Understanding Ethnic-Racial Identity Development Through Ethnic-Racial Socialization Experiences of Immigrant-Origin Youth

Adam Beam, Wesleyan University
Andrea Negrete, Wesleyan University
Audrey Wittrup, University of Southern California
Gloria Kang, Arizona State University
Alan Meca, University of Texas at San Antonio

Immigrant-origin youth occupy precarious positions within the U.S. as they are tasked with figuring out their own identity while navigating the ever-changing socio-political landscape. As a result, immigrant-origin youth may receive different experiences regarding the role of their ethnicity/race within broader society (i.e., ethnic-racial socialization). Understanding how immigrant-origin youths’ experiences of ethnic-racial socialization impact how they view their ethnic racial identity is important as group identification is thought to provide a host of benefits to individuals and is considered an important developmental task during adolescence.

Using mixed-methods and a person-centered approach we aimed to identify distinct profiles of immigrant-origin youth based on their ethnic-racial socialization experiences at home and in school, and their experiences with discrimination. We then investigated if individuals within these profiles reported differences in their identification with their ethnic-racial identity.

In the initial phase, we asked 657 immigrant-origin youth to complete a survey that asked about the ethnic-racial socialization that occurred within their home and school environments, measures assessing their perceptions and experiences with discrimination, and a multifaceted measure of identity. We then conducted semi-structured interviews with 30 of the immigrant-origin youth who completed the quantitative surveys.

We found immigrant-origin youth within our sample could be classified into three distinct profiles: Cultural Supporting Low Discrimination, Low Racial Socialization Low Discrimination, and High Home Socialization High Discrimination. Those in the Cultural Supporting Low Discrimination profile reported having greater positive ethnic-racial socialization at home and school, and lower than average discrimination. Youth in the Low Racial Socialization Low Discrimination profile reported less than average ethnic-racial socialization at both home and school, but they also reported lower than average discrimination. Lastly, youths in the High Home Socialization High Discrimination reported receiving positive and negative ethnic-racial socialization at home, high stereotyping within school, and reported more than average discrimination.

After identifying the unique profiles of immigrant-origin youths’ ethnic-racial socialization experiences we then examined if identification with their ethnic-racial identity differed by profile membership. We find that immigrant-origin youth in the Culturally Supporting Low Discrimination and High Home Socialization High Discrimination environments had higher identity centrality and pride than youth in the Low Racial Socialization Low Discrimination environment.

We find immigrant-origin youths’ identity appears to be bolstered in environments that foster importance and preservation of one’s culture, but also in environments where they experience discrimination. Our findings align with previous work that suggests discrimination may help solidify group membership, leading to positive ethnic-identity development (Marks et al., 2015; Meca et al., 2020; Unni et al., 2022). Importantly, the socialization immigrant-origin youth received at home appears to be in response to the messaging received outside the home. For example, immigrant-origin youth who reported discrimination and negative ethnic-racial socialization in school, also reported parents/family teaching cultural traditions while preparing them for discrimination. Moving forward we will use the information from the semi-structured interviews to contextualize the differences in ethnic-racial socialization for members of each profile. Our work speaks to the diversity in experiences immigrant-origin youth have surrounding their ethnic-racial identity and its implications.