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Black Parenting Couples’ Ethnic-Racial Socialization Profiles: Associations with Sociodemographic and Race-Related Correlates

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Abstract

In light of the continued racism and oppression experienced by Black Americans in the United States, ethnic-racial socialization—explicit and implicit messages about the meaning and significance of race—remains a critical process among Black families. However, one aspect of the ethnic-racial socialization process about which there is limited research concerns the ways in which Black parenting couples navigate this process together. Building on our prior work exploring Black coparenting related to ethnic-racial socialization (Jones & Neblett, 2019), the purpose of this study was to explore whether distinct dyadic profiles of ethnic-racial socialization exist among Black couples. Using latent profile analysis of dyadic data from 59 Black mixed gender couples (42 married, 17 cohabiting), three patterns of Black couple socialization emerged. Balanced and Higher (N = 40) couples tended to have similar message delivered between mothers and fathers, with overall higher frequency. Among Low Mother Egalitarian (N = 15) couples, mothers were significantly less likely to deliver messages centering on equality among racial groups. Lastly, High Mother Socialization (N = 4) was characterized by mothers who reported greater racial pride and egalitarian messages relative to their male counterparts. In addition, sociodemographic and race-related correlates that distinguished these dyadic patterns were identified. Implications and future directions for supporting Black families in the ethnic-racial socialization process.

Highlights

  • There appear to be distinct patterns of ethnic-racial socialization among Black, different gender parenting couples.

  • Although in most couples mothers and fathers provide messages at a similar frequency, some couples are identified by either mothers of fathers providing greater messages.

  • Dyadic patterns of ethnic-racial socialization are associated with a number of racially relevant factors.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation, Grant number 1854100.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA

    Shawn C. T. Jones

  2. Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

    Shalonda Kelly

  3. Family Translational Research Group, New York University, New York, NY, USA

    Aleja Parsons

  4. Department of Psychology, William Patterson University, Wayne, NJ, USA

    Gihane Jérémie-Brink

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  1. Shawn C. T. Jones
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  4. Gihane Jérémie-Brink
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Correspondence to Shawn C. T. Jones.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. IRB Approval was obtained at the University of North Carolina, University of Pennsylvania, and Virginia Commonwealth University.

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Jones, S.C.T., Kelly, S., Parsons, A. et al. Black Parenting Couples’ Ethnic-Racial Socialization Profiles: Associations with Sociodemographic and Race-Related Correlates. J Child Fam Stud 31, 2744–2755 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-022-02391-1

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