Transracially Adoptive Parents' Color-Blind Attitudes and Views Toward Socialization: Cross-Racial Friendships as a Moderator

• Published in: Cultural diversity & ethnic minority psychology Vol. 20; no. 4; pp. 601 - 610
• Main Author: Langrehr, Kimberly J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Educational Publishing Foundation 01-10-2014
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adoption - psychology; Adoptive Parents; Adult; Asians; Cross Cultural Differences; Cultural Diversity; Female; Friends; Friendship; Human; Humans; Interpersonal Relations; Interracial Adoption; Male; Middle Aged; Parenting - ethnology; Parenting - psychology; Parents - psychology; Prejudice; Racial and Ethnic Attitudes; Racial and Ethnic Relations; Social Identification; Social Perception; Socialization; Young Adult; cross-racial friendships; transracial adoptive families; cultural and racial socialization; Asian adoptees; color-blind racial attitudes
• ISSN: 1099-9809; 1939-0106
• DOI: 10.1037/a0036528

This study examined the moderating role of transracially adoptive parents' cross-racial friendships in the relationship between their color-blind attitudes and views toward cultural and racial socialization. Using hierarchical multiple regression analyses and the Johnson-Neyman technique, it was hypothesized that parents' color-blind attitudes would significantly account for 3 different dimensions of socialization beliefs (i.e., prejudice awareness, ethnic pride, and egalitarian socialization) and that self-reported cross-racial friendships would moderate the effects of color-blind attitudes. Results suggest that having several cross-racial friendships minimized the effects of participants' color-blind attitudes on their ethnic pride and egalitarian socialization beliefs, whereas having few cross-racial friendships enhanced the effects of color-blind attitudes on both socialization variables. The importance of transracially adoptive families creating diverse and multiracial social networks is discussed.