%L theses_frw4525
%X Biraciality is a relatively new concept in the United States, and newer in the population Census and American Community Survey. As population censuses are subjective to the applicant, the way that some individuals identify themselves may be different from their actual objective identity. Rationale for this can include cultural pressures, political reasons, and regional differences. Simple linear regressions are used to complete moderation and mediation analyses to ascertain the impact of education, income, and region on the proportion of self-reported Black biracial people in the United States’s American Community Survey. A case study comparing California and Georgia exposes regional differences in these variables.
The main research question is as follows: “How do region and education mediate the relationship between income and multiracial identity in the United States, as observed through 5-year estimates in the American Community Survey?”
I used quantitative statistical methods, in particular moderation and mediation analysis. Statistical data is from 5 year estimates in the American Community Survey, dating from 2017-2022. At the national level, higher levels of educational attainment in a county are associated with lower levels of Black biraciality. However, when controlled for interaction, Black biraciality decreases with an increase in Black Americans in a county. At the regional level, differences persist among states with higher proportions of Black Americans than others. In California, increases in Black biraciality are correlated with higher levels of Black Americans in a county when controlling for income, age, and educational attainment. In Georgia, interaction effects between proportion of Black Americans and income are significant, in addition to a negative significant relationship between Black Americans and Black biraciality. Inferring from this, in a state such as Georgia with a high Black American proportion, biraciality is less common in counties with higher proportions of Black Americans.
More qualitative research should be performed to analyze individual differences in self-reporting sensitive topics like racial identity. Quantitative macroanalyses such as this are limited in their explanatory power, and a sample-based analysis can help to find individual motives for reporting other than their objective identity.
%A Benjamin Skypeck
%T Regional dynamics of biracial identity in the United States: education, income, and cultural influences
%D 2024