Date of Award

5-31-2026

Document Type

Open Access Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Clinical Psychology

First Advisor

Abbey Eisenhower

Second Advisor

Tahirah Abdullah

Third Advisor

Karen Suyemoto

Abstract

The population of Multiracial individuals in the US is growing (Jones et al., 2021). Multiracial people face a higher likelihood of adverse consequences, including reconciling the significance of holding multiple racial identities in a society that predominantly categorizes race in single categorical terms (Gabriel et al., 2023). The inaccurate perception of Multiracial individuals by others, or misracialization, is a result of this dynamic. Research indicates that inaccurate racial representation relates to worse mental health outcomes for Multiracial individuals (Campbell & Troyer, 2007; Does et al., 2023; Franco, Toomey, et al., 2021; Lusk et al., 2010). Further, one’s racialized experiences have the potential to impact one’s sense of belonging to and relating to a given racial group. The present study found that experiences of misracialization (being perceived by others as a race that is different than how one identifies) predicted lower membership esteem (how good or worthy an individual feels as a member of their racial group). Lower membership esteem was also found to predict higher levels of psychological distress within the sample.

Comments

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