Socialization and Well-Being in Multiracial Individuals: A Moderated Mediation Model of Racial Ambiguity and Identity

Scholarly interest in racial socialization is growing, but researchers' understanding of how and when racial socialization relates to well-being is underdeveloped, particularly for multiracial populations. The present study investigated moderated mediation models to understand whether the indirect relations of egalitarian socialization to subjective well-being and self-esteem through integrated multiracial identification were conditional on phenotypic racial ambiguity among 383 multiracial adults. Tests of moderated mediation in primary analyses were significant for subjective well-being and self-esteem. Consistent with the hypotheses, egalitarian socialization was linked to a stronger multiracial integrated identity, which was positively associated with subjective well-being and self-esteem for those with moderate and high phenotypic racial ambiguity. This indirect effect was not significant for those reporting low phenotypic racial ambiguity. Results suggested a positive role of egalitarian socialization in relation to integrated identity and well-being for multiracial adults. This study highlights a culturally relevant pathway through which egalitarian socialization impacts well-being through racial identification for multiracial adults and the conditions of phenotypic racial ambiguity that contextualize this indirect effect.