Bicultural and biracial individuals (those who identify either with two cultures or two races) are often denied membership in the groups with which they identify, an experience referred to as identity denial. The present studies used an experimental design to test the effects of identity denial on physiological and self‐reported stress, and naturalistic behavioral responses in a controlled laboratory setting for both bicultural (Study 1; N = 126) and biracial (Study 2; N = 119) individuals. The results suggest that compared to an identity‐irrelevant denial, bicultural participants who were denied their American identity and Minority/White biracial individuals who were denied their White identity reported greater stress and were more likely to verbally reassert their identity. Bicultural participants also demonstrated slower cortisol recovery compared to those in the identity‐irrelevant denial condition. The results are the first to highlight the negative physical health consequences of identity denial using an experimental design for both bicultural and biracial populations, underscoring the necessity to promote belongingness and acceptance.

Social exclusion is associated with substance use, but the specific link between majority and minority racial group membership and substance use is unknown. We examined how social exclusion among racial majority (White), Multiracial, and racial minority (Native American, Latino, Asian, and Black) college students relates to self-reported alcohol use and motivations. Using the AlcoholEdu for College™ survey, Study 1a reports five factors related to motives for initiating or inhibiting alcohol use. Study 1b analyzes majority, Multiracial, and minority college students’ comparative endorsement of these motivations. Study 2 compares these factors with established belonging scales using a separate undergraduate sample. White, Multiracial, Native American, and Latino students displayed the highest proportion of problematic alcohol use. White students endorsed belonging-based drinking motivations, while Multiracial and Asian students endorsed motivations similar to both majority and minority groups. Native American, Latino, and Black students endorsed abstaining motivations more than other groups.

According to stereotype threat theory, the possibility of confirming a negative group stereotype can evoke feelings of threat, leading people to underperform in domains where they are stereotyped as lacking ability. This theory has immense theoretical and practical implications. However, many studies supporting it include small samples and varying operational definitions of “stereotype threat”. We address the first challenge by leveraging a network of psychology labs to recruit a large Black student sample (Nanticipated = 2700) from multiple US sites (Nanticipated = 27). We address the second challenge by identifying three threat-increasing and three threat-decreasing procedures that could plausibly affect performance and use an adaptive Bayesian design to determine which operationalization yields the strongest evidence for underperformance. This project has the potential to advance our knowledge of a scientifically and socially important topic: the conditions under which stereotype threat affects current Black students in the United States.

Mixed-heritage individuals (MHIs) are known to face high levels of social exclusion. Here, we investigate how raciolinguistic ideologies related to one's heritage language abilities add to these exclusionary experiences. The results from 293 MHIs reveal frequent experiences of marginalization from members of each of their heritage communities because their racial appearance and language practices are perceived as deviant and outside imagined 'monoracial' norms. Specifically, over half of respondents described experiences of exclusion for not speaking their minority heritage languages with the same accent or manner or fluency associated with 'monoracial' native speakers of their heritage languages or dialects. Another subset described high pressure to speak 'proper English' in White dominant work environments. These results extend past MHI work by empirically documenting the 'monoracial-only', monoglossic, and 'Standard English' ideologies that contribute to the continued social exclusion of MHIs.

Native American/American Indian (NA/AI) and Multiracial people (those who claim multiple racial identities) report notably high alcohol use compared to other racial groups in the United States. Nearly half of the NA/AI population is also Multiracial, yet NA/AI and Multiracial college students report different motivations for drinking alcohol. Therefore, it remains unclear if NA/AI individuals who are also Multiracial are at different risk for alcohol use and negative alcohol-related consequences, and if there are distinct patterns of risk factors in these understudied populations. Because college-aged students are at risk for high levels of alcohol use, this exploratory study used the AlcoholEdu for College™ survey to compare the association between initial drinking age, college location (urban vs. rural), and alcohol use motivations and consequences between monoracial NA/AI (N = 2,363) and Multiracial NA/AI collegeaged students (N = 6,172). Monoracial NA/AI students reported higher incidences of alcohol use and alcohol-related problems such as blacking out and missing class, compared to Multiracial NA/AI students. Risk factors like earlier age of drinking onset were more strongly associated with negative consequences for monoracial NA/AI students compared to Multiracial NA/AI students. Despite similar levels of Internal Coping motivations for drinking (e.g., to feel more confident or sure of yourself), monoracial NA/AI students reported drinking more than Multiracial students and experienced more negative drinking-related outcomes. These results suggest Multiracial NA/AI students may draw on protective factors not accessible to monoracial NA/AI students, highlighting the need for interventions tailored to students at highest risk. Public Health SignificanceThis study suggests that monoracial and Multiracial Native American/American Indian college students differ in their motivations to drink alcohol and their experience of negative drinking-related outcomes. The relationship between established risk factors, such as age at alcohol use onset, and drinking outcomes varied, indicating that alcohol-related prevention and intervention efforts should be tailored to specific racial groups to be most effective.