Parents’ Ethnic–Racial Socialization Practices: A Review of Research and Directions for Future Study Diane Hughes New York University James Rodriguez Columbia University Emilie P. Smith Pennsylvania State University Deborah J. Johnson Michigan State University Howard C. Stevenson University of Pennsylvania Paul Spicer University of Colorado Recently, there has been an emergence of literature on the mechanisms through which parents transmit information, values, and perspectives about ethnicity and race to their children, commonly referred to as racial or ethnic socialization. This literature has sought to document the nature of such socialization, its antecedents in parents’ and children’s characteristics and experiences, and its consequences for children’s well-being and development. In this article, the authors integrate and synthesize what is known about racial and ethnic socialization on the basis of current empirical research, examining studies concerning its nature and frequency; its child, parent, and ecological predictors; and its consequences for children’s development, including ethnic identity, self-esteem, coping with discrimination, academic achievement, and psychosocial well-being. The authors also discuss conceptual and methodological limitations of the literature and suggest directions for future research. Keywords: socialization, child-rearing practices, racial and ethnic groups, intergroup dynamics, ethnic identity Over 2 decades ago, scholars introduced the notion that com- munications to children about ethnicity and race are central and highly salient components of parenting in ethnic minority families. In the early 1980s, in-depth portraits of African American families described parents’ concerns that their children would encounter racial barriers and negative stereotypes and their corresponding emphasis on promoting high self-esteem, instilling racial pride, and preparing children for bias (Peters & Massey, 1983; Richard- son, 1981; Spencer, 1983; Tatum, 1987). By the 1990s, studies on racial and ethnic socialization processes across multiple ethnic minority groups had emerged. For instance, large-scale ethnogra- phies suggested that recent immigrants to the United States em- phasize children’s acquisition of their native cultural values, be- liefs, practices, and language (Pessar, 1995; Rodriguez & Sa ´nchez Korrol, 1996; Sua ´rez-Orozco & Sua ´rez-Orozco, 1995, 2001; Ur- ciuoli, 1996; Waters, 1990, 1994, 1999). Quantitative studies also attempted to classify and assess parents’ racial and ethnic social- ization practices (e.g., Stevenson, 1994, 1995; Thornton, 1997, 1998; Thornton, Chatters, Taylor, & Allen, 1990), to examine the sociodemographic and ecological correlates of these practices (e.g., Hughes, 2003; Hughes & Chen, 1997; Hughes & Johnson, 2001; Thornton et al., 1990), and to determine their consequences for children and adolescents (e.g., Knight, Bernal, Cota, Garza, & Ocampo, 1993; Knight, Bernal, Garza, Cota, & Ocampo, 1993; Marshall, 1995; Phinney & Chavira, 1995; Quintana & Vera, 1999; Spencer, 1983; Stevenson, Reed, Bodison, & Bishop, 1997). Thus, the literature on parents’ ethnic and racial socialization has grown tremendously in recent years. Increased scholarly interest in racial and ethnic socialization has been precipitated by a complex set of factors. Among the most important has been what some have called the “browning of America.” By 2035, children of color are expected to constitute 50% of the U.S. school population, with the greatest increase coming from students of Hispanic descent (U.S. Census Bureau, 2004). Thus, scholars, educators, and parents need to know about processes that enable children to negotiate contexts characterized by high racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity. Parents’ socialization Diane Hughes, Department of Psychology, New York University; James Rodriguez, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Columbia University; Emilie P. Smith, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Pennsylvania State University; Deborah J. Johnson, De- partment of Family and Child Ecology, Michigan State University; Howard C. Stevenson, Department of Applied Psychology and Human Develop- ment, University of Pennsylvania; Paul Spicer, Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado. Preparation of this article was supported, in part, by William T. Grant Foundation Grant 2642 and National Science Foundation Grant 0218159 to Diane Hughes and by a grant from Pennsylvania State University for a meeting of the Study Group on Race, Culture, and Ethnicity (SGRCE). We thank members of the SGRCE for initial conceptual contributions and Hiro Yoshikawa, Marybeth Shinn, Irwin Sandler, and Nancy Hill for their thoughtful comments on drafts of this article. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Diane Hughes, Department of Psychology, New York University, 6 Washington Place, Room 280, New York, NY 10003. E-mail: diane.hughes@nyu.edu Developmental Psychology Copyright 2006 by the American Psychological Association 2006, Vol. 42, No. 5, 747–770 0012-1649/06/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/0012-1649.42.5.747 747