Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 18, 2026

The Social Dimension of Stress: Experimental Manipulations of Social Support and Social Identity in the Trier Social Stress Test
Published on: November 19, 2015
Multiracial in Middle School: The Influence of Classmates and Friends on Changes in Racial Self-Identification
Leslie Echols1, Jerreed Ivanich2, Sandra Graham3
1Missouri State University.
Abstract:
In the present research, the influence of racial diversity among classmates and friends on changes in racial self-identification among multiracial youth was examined (n = 5,209; Mage = 10.56 years at the beginning of sixth grade). A novel individual-level measure of diversity among classmates based on participants' course schedules was utilized. The findings revealed that although there was some fluidity in multiracial identification at the beginning of middle school, changes in multiracial identification were more evident later in middle school. In addition, although diversity among classmates and friends both increased the likelihood of multiracial identification in the beginning of middle school, only diversity among friends mattered later in middle school, when fluidity in multiracial identification was at its peak.
Related Concept Videos
Influence of Parents and Peers on Identity
Parental Influence on Identity Development
Parents serve as primary guides and managers in an adolescent's life, offering support instrumental in decision-making and personal growth....
Sources of Self-Esteem III: Social Comparison
Social Foundations of Self II: The Generalized Other
Ethnic Identity within a Larger Culture
Self-Evaluation: Self-Enhancement and Self-Verification
Factors Influencing Attraction I: Proximity

