3-149 - Race and Social Status: An Examination of Social Threats Among Middle and Late Adolescents in Diverse School Contexts

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

The proposed symposium examines the experiences of marginalized youth across secondary and post-secondary institutions, with a specific focus on contextual contributors to students’ perceived social status (PSS). In contexts where marginalized status becomes more salient, PSS (how students view themselves relative to peers) may have additional implications for psychosocial well-being, above and beyond traditional status markers such as race, sexuality, and socioeconomic status. The first paper examines links between students’ PSS and academic outcomes at a predominantly White Institution (PWI). Both PSS and a drop in PSS from home community to school are associated with students’ GPAs indirectly through perceived academic competence. The second paper investigates the relationship between PSS, perceived discriminatory experiences, and mental health functioning of first-year students of color at a PWI. Students’ discriminatory experiences predict a drop in social status from home community to school, which predicts poorer mental health functioning. The third paper investigates social status affects students’ perceptions of the insult of “acting white”. Results indicate different ascriptions based on race, gender, school type, and diversity of close friends in high school. Paper four explores how social status in the context of racial/ethnic minority LGBT students in middle and high school. Student reports of victimization and outness vary by context, such that students in a minority group in their school report more instances of victimization. These four papers highlight contextual predictors of marginalized students’ perceived social status and connections between perceived status and psychosocial outcomes across various ages and educational settings.

Sub Unit

• Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context

Chair

• Saida Hussain, University of Virginia

Individual Presentations

• Subjective Social Status and Academic Outcomes for Underrepresented Students at an Elite University - Presenting Author: Emily Loeb, University of Virginia; Gabriel Camacho, University of Virginia; Saida Hussain, University of Virginia; Noelle Hurd, University of Virginia

• Experiences of Perceived Discrimination and Subjective Social Status on Mental Health in Diverse First Year College Students - Presenting Author: Saida Hussain, University of Virginia; Emily Loeb, University of Virginia; Noelle Hurd, University of Virginia

• What Does “Acting White” Really Mean? Individual and Contextual Determinants among Black and Latino College Students - Presenting Author: Myles I. Durkee, University of Chicago

• Race Matters: The Role of Racial/Ethnic Identities and School Composition in School Climate for LGBT Students - Presenting Author: Neal Andrew Palmer, GLSEN