Abstract
Over nine million people identify as multiracial in the U.S. according to the 2010 Census, however, research dedicated to studying multiracial populations' experiences and communication is lacking. Multiracial individuals encounter unique situations because they are members of two or more social and cultural groups but are often perceived as belonging to one. It is imperative to study how mixed-race individuals respond to hurtful messages related to racial identity because profound implications for their physical, social, and emotional well-being result. A qualitative study was conducted to analyze how multiracial people communicatively respond to messages of stigma related to one's racial background by searching online message boards where subjects posted about their experiences and responses to stigma messages. Once themes were gathered from their stories, the existing research on stigma communication was used to create a new framework from which to study patterns of responses from multiracial people. General types of responses found were confronting, deflecting, internalizing, and no response due to confusion. Future research expanding on the outcomes of each response type on the individual as well as the offender can help provide people specific strategies to deal with offensive messages in daily interactions, as well as yield insight on how rigid perceptions of race are challenged and upheld in interpersonal contexts.
Journal Title
Iowa Journal of Communication
Volume
46
Issue
2
First Page
225
Last Page
245
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Scanton, Audrey
(2014)
"How Multiracial People Manage Messages of Stigma: A Qualitative Research Study,"
Iowa Journal of Communication: Vol. 46:
No.
2, Article 7.
Available at:
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/ijc/vol46/iss2/7
Copyright
©2014 Iowa Communication Association
