Ethnic-Racial Identity in the 21st Century: Antecedents and Consequents among U.S. Mexican-Origin Adolescents

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

Identity development is a significant developmental task during adolescence (Erikson, 1968). Individuals' identities are defined by many cultural identities, such as those informed by one's ethnicity, nationality, or race (Knight et al., 2018). In the U.S., ethnicity and race are salient cultural identities because of the nation’s complex history with immigrant bias and intergroup conflict based on ethnic and racial tensions (Umaña-Taylor, 2011). Ethnic-Racial Identity (ERI), therefore, is central to the normative development of ethnic-racial and immigrant minority youth (Umaña-Taylor et al., 2014). In recent decades, researchers have advanced scientific knowledge on ERI development and have highlighted recommendations for future work (Umaña-Taylor et al., 2014), including examining the multifaceted nature of ERI, as components have unique predictors and outcomes.
This symposium addresses this call by investigating antecedents and consequents of ERI development over time in two longitudinal samples of U.S. Mexican-origin adolescents. Collectively, we investigate the normative developmental progression of specific ERI components within the social-environmental context in which adolescents are embedded, and their links to adjustment. Paper 1 focuses on the transactional nature of ERI development between daughters and mothers. Paper 2 examines the influence of the maternal and neighborhood contexts on adolescents’ ERI development. Paper 3 investigates how ERI development informs adolescents’ bicultural competence, or the ability to function successfully in bicultural contexts. The discussant will summarize the overall contributions, the significance of studying antecedents and consequents of ERI development, and will integrate presenters’ research into the current state of ERI scholarship with recommendations for future work.

Sub Unit

• Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context

Chair

• M. Dalal Safa, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Discussant

• Gabriela Livas Stein, University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Individual Presentations

• Examining how Mexican-origin daughters’ and mothers’ ethnic-racial identity co-evolves from adolescence through young adulthood - Presenting Author: Stefanie Martinez-Fuentes, Arizona State University; Non-Presenting Author: Adriana J. Umaña-Taylor, Harvard University; Non-Presenting Author: Dawn DeLay, Arizona State University; Non-Presenting Author: Lorey A Wheeler, University of Nebraska - Lincoln; Non-Presenting Author: Kimberly Updegraff, Arizona State University; Non-Presenting Author: Laudan B Jahromi, Teachers College Columbia University

• Influences of Neighborhood and Parenting Processes on Mexican-Origin Adolescent’s Ethnic-Racial Identity - Presenting Author: Michelle Christine Pasco, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities; Non-Presenting Author: Rebecca M. B. White, Arizona State University; Non-Presenting Author: Chang (Jenny) Zhao, Arizona State University; Non-Presenting Author: Claudia A. Vega, Arizona State University

• The Influence of Ethnic-Racial Identity Developmental Processes on Adolescents’ Bicultural Competence Development - Presenting Author: M. Dalal Safa, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Non-Presenting Author: Rebecca M. B. White, Arizona State University; Non-Presenting Author: Chang (Jenny) Zhao, Arizona State University; Non-Presenting Author: George P Knight, Arizona State University; Non-Presenting Author: Nancy A Gonzales, Arizona State University; Non-Presenting Author: Jenn-Yunn Tein, Arizona State University