Digitally Mediated Racial-Ethnic Socialization Among Black/African American Emerging Adults and Their Caregivers

Abstract

The present study explores the ways Black/African American emerging adult college students (ages 18–20) and their caregivers engage in racial-ethnic socialization via mobile communication technologies, within the context of a minority-serving 4-year university in the Southeastern US. Qualitative integrative analysis of focus groups (N = 12 Black/African American emerging adults, 67% female, 33% male) and text message content analysis (N = 11 emerging adults and their 12 caregivers; 82% female, 9% male; 9% undisclosed gender identity) enabled us to understand emerging adults’ subjective experiences of digital RES alongside objective observation of digital RES within the content of all caregiver-emerging adult text messages exchanged over the course of 3 months. Findings suggest that digital racial-ethnic socialization messages are infrequent and largely implicit, that caregivers and emerging adults flexibly cross between social networks and digital platforms to communicate, and that one unique affordance of digital communication is the ability for caregivers and emerging adults to engage in support seeking and provision in real-time. The present study informs future research on how cultural transmission can continue across distance and development with the use of modern communication technologies.

Keywords

early/emerging adulthood technology/media/social media (computer,TV,etc)parenting race/ethnicity culture/ethnic practices

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Acocella

(2012). The focus groups in social research: Advantages and disadvantages. Quality & Quantity, 46, 1125–1136.

Adams-Bass

V. N.

Stevenson

H. C.

Kotzin

D. S.

(2014). Measuring the meaning of Black media stereotypes and their relationship to the racial identity, Black history knowledge, and racial socialization of African American youth. Journal of Black Studies, 45(5), 367–395. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021934714530396

Adams

V. N.

Stevenson

H. C.

Jr. (2012). Media socialization, Black media images and Black adolescent identity. In Slaughter-Defoe

D. T.

(Ed.), Racial stereotyping and child development (Vol. 25, pp. 28–46). Karger Publishers.

Anderson

R. E.

Ahn

L. H.

Brooks

J. R.

Charity-Parker

Inniss-Thompson

Gumudavelly

Mitchell

Anyiwo

(2023). “The Talk” tells the story: A qualitative investigation of parents’ racial socialization competency with Black adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Research, 38(3), 562–588. https://doi.org/10.1177/07435584221076067

Anglin

D. M.

Wade

J. C.

(2007). Racial socialization, racial identity, and Black students' adjustment to college. Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology, 13(3), 207–215.

Azmitia

Syed

Radmacher

(2008). On the intersection of personal and social identities: Introduction and evidence from a longitudinal study of emerging adults. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 2008(120), 1–16.

Banerjee

Rowley

S. J.

Johnson

D. J.

(2015). Community violence and racial socialization: Their influence on the psychosocial well-being of African American college students. Journal of Black Psychology, 41(4), 358–383. https://doi.org/10.1177/0095798414539174

Bentley-Edwards

K. L.

Stevenson

H. C.

(2016). The multidimensionality of racial/ethnic socialization: Scale construction for the cultural and racial experiences of socialization (CARES). Journal of Child and Family Studies, 25, 96–108. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-015-0214-7

Berry

J. W.

(1992). Acculturation and adaptation in a new society. International Migration, 30, 69–85.

10.

Braun

Clarke

(2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101.

11.

Butler-Barnes

S. T.

Martin

P. P.

Boyd

D. T.

(2017). African American adolescents’ psychological well-being: The impact of parents’ religious socialization on adolescents’ religiosity. Race and Social Problems, 9(2), 115–126.

12.

Byrd

C. M.

Ahn

L. H.

(2020). Profiles of ethnic-racial socialization from family, school, neighborhood, and the internet: Relations to adolescent outcomes. Journal of Community Psychology, 48(6), 1942–1963. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.22393

13.

Byrd

C. M.

Hope

E. C.

(2020). Black students’ perceptions of school ethnic-racial socialization practices in a predominantly Black school. Journal of Adolescent Research, 35(6), 728–753.

14.

Chase

G. E.

Brown

M. T.

Jensen

(2022). Emerging adults’ digital technology engagement and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 1023514. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1023514

15.

Chen

Jelsma

Hou

Benner

Kim

S. Y.

(2021). Antecedents and consequences of discrepant perceptions of racial socialization between parents and adolescents within Mexican-origin families. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 50, 2412–2426.

