{"id":{"repo_id":"unt","oai_identifier":"info:ark/67531/metadc5185"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/unt/info:ark/67531/metadc5185","repository":{"repo_id":"unt","name":"University of North Texas","base_url":"https://digital.library.unt.edu/oai/"},"display":{"title":"The Impact of the Media on Biracial Identity Formation","abstract":"Biracial individuals undergo a developmental process that is different than monoracial individuals. Not only do they have to develop a strong and cohesive self-esteem, but also develop a strong and cohesive racial identity to have a healthy self-concept. The media is a social structure that has infiltrated into many aspects of American lives, including their racial identity. The media perpetuates current beliefs concerning race and racial identity. This research investigates how biracial identity has been portrayed in the media. Historically, biracial individuals have been portrayed as the tragic \"mulatto\" because of their confused racial background. In addition, mulatto women have been stereotyped as exotic and sexual objects. A content analysis was used to investigate how the media presents biracial identity. Only movies with black/white biracial individuals were watched. The categories under study included perceived race, character's race, skin color, likeability, sex appeal, ability to contribute, ability to be violent, mental health, overall positive portrayal social, and negative portrayal score. This study may suggest that the media is making attempts to rectify old stereotypes. Overall, this study does demonstrate that the media portrays biracial and black characters differently in film. One overarching theme from these results implies that the perception of race is more salient than one's actual race.","abstract_html":"Biracial individuals undergo a developmental process that is different than monoracial individuals. Not only do they have to develop a strong and cohesive self-esteem, but also develop a strong and cohesive racial identity to have a healthy self-concept. The media is a social structure that has infiltrated into many aspects of American lives, including their racial identity. The media perpetuates current beliefs concerning race and racial identity. This research investigates how biracial identity has been portrayed in the media. Historically, biracial individuals have been portrayed as the tragic "mulatto" because of their confused racial background. In addition, mulatto women have been stereotyped as exotic and sexual objects. A content analysis was used to investigate how the media presents biracial identity. Only movies with black/white biracial individuals were watched. The categories under study included perceived race, character's race, skin color, likeability, sex appeal, ability to contribute, ability to be violent, mental health, overall positive portrayal social, and negative portrayal score. This study may suggest that the media is making attempts to rectify old stereotypes. Overall, this study does demonstrate that the media portrays biracial and black characters differently in film. One overarching theme from these results implies that the perception of race is more salient than one's actual race.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Edison, Alicia"],"institution":"University of North Texas","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Yancey, George A., 1962-","Yoder, Kevin A.","Nuñez-Janes, Mariela"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2007,"date_issued":"2007-12","date_published":"2007-12","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:35:09Z","subjects":["race","media","identity","multiracial","biracial","Racially mixed people -- Ethnic identity.","Racially mixed people in motion pictures."],"languages":["English"],"rights":["Public","Copyright","Edison, Alicia","Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved."],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["oclc: 227035319","https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc5185/","ark: ark:/67531/metadc5185"],"render_values":[{"text":"oclc: 227035319","href":null,"code":true},{"text":"https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc5185/","href":"https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc5185/","code":true},{"text":"ark: ark:/67531/metadc5185","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://doi.org/10.12794/metadc5185","outbound_label":"DOI","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Yancey, George A., 1962-","Yoder, Kevin A.","Nuñez-Janes, Mariela"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Edison, Alicia"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2007-12"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["University of North Texas"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis or Dissertation"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["race","media","identity","multiracial","biracial","Racially mixed people -- Ethnic identity.","Racially mixed people in motion pictures."]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Public","Copyright","Edison, Alicia","Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["oclc: 227035319","doi: 10.12794/metadc5185","https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc5185/","ark: ark:/67531/metadc5185"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Biracial individuals undergo a developmental process that is different than monoracial individuals. Not only do they have to develop a strong and cohesive self-esteem, but also develop a strong and cohesive racial identity to have a healthy self-concept. The media is a social structure that has infiltrated into many aspects of American lives, including their racial identity. The media perpetuates current beliefs concerning race and racial identity. This research investigates how biracial identity has been portrayed in the media. Historically, biracial individuals have been portrayed as the tragic \"mulatto\" because of their confused racial background. In addition, mulatto women have been stereotyped as exotic and sexual objects. A content analysis was used to investigate how the media presents biracial identity. Only movies with black/white biracial individuals were watched. The categories under study included perceived race, character's race, skin color, likeability, sex appeal, ability to contribute, ability to be violent, mental health, overall positive portrayal social, and negative portrayal score. This study may suggest that the media is making attempts to rectify old stereotypes. Overall, this study does demonstrate that the media portrays biracial and black characters differently in film. One overarching theme from these results implies that the perception of race is more salient than one's actual race."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["Text"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Impact of the Media on Biracial Identity Formation"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Yancey, George A., 1962-","Yoder, Kevin A.","Nuñez-Janes, Mariela"],"dc:creator":["Edison, Alicia"],"dc:date":["2007-12"],"dc:description":["Biracial individuals undergo a developmental process that is different than monoracial individuals. Not only do they have to develop a strong and cohesive self-esteem, but also develop a strong and cohesive racial identity to have a healthy self-concept. The media is a social structure that has infiltrated into many aspects of American lives, including their racial identity. The media perpetuates current beliefs concerning race and racial identity. This research investigates how biracial identity has been portrayed in the media. Historically, biracial individuals have been portrayed as the tragic \"mulatto\" because of their confused racial background. In addition, mulatto women have been stereotyped as exotic and sexual objects. A content analysis was used to investigate how the media presents biracial identity. Only movies with black/white biracial individuals were watched. The categories under study included perceived race, character's race, skin color, likeability, sex appeal, ability to contribute, ability to be violent, mental health, overall positive portrayal social, and negative portrayal score. This study may suggest that the media is making attempts to rectify old stereotypes. Overall, this study does demonstrate that the media portrays biracial and black characters differently in film. One overarching theme from these results implies that the perception of race is more salient than one's actual race."],"dc:format":["Text"],"dc:identifier":["oclc: 227035319","doi: 10.12794/metadc5185","https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc5185/","ark: ark:/67531/metadc5185"],"dc:language":["English"],"dc:publisher":["University of North Texas"],"dc:rights":["Public","Copyright","Edison, Alicia","Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved."],"dc:subject":["race","media","identity","multiracial","biracial","Racially mixed people -- Ethnic identity.","Racially mixed people in motion pictures."],"dc:title":["The Impact of the Media on Biracial Identity Formation"],"dc:type":["Thesis or Dissertation"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:35:09Z"}