3-057 - Ethnic and National Identity in Latino and Asian Populations

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

As the US continues to demonstrate significant demographic shifts in its population, research has focused on understanding identity processes in ethnic minority youth (e.g., Rivas-Drake et al., 2014). Yet, despite a large literature examining ethnic identity processes, few studies have examined how ethnic and national identities develop in immigrant populations (e.g., Schwartz et al., 2012). This set of papers examines ethnic and national identity processes within Latino and Asian youth focusing on understanding the development of labels overtime, linkages to functioning, and prediction in immigrant families. Paper 1 leverages a longitudinal sample of Asian youth to examine interplay between heritage, pan-ethnic, and American identity labels across time finding that nativity status influences the trajectories of labels. Paper 2 takes a developmental approach examining how ethnic, personal, and national identity processes influence each other overtime to predict functioning. The results highlight that centrality of US identity interacts with ethnic centrality to predict well-being. Paper 3 examines the identity processes within immigrant Latino families in an emerging immigrant community finding a differential pattern of results for American and ethnic identity processes across parents and youth. A national expert on identity processes in ethnic minority youth will serve as a discussant. These papers provide insights into how national and ethnic identity develop within distinct populations (Asian and Latino) at different stages of development (middle school, high school, college), and contribute significantly to the literature through the use of novel statistical approaches (Papers 1 &2) and taking advantage of understudied contexts (Papers 1&3).

Sub Unit

• Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context

Chair

• Gabriela Stein, University of North Carolina - Greensboro

Discussant

• Deborah Rivas-Drake, University of Michigan

Individual Presentations

• Being “American” among Asian American Youth in New Immigrant Communities - Presenting Author: Lisa Kiang, Wake Forest University; Melissa Witkow, Willamette University

• Exploring the Role of Identity Centrality in the Relationship Between Commitment and Well-Being - Presenting Author: Alan Meca, University of Miami; Seth Schwartz, University of Miami; Rhoda Moise, University of Miami; Byron Zamboanga, Smith College; Dionne Stephens, Florida International University; Rachel Ritchie, Florida International University; Agnes Szabo, Victoria University of Wellington; Mary H Soares, University of Miami

• Predicting American Identity and Private Regard in Latino Adolescent-Mother Dyads in an Emerging Immigrant Community - Presenting Author: Gabriela Stein, University of North Carolina - Greensboro; Alexandra Cupito, University of North Carolina at Greensboro; Lisa Kiang, Wake Forest University; Laura Gonzalez, UNC-Greensboro; Andrew Supple, UNC-Greensboro