Wilson Merrell has been awarded the Otto Klineberg Intercultural and International Relations Award for his article "Looking White but Feeling Asian: The Role of Perceived Physical Permeability and Perceived Discrimination in Multiracial-Monoracial Alliances", co-authered with Nadia Vossoughi (Grinnell College), Nour Kteily (Northwestern University) and Arnold Ho (University of Michigan). The award is presented by the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI).

The award-winning article examines to which extent multiracial people stand in solidarity with their parent groups. The researchers demonstrate that Asian-White multiracial people stand in solidarity more strongly with Asian people than White people, especially when they perceive high levels of anti-Asian discrimination, and even when they believe they physically look White. Additionally the researchers show that Asian monoracial people incorrectly believe that physically White-looking Asian-White multiracial people stand in solidarity more strongly with White people, and these pessimistic meta-perceptions are associated with more rejection of multiracial people. They suggest that the study provides preliminary evidence that correcting these solidarity meta-perceptions can improve intergroup attitudes.