16.

Christophe

N. K.

Stein

G. L.

(2021). A person-centered analysis of ethnic-racial socialization patterns and their identity correlates in multiracial college students. Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology, 27(3), 332–342.

17.

Christophe

N. K.

Stein

G. L.

Kiang

Johnson

N. C.

Jones

S. C. T.

Stevenson

H. C.

Anyiwo

Anderson

R. E.

(2022). A 21st century take on racial-ethnic socialization: Patterns of competency and content among diverse parents of color. The Social Sciences, 11(2), 88.

18.

Coleman-King

Adams-Bass

Bentley-Edwards

Thomas

Thompson

Michael

Miller

Charity-Parker

Stevenson

(2021). Got skillz? Recasting and negotiating racial tension in teacher–student relationships amidst shifting demographics. The Social Sciences, 10(3), 99.

19.

Dowling

(2006). Approaches to reflexivity in qualitative research. Nurse Researcher, 13(3), 7–21.

20.

Eales

Gillespie

Eckerstorfer

Eltag

E. M.

Group

G. E.

Ferguson

G. M.

(2020). Remote acculturation 101: A primer on research, implications, and illustrations from classrooms around the world. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 8(1), 1–13.

21.

Ehrenreich

S. E.

Beron

K. J.

Burnell

Meter

D. J.

Underwood

M. K.

(2020). How adolescents use text messaging through their high school years. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 30(2), 521–540. https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12541

22.

Fereday

Muir-Cochrane

(2006). Demonstrating rigor using thematic analysis: A hybrid approach of inductive and deductive coding and theme development. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 5(1), 80–92.

23.

Ferguson

G. M.

Costigan

C. L.

Clarke

C. V.

J. S.

(2016). Introducing remote enculturation: Learning your heritage culture from afar. Child Development Perspectives, 10(3), 166–171. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12181

24.

Garcia

A. G.

McGrew

Mirra

Tynes

Kahne

(2021). Rethinking digital citizenship: Learning about media, literacy, and race in turbulent times. In Lee

C.D.

White

Dong

(Eds.), Educating for civic reasoning and discourse (pp. 319–352). National Academy of Education.

25.

Hughes

Chen

(1997). When and what parents tell children about race: An examination of race-related socialization among African American families. Applied Developmental Science, 1(4), 200–214. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532480xads0104_4

26.

Hughes

Johnson

(2001). Correlates in children’s experiences of parent’s racial socialization behaviors. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 63, 981–995. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2001.00981.x

27.

Hughes

Rodriguez

Smith

E. P.

Johnson

D. J.

Stevenson

H. C.

Spicer

(2006). Parents’ ethnic-racial socialization practices: A review of research and directions for future study. Developmental Psychology, 42(5), 747–770. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.42.5.747

28.

Ito

Horst

H. A.

Bittanti

Herr Stephenson

Lange

P. G.

Pascoe

C. J.

Robinson

(2009). Living and learning with new media: Summary of findings from the digital youth project (p. 128). The MIT Press.

29.

Jensen

Hussong

A. M.

Haston

(2021). Digital parenting of emerging adults in the 21st century. The Social Sciences, 10(12), 482.

30.

Johanson

G. A.

Brooks

G. P.

(2010). Initial scale development: Sample size for pilot studies. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 70(3), 394–400.

31.

Juang

L. P.

Shen

Kim

S. Y.

Wang

(2016). Development of an Asian American parental racial–ethnic socialization scale. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 22(3), 417.

32.

Kline

S. L.

Liu

(2005). The influence of comparative media use on acculturation, acculturative stress, and family relationships of Chinese international students. International Journal of Intercultural Relations: IJIR, 29(4), 367–390.

33.

Leath

Hope

M. O.

Palmer

G. J. M.

Rose

(2022). Religious socialization and self-definition among Black undergraduate women attending predominantly White institutions. Emerging Adulthood, 10, 859–875. https://doi.org/10.1177/21676968211064684

34.

Lewis

M. L.

(1999). Hair combing interactions: A new paradigm for research with African-American mothers. The American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 69(4), 504–514.

35.

Lozada

F. T.

Riley

T. N.

Catherine

Brown

D. W.

(2022). Black emotions matter: Understanding the impact of racial oppression on Black youth’s emotional development: Dismantling systems of racism and oppression during adolescence: Dismantling systems of racism and oppression during adolescence. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 32(1), 13–33.

