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Published on: May 10, 2019
Using a Master Narrative Framework to Examine Conversations About Race and Ethnicity
Dulce W Westberg1, Ursula Moffitt2, Kate C McLean3
1University of California, Davis, California, USA.
Journal of Personality
|July 21, 2026
Summary
Emerging adults make more meaning of race/ethnicity in writing than in conversation. Encouraging talk about race/ethnicity enhances meaning-making, potentially disrupting harmful master narratives.
Area of Science:
- Social Psychology
- Sociology
- Developmental Psychology
Background:
- Systemic racism and color-evasive ideologies influence how emerging adults perceive and discuss race/ethnicity.
- Master narrative frameworks offer insights into the construction of racial/ethnic identities and experiences.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine how U.S. emerging adults construct narratives about race/ethnicity within friend-pairs.
- To investigate the impact of narrative context (written vs. spoken) on meaning-making related to race/ethnicity.
- To identify conversational dynamics influencing the discussion of race/ethnicity among emerging adults.
Main Methods:
- A mixed-methods approach was employed, combining quantitative and qualitative analyses.
- 107 friend-pairs (N=214) provided individual written racial/ethnic narratives.
- Participants engaged in unstructured conversations where race/ethnicity was discussed.
Main Results:
- Meaning-making of racial/ethnic experiences was significantly higher in written narratives compared to spoken conversations.
- Qualitative analysis revealed conversation dynamics such as mitigation and encouragement.
- Encouragement dynamics during conversations were positively associated with higher levels of meaning-making regarding race/ethnicity.
Conclusions:
- Integrating qualitative and quantitative methods is valuable for understanding how racial/ethnic meaning is shaped in social interactions.
- Findings highlight the potential for encouraging dialogue to disrupt master narratives that perpetuate racial inequality.
- The study underscores the importance of context in how emerging adults process and communicate their racial/ethnic experiences.
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