Applying Critical Multiracial Theory to Conceptualizing and Measuring Multiracial Experiences and Identity

This chapter applies critical multiracial theory to advance the conceptualization and measurement of multiracial experiences and identity in developmental science. We aim to illustrate the complexity in how multiracials navigate, negotiate, and challenge (mono)racism and white supremacy in the United States. First, we investigate the historic exclusion and invisibility of multiracials in developmental science, as well as how multiracials complicate traditional understandings of racism, racial formation, and racial identity. Next, we review past and present approaches taken to study the theory and measurement of multiracial experiences and identity. In addition, we introduce a new Model of Multiracial Racialization that situates multiracial racialization experiences (including racial identity, racial identification, and racial category) within six ecological levels: (1) Individual Characteristics; (2) Interpersonal Experiences; (3) Contextual Factors; (4) Social, Economic, and Political Environments; (5) Systems of Oppression; and (6) Time. Finally, we offer specific examples of research topics and questions that attend to each level of our model with the hope of stimulating future research and advancing our developmental science understanding of multiraciality.