Understanding the complexities of ethnic-racial socialization processes for both minority and majority groups: A 30-year systematic review

• We review the last 30-years of literature on ethnic-racial socialization of children and young people.
• We examine ethnic-racial socialization agents of influence including family, peer and community contexts.
• We focus on how ethnic-racial socialization may differ for minority and majority groups.
• This review indicates that ethnic-racial socialization depends on a number of interrelated factors including socializing agents, developmental age, gender, ethnic identity and other demographic predictors.

In order to promote positive intercultural relations, reduce racism and promote harmony in diverse societies, we must better understand the processes by which both minority and majority children and young people learn about and negotiate racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity, processes known as ethnic-racial socialization. A critical gap within the field of ethnic-racial socialization is a systematic literature review that includes a diverse range of population groups. The primary goal of this paper is to systematically review research over the past 30 years that has examined ethnic-racial socialization processes for both minority and majority children and young people. Studies (n = 92) that included implicit or explicit ethnic-racial socialization as a primary outcome variable along with examination of racism/discrimination, intergroup contact and/or cross-cultural interactions were reviewed. Our main findings highlight that the majority of studies continue to focus on the ethnic-racial socialization of African American children by parents. However, emerging studies involving different ethnic-racial and cultural groups demonstrate the need to consider how multiple social and environmental factors and multiple influential agents differentially impact on the types of messages used with children and young people. Implications for future research, in relation to the adoption of multi-level frameworks and understanding the contribution of multiple agents across a range of contexts, are discussed.