Making Meaning of the Messages: Transmission and Reception of Racial Socialization among African American Dyads.

Abstract

This dissertation examines the relations among adolescent perceived racial socialization messages and mother transmitted messages in a sample of African American mothers and their children. It first examined the size and direction of the relationship between the two perspectives of racial socialization. The findings indicate that, although adolescent and parent socialization messages are related, there are substantial differences between the two perspectives. However, the size of the relationship differed across the socialization messages. Mothers and adolescents were more likely to agree on the indirect messages parents send through their actions (r = 0.35) than they were to agree on the direct verbal messages that parents use. The next set of analysis explored the ways in which adolescent, maternal, and family characteristics shaped the relationship between adolescent and maternal views of racial socialization messages and practices. These analyses demonstrated that adolescent gender, maternal education, and family structure affected the relationship between adolescent and maternal reports of behavioral socialization practices. Mother-daughter dyads had higher congruence on behavioral socialization than mother-son dyads. Dyads headed by married mothers had higher congruence than those headed by unmarried mothers. College-educated mothers had higher levels of congruence with their adolescent children than non-college educated mothers. The last set of analyses explored the relation between racial socialization and racial identity over time. Overall, adolescents’ perceptions of racial socialization were better predictors of their later racial identity than their mothers’ reports of socialization. For example, mother transmitted egalitarian messages were significant predictors of children’s public regard. However, adolescent perceived egalitarian messages did not share a similar relationship with adolescent public regard. Instead, public regard was related to adolescent perceived behavioral socialization. These findings, together with findings from the other two research questions, demonstrate the uniqueness of the two perspectives of racial socialization messages and practices and the necessity to further explore the reasons behind the discrepancies between adolescents and parents.