Mixed Signals: An Analysis of the Impact of Racial Ambiguity on Individual Political and Labor Market Outcomes

Abstract

How does an individual’s perceived race impact their labor market outcomes and political attitudes later in life? Most research considers how individuals that are neatly categorized into a single, racial or ethnic grouping (e.g. white, black, Asian, or Latino) may perform in the labor market or the political attitudes they will likely adopt based on their race. Yet, we know little about the anticipated behaviors of individuals that do not fit neatly into a single racial category or, rather, may demonstrate changes in their perceived racial category over time. These individuals are, by definition, racially ambiguous. Given their racial ambiguity, racially ambiguous or mixed race individuals have a relative ability to change or choose the racial identity group with whom they align with, given that their outward expression of race is not clear or fixed in the traditional sense. These individuals can assimilate to a given racial cohort in one of three ways. They can assimilate to mainstream, white culture, they can assimilate to the culture of their minority identity, or they can create a new identity that is distinct from both white culture and their minority identity (a mixed race group, which demonstrates different behavior from the typical racial groupings). My research studies which of these three phenomena are most likely to occur amongst racially ambiguous individuals of different types (i.e. more likely to be perceived as white versus less likely to be perceived as white), using their labor market and political attitude outcomes as a proxy for which culture they most closely align with. For racially ambiguous individuals, does being perceived as white more often result in higher yearly income? Does being perceived as white more often make an individual more or less likely to vote Democrat? I argue that racially ambiguous individuals that are more likely to be perceived as white will more closely resemble whites (both in terms of labor market outcomes and political attitudes) whiles individuals less likely to be perceived as white will resemble their minority identities in terms of their labor market and political outcomes throughout their lives. The findings challenge our understanding of racial ambiguity, multiracial individuals, and the relative benefits or implications that a racially ambiguous individual may experience by being perceived as a particular race. Considering the ever-increasing mixed race or racially ambiguous population within the United States, the political attitudes and labor market contributions of this group will prove paramount to the trajectory of the nation moving forward.