36.

Madianou

Miller

(2013). Polymedia: Towards a new theory of digital media in interpersonal communication. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 16(2), 169–187. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367877912452486

37.

Manago

A. M.

(2012). The new emerging adult in Chiapas, Mexico: Perceptions of traditional values and value change among first-Generation Maya university students. Journal of Adolescent Research, 27(6), 663–713. https://doi.org/10.1177/0743558411417863

38.

Manago

A. M.

Graham

M. B.

Greenfield

P. M.

Salimkhan

(2008). Self-presentation and gender on MySpace. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 29(6), 446–458.

39.

Manago

A. M.

Pacheco

(2019). Globalization and the transition to adulthood in a Maya community in Mexico: Communication technologies, social networks, and views on gender. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 2019(164), 11–25.

40.

Manago

A. M.

Santer

N. D.

Barsigian

L. L.

Walsh

A. S.

(2022). Cultural methods in psychology: Describing and transforming cultures. In McLean

K. C.

(Ed.), Social media as tools for cultural change in the transition to adulthood (pp. 146–173). Oxford University Press.

41.

McHale

S. M.

Crouter

A. C.

Kim

J. Y.

Burton

L. M.

Davis

K. D.

Dotterer

A. M.

Swanson

D. P.

(2006). Mothers' and fathers' racial socialization in African American families: Implications for youth. Child Development, 77(5), 1387–1402.

42.

Miller-Ott

A. E.

Kelly

Duran

R. L.

(2014). Cell phone usage expectations, closeness, and relationship satisfaction between parents and their emerging adults in college. Emerging Adulthood, 2(4), 313–323. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696814550195

43.

Mohamed

Cox

Diamant

Gecewicz

(2021). Faith among Black Americans. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2021/02/16/faith-among-black-americans/.

44.

Navarro

J. L.

Tudge

J. R. H.

(2022). Technologizing Bronfenbrenner: Neo-ecological theory. Current Psychology. 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-02738-3

45.

Onwuegbuzie

A. J.

Leech

N. L.

(2019). On qualitizing. International Journal of Multiple Research Approaches, 11(2), 98–131.

46.

Onwuegbuzie

A. J.

Teddlie

(2003). A framework for analyzing data in mixed methods research. Handbook of Mixed Methods in Social and Behavioral Research, 2(1), 397–430.

47.

Pew Research Center. (2021). Mobile fact sheet. http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheet/mobile/

48.

Reynolds

J. E.

Gonzales-Backen

M. A.

(2017). Ethnic-racial socialization and the mental health of African Americans: A critical review. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 9(2), 182–200.

49.

Richard

G. T.

Gray

K. L.

(2018). Gendered play, racialized reality: Black cyberfeminism, inclusive communities of practice, and the intersections of learning, socialization, and resilience in online gaming. Frontiers A Journal of Women Studies, 39(1), 112. https://doi.org/10.5250/fronjwomestud.39.1.0112

50.

Rogers

L. O.

Butler Barnes

Sahaguian

Padilla

Minor

(2021). BlackGirlMagic: Using multiple data sources to learn about Black adolescent girls’ identities, intersectionality, and media socialization. The Journal of Social Issues, 77(4), 1282–1304.

51.

Ryan

R. M.

Deci

E. L.

(2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. The American Psychologist, 55(1), 68–78.

52.

Sanchez

Smith

L. V.

Adams

(2018). The relationships among perceived discrimination, marianismo gender role attitudes, racial-ethnic socialization, coping styles, and mental health outcomes in Latina college students. Journal of Latina/o Psychology, 6(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1037/lat0000077

53.

Schwartz

S. J.

Côté

J. E.

Arnett

J. J.

(2005). Identity and agency in emerging adulthood: Two developmental routes in the individualization process. Youth & Society, 37(2), 201–229.

54.

Sladek

M. R.

Umaña-Taylor

A. J.

Hardesty

J. L.

Aguilar

Bates

Bayless

S. D.

Gomez

Hur

C. K.

Ison

Jones

Luo

Satterthwaite-Freiman

Vázquez

M. A.

(2022). So, like, it’s all a mix of one”: Intersecting contexts of adolescents’ ethnic-racial socialization. Child Development, 93(5), 1284–1303.

55.

