Johnson, Deborah J., Racial Preference and Biculturality in Biracial Preschoolers, Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 38, 2, 233-244

This study discusses the preferences for racial identity of biracial and monoracial children, and whether it is empirically important to regard biracial children as a distinct group. The sample was taken from 3, 4, and 5 year olds from four Chicago preschools. The children were categorized as black, white, and biracial according to the race of their parents. The Preschool Racial Attitude Measure II (PRAM II) was used as an instrument to assess the sample. The PRAM II consists of two parts. One consists of racial attitude items, and the other consists of sex role stereotype items (237).     The results show that the racial preference of biracial children is not significantly different from either white or black monoracial groups, whereas the preference of the white children and the black children was significantly different (237). To measure affect and racial preference among these three groups, the author determines four categories of affective choices: positive black, positive white, negative black, and negative white.     Scores for biracial children and white children were higher for attributing positive characteristics to white figures than black figures (238). On the contrary, the scores for black children showed similarly positive choices for both black and white identities. The age of the children affected their racial preferences as well. The percentages of white and biracial children who scored pro-white increased as their age increased while the percentage of black children who scored pro-white dropped at the age of five (240). While showing similarity of racial preference between biracial children and white children, the author shows how the degree of preference varies according to age. The percentage of biracial children who scored pro-white was the same as that of black children at the age of three; however, the tendency toward pro-white among biracial children became the same as that of white children at age five. Moreover, biracial children at age four differed from both monoracial groups, while both monoracial groups demonstrated greater preference for pro-white than biracial children     In conclusion, the results indicate that there is no significant difference among the three racial groups while there is a significant difference between two monoracial groups. This finding implies that biracial children have a unique racial preference pattern, which distinguishes themselves as biracial (241). Also, the author found that racial preference depends on the age of the children. As the results show, a developmental pattern of racial identity for biracial children was different from that of either monoracial group. This finding indicates that racial awareness develops more slowly in biracial children than other monoracial children (241). As children obtain greater understanding of social dynamics of their school or society, their racial preference shifts.

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