What are the downstream outcomes of group-based social exclusion and discrimination? 

Social group categories are often restrictive and exclusive. Thus, many people, and especially historically marginalized groups, find they do not easily fit into, or are welcomed within different social groups. In particular, challenges to identity like identity denial or questioning (e.g., “What are you?/ Where are you really from?”) are all too common for Multiracial and multicultural people who identify with more than one racial or cultural group (e.g., Tsai et al., 2019). We study the outcomes of these exclusionary and discriminatory experiences and also explore the relationship between these experiences and how people think about their group membership and identity.

In previous research, we have found that identity denial may not only have adverse psychological effects, but even negative physiological effects for Multiracial and Multicultural people (Albuja et al., 2019). Further, we’ve found that threats to belonging may motivate drinking for some racial/ethnic groups (Straka et al., 2019) and Native American students in particular may experience high rates of negative alcohol-related outcomes (Straka, et al., 2021).

In a new line of research, we find that after experiencing social exclusion via questions about race, ethnicity, and citizenship on demographic forms, Latino/a/e Americans report both threats to belonging needs and differing levels of identification to both their Latino/a/e and American identities (Straka et al., in prep).

Relevant Articles

1. Tsai, A., Straka, B.C., Gaither, S.E. (2021). Mixed-heritage Individuals’ Encounters with Raciolinguistic Ideologies. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2021.1904964

2. Albuja, A.F., Gaither, S.E., Sanchez, D.T., Straka, B.C, & Cipollina, R. (2019). Psychophysiological Stress Responses to Bicultural and Biracial Identity Denial. Journal of Social Issues, 75(4), 1165–1191. https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12347

3. Straka, B.C., Albuja, A.F., Desjardins, M., Gaither, S.E., & Swartzwelder, H.S. (2021). Alcohol Use and Related Consequences for Monoracial and Multiracial Native American/American Indian College Students. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, Special Issue: Minority Health, Health Disparities, and Social Determinants of Health with Psychopharmacology and Substance Use. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.duke.edu/10.1037/pha0000475

4. Straka, B.C., Gaither, S.E., Acheson, S.K., & Swartzwelder, H.S. (2019). “Mixed” Drinking Motivations: A Comparison of Majority, Multiracial, and Minority College Students. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 11(5), 676–687. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550619883294

5. Straka, B.C., Martinez, M., Gaither, S.E. (in prep). Race or Ethnicity? Demographic Forms and Latino/a/e Identity Threat and Behavior.