ABSTRACT Ethnic minority grandparents play a critical role in the lives of their grandchildren. A less examined yet assumed important role of ethnic minority grandparents is their function in the ethnic-racial socialization and identity development of their grandchildren. This exploratory study represents one of the only empirical investigations into the role of grandparents in the ethnic-racial socialization and ethnic identity development of the growing population of multiracial persons. Utilizing narrative methodology and the constant comparative method of analysis, we examined the subjective meaning of the role of ethnic minority grandparents across influential identity experiences of multiracial adults of Mexican heritage. Results confirm that beginning at an early age and continuing throughout multiracial participant lifetimes, ethnic minority grandparents engaged two focal processes in their grandchildren’s ethnic-racial socialization: as beacons of cultural socialization and monocentric gatekeepers. The influence of these contradictory processes on multiracial identity development is explored.

中文翻译：

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少数民族祖父母在多种族孙辈的族裔社会化与认同发展中的显着性

摘要 少数民族祖父母在其孙辈的生活中发挥着至关重要的作用。少数族裔祖父母在其孙辈的种族-种族社会化和身份认同发展中的作用是他们的功能，这一点没有得到充分的研究。这项探索性研究是对祖父母在不断增长的多种族人口的种族-种族社会化和种族认同发展中的作用的唯一实证调查之一。利用叙事方法和持续比较分析方法，我们研究了少数民族祖父母在具有影响力的墨西哥血统的多种族成年人身份体验中的作用的主观意义。结果证实，从很小的时候开始，并在多种族参与者的一生中持续，少数族裔祖父母在其孙辈的种族-种族社会化中参与了两个焦点过程：作为文化社会化的灯塔和单中心守门人。探讨了这些相互矛盾的过程对多种族认同发展的影响。