Smith

(2011). Platform differences in smartphone adoption. Pew Internet and American Life Project. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2011/07/11/platform-differences-in-smartphone-adoption/

56.

Smith-Bynum

M. A.

Anderson

R. E.

Davis

B. L.

Franco

M. G.

English

(2016). Observed racial socialization and maternal positive emotions in African American mother-adolescent discussions about racial discrimination. Child Development, 87, 1926–1939. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12562

57.

Smith Lee

J. R.

Hunter

A. G.

Priolli

Thornton

V. J

. (2020). “Pray that I live to see another day”: Religious and spiritual coping with vulnerability to violent injury, violent death, and homicide bereavement among young Black men. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 70, 101180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2020.101180

58.

Sohn

(2023, February 27). Apple’s iPhones winning over Gen Z—and the World’s premium market? The Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/apples-iphones-are-winning-over-gen-zand-the-worlds-premium-market-7611bd38

59.

Song

(2019). Learning from your children: Multiracial parents’ identifications and reflections on their own racial socialization. Emerging Adulthood, 7(2), 119–127.

60.

Stevenson

H. C.

Reed

Bodison

(1996). Kinship social support and adolescent racial socialization beliefs: Extending the self to family. Journal of Black Psychology, 22(4), 498–508.

61.

Subrahmanyam

Smahel

Greenfield

(2006). Connecting developmental constructions to the internet: Identity presentation and sexual exploration in online teen chat rooms. Developmental Psychology, 42(3), 395–406.

62.

Syed

(2010). Developing an integrated self: Academic and ethnic identities among ethnically diverse college students. Developmental Psychology, 46(6), 1590–1604.

63.

Syed

Azmitia

(2009). Longitudinal trajectories of ethnic identity during the college years. Journal of research on adolescence, 19(4), 601–624.

64.

Thelamour

Mwangi

C. A. G.

(2021). “I disagreed with a lot of values”: Exploring Black immigrant agency in ethnic-racial socialization. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 85, 26–36.

65.

Tran

A. G. T. T

. (2019). Valuing what your parents taught you: The moderating role of personal valuation of parental ethnic-racial socialization in emerging adults. Journal of Adult Development, 26, 209–218. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10804-018-9311-3

66.

Tynes

B. M.

Giang

M. T.

Thompson

G. N.

(2008). Ethnic identity, intergroup contact, and outgroup orientation among diverse groups of adolescents on the Internet. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 11(4), 459–465.

67.

Uecker

J. E.

Regnerus

M. D.

Vaaler

M. L.

(2007). Losing my religion: The social sources of religious decline in early adulthood. Social forces, 85(4), 1667–1692.

68.

Umaña-Taylor

A. J.

Fine

M. A.

(2004). Examining ethnic identity among Mexican-origin adolescents living in the United States. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 26(1), 36–59.

69.

Umaña-Taylor

A. J.

Hill

N. E.

(2020). Ethnic–racial socialization in the family: A decade's advance on precursors and outcomes. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 82(1), 244–271.

70.

Umaña-Taylor

A. J.

Quintana

S. M.

Lee

R. M.

Cross

W. E.

Jr Rivas-Drake

Schwartz

S. J.

; Ethnic and Racial Identity in the 21st Century Study Group. (2014). Ethnic and racial identity during adolescence and into young adulthood: An integrated conceptualization. Child Development, 85(1), 21–39.

71.

Umaña-Taylor

A. J.

Zeiders

K. H.

Updegraff

K. A.

(2013). Family ethnic socialization and ethnic identity: A family-driven, youth-driven, or reciprocal process? Journal of Family Psychology, 27(1), 137–146.

72.

Wang

(2021). Daily ethnic/racial context in peer groups: Frequency, structure, and implications for adolescent outcomes. Child Development, 92(2), 650–661. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13509

73.

Watt

(2007). On becoming a qualitative researcher: The value of reflexivity. Qualitative Report, 12(1), 82–101.

74.

Yasui

(2015). A review of the empirical assessment of processes in ethnic–racial socialization: Examining methodological advances and future areas of development. Developmental Review: DR, 37, 1–40.

75.

Yasui

Dishion

T. J.

Stormshak

Ball

(2015). Socialization of culture and coping with discrimination among American Indian families: Examining cultural correlates of youth outcomes. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research, 6(3), 317–341.