Understanding the Epistemology of Ethnic Identity Development in Multiethnic College Students

We examined the nuances of multiethnic identity in 22 self-identifying mixed ethnic college students ranging from 17 years of age to 27 years of age via semistructured interviews. Majority of the sample was predominantly female. The participants were recruited from two institutions in a metropolitan area of the Eastern United States. Results suggest an expansion of the definition of situational identity (Renn, 2000) and a triplaned understanding of ethnic identity development and assessment in relation to epistemology for this population.