buffer against discrimination, we know virtually nothing about how the primary perpetrators of racial discrimination in the U.S. (i.e., Whites) are socialized to discriminate against minoritized oppressed groups. To ensure the healthy development of ethnically/racially minoritized youth, it is critical to empirically understand the socialization processes of White children’s racial attitudes and this was the goal of this three-wave longitudinal study that began during the pandemic.

There is growing evidence that parent-child communication is an important relational process that has consequences for children’s self-esteem, willingness to self-disclose, and overall well-being (Allen & Hauser, 1996; Eisenberg et al., 2008; Bohanek & Fivush, 2010; Kearney & Bussey, 2014; Laible et al., 2014; Zhang, 2007). The quality of parent-child conversations, especially in the context of conflict, has consequences for children’s social cognitive competence and subsequent parent-child communication quality (see e.g., Allen et al., 1994; Allen & Hauser, 1996; Laible & Thompson, 2002; Laursen & Collins, 2004).  Yet for many families, it is a challenge to develop or maintain satisfactory communication patterns as children approach adolescence. Past research demonstrates that children’s as well as parents’ contributions are important for co-constructing the meaning of discourse (Laible et al., 2013). These contributions are influenced by the social environment and the resources available to the family. However, much remains to be learned about the contextual, individual, and dyadic factors that influence parent-child discourse quality, especially around areas of conflict and the goal of this study was to examine those factors in a low income and high risk diverse sample.  

Although we know that parents and adolescents often have similar attitudes about race, relatively little is known about how racial beliefs get transmitted across generations. Specifically, limited research has studied the content and quality of conversations between White parents and adolescents about race. Existing work suggests that the majority of White parents use racial socialization approaches that minimize the importance of race or evade the topic altogether, likely because White adults often find these conversations stressful. Unfortunately, colorblind and race-evasive socialization strategies are associated with adolescents having more negative racial attitudes. As a result, it is important to understand the factors that impact White parents’ comfort and willingness to discuss race with adolescents. In this study, we plan to examine how parents’ racial attitudes and parent-child relationship security impact parents’ and adolescents’ emotional arousal and regulation during conversations about prejudice. We will also investigate links between physiological regulation during these discussions and the quality of the parent-adolescent conversation (e.g., openness, collaboration, and color-conscious content). Finally, we will test whether higher quality dyadic communication about race is associated with better racial attitudes and moral development in adolescents.