Exploring the Psychological Well-Being of Working-Class Latinx Women Attending Four-Year Colleges

• In Event: 63.030 - "Not Broken, but...Bent": Agency, Adversity, and the Educational Plights of Women and Girls of Color

Abstract

The relationship that exists between ethnic identity and socioeconomic status is one that bares relevance on the study of intersectional identities and psychological well-being. To date research on well-being has addressed associations with either socioeconomic status or ethnic identity while much still remains to be understood about their complex associations in different contexts. As such, I hypothesized that when working class Latinx college women have a strong resolve and sense of what their ethnic identity means to them, it can buffer decreases in psychological well-being associated with experiences of status uncertainty. Instead, I find evidence that high ethnic identity does not moderate and instead amplifies the relationship that exists between status uncertainty and psychological well-being.

Authors

• Claudia M Castillo-Lavergne, Northwestern University

• Mesmin Destin, Northwestern University