Poster #174 - What Does it Mean to Be Black?: Ethnic Exploration, Racial Discrimination, & Perceptions of School Climate

• In Event: 3-206 - Poster Session 13
  In Poster Session: PS 13 Section - Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context

Integrative Statement

Ethnic identity has long been studied as a cultural factor that promotes positive adjustment and buffers the impact of toxic environmental factors on adolescent psychosocial well-being. Ethnic identity refers to the extent to which one’s ethnic background is an important part of their overall self concept. Most theories of ethnic identity development describe a process involving exploring and learning what it means to be a member of one’s ethnic group, followed by a period of committing to these understandings and ultimately achieving a strong positive sense of ethnic identity (Phinney, 1992). Most studies exploring the benefits of ethnic identity focus on the latter part of this process, associating having a strong positive sense of ethnic identity with positive outcomes such as better grades (Eccles, Wong, & Peck, 2006), more school belonging (Dotterer, McHale, and Crouter, 2009), and lessening the impact of racial discrimination on psychosocial adjustment (Sellers, Copeland-Linder, Martin, & Lewis, 2006). But what about individuals who are still exploring? Identity development is a process that can continue into adulthood and scholars have particularly found ethnic exploration to gradually increase over an extended period of time (Pahl & Way, 2006). Thus, it is important for us to understand how individuals who are in the midst of this developmental process are adjusting. The current study aims to examine ethnic exploration as a buffer against the impact of racial discrimination on psychological adjustment for Black middle school students.
Participants for the current study are a subsample of the UCLA Middle School Diversity Project, a longitudinal study of 5,991 middle school students of diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds that examines the impact of racial/ethnic diversity on students’ psychosocial and educational outcomes. The analytic sample (N=724; 50% female) is comprised of African American 7th grade students. The sample was limited to Black students because they reported significantly more racial discrimination compared to other ethnic groups. Multiple regression analysis revealed ethnic exploration to serve as a buffer against the impact of racial discrimination on perceptions of school fairness and school racial climate. Specifically, the negative impact of racial discrimination on fairness and racial climate was found to be less severe for students reporting high ethnic exploration (B=0.12, SE=.06, t= 1.95, p=.05; B=0.12, SE=.04, t= 2.88, p<.01). Results also showed no significant effect of racial discrimination on perceptions of school safety for students reporting high exploration however, those reporting low exploration felt less safe as perceptions of racial discrimination increased (B=0.11, SE=.05, t= 2.3, p=.02).
Results from this study suggest that when ethnic exploration is high, perceptions of racial discrimination at school have less of an impact on Black students’ overall perceptions of their school environment. This provides evidence of the utility of the ethnic identity development process prior to this moment of achieved ethnic identity. Future studies should seek to better understand the longitudinal process of ethnic identity development and how its impact might vary throughout different developmental points.

Authors

• Amirah Saafir, UCLA
  Presenting Author

• Sandra Graham, University of California, Los Angeles
  Non-Presenting Author