Examining the Temporal Order of Ethnic Identity and Perceived Discrimination among Hispanic Immigrant Adolescents

• Published in: Developmental psychology Vol. 54; no. 5; pp. 929 - 937
• Main Authors: Gonzales-Backen, Melinda A, Meca, Alan, Lorenzo-Blanco, Elma I, Des Rosiers, Sabrina E, Córdova, David, Soto, Daniel W, Cano, Miguel Ángel, Oshri, Assaf, Zamboanga, Byron L, Baezconde-Garbanati, Lourdes, Schwartz, Seth J, Szapocznik, José, Unger, Jennifer B
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Psychological Association 01.05.2018
• Subjects: Acculturation; Adolescent; Adolescents; Emigrants and Immigrants; Ethnicity; Ethnicity - psychology; Female; Florida; Hispanic Americans; Hispanic or Latino; Humans; Identification (Psychology); Immigrants; Likert Scales; Longitudinal Studies; Los Angeles; Male; Perception; Self Concept; Self Concept Measures; Social Discrimination; Social Identification; Statistical Analysis; Structural Equation Models; Student Surveys; Time Factors; Florida (Miami); California (Los Angeles); Florida; Los Angeles
• ISSN: 0012-1649; 1939-0599
• DOI: 10.1037/dev0000465

Ethnic identity formation is a central developmental task that can become challenging when adolescents face a salient stressor, such as ethnic discrimination. Although ethnic identity and experiences with ethnic discrimination are thought to be associated, the temporal order of these constructs is unclear. In the current study, we examined (a) the rejection-identification model and (b) the identification-attribution model in a longitudinal, cross-lagged model among 302 Hispanic immigrant adolescents (M[subscript age] = 14.51, SD = 0.88 at baseline; 46.7% female) living in Miami (n = 152) and Los Angeles (n = 150). Results support the identification-attribution model such that adolescents who reported higher levels of ethnic identity exploration reported higher levels of perceived discrimination 1 year later. Conversely, adolescents who reported higher levels of ethnic identity belonging reported less subsequent perceived discrimination. Findings suggest that ethnic identity formation may affect the recognition of ethnic discrimination among Hispanic immigrant adolescents.