Ethnic Identity & Psychological Adjustment among African, Asian & Latino Youth

描述（由申请人提供）：拟议研究的目的是研究种族认同在非洲，亚洲和拉丁美洲青年日常生活中的作用。青春期是寻找和建构身份的发展时期;鉴于美国社会对族裔的意义和重视，对少数群体青年来说，这种身份可能特别复杂。虽然许多理论家讨论了民族认同的流动性，但令人惊讶的是，很少有实证支持，纵向研究更少。我们运用发展心理学和社会心理学的理论，以个人为研究对象，通过研究年轻人在自然环境和环境中的种族认同的流动性来进行研究。因此，拟议的研究探讨的影响，在全球和直接的水平上，对流动性的民族身份的显着性。由于年轻人带来了某些个人特征（例如，稳定的族裔身份）融入每一种环境，同样重要的是要研究同一个人在不同环境中以及不同个人在相同环境中族裔身份突出性的独特经历。为此，我们采用经验抽样、每日日记和调查相结合的方法来测量多个层面的民族认同。此外，关于民族身份的文献表明，它与年轻人对自己的感觉有关;因此，本研究将探讨民族身份的流动性如何与跨天和情况的心理感受的流动性相关。最后，我们将研究这些协会在三年内，以研究如何日常经验的影响，随着时间的推移，稳定的民族认同的发展和维护。发展理论家认为，正是年轻人在环境中的重复经历，随着时间的推移达到顶峰，影响了更稳定特征的发展和维持;我们将通过检查种族认同来检验这一理论。我们相信，这个项目对于了解美国少数民族青年的日常经历以及这些经历如何塑造他们的心理调整（例如，抑郁、焦虑）和自我价值感（例如，自尊）随着时间的推移。通过包括非洲，亚洲和拉丁美洲青年，我们将能够研究这些群体中的每一个青年之间的差异以及他们作为少数群体所共有的共同点。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The purpose of the proposed research is to examine the role of ethnic identity in the everyday lives of African, Asian and Latino American youths. Adolescence is a development period of identity search and construction; and for minority youth, this identity may be particularly complex given the meaning and significance that United States society places on ethnicity. While many theorists have discussed the fluidity of ethnic identity, there is surprisingly little empirical support and even less longitudinal research. Incorporating developmental and social psychological theories, we take a person by situation approach to our study by examining the fluidity of ethnic identity as youths move through their natural environments and settings. As such, the proposed research examines the impact of context, at a global and immediate level, on the fluidity of ethnic identity salience. Since youths bring certain personal characteristics (e.g., stable ethnic identity) into each setting it is also important to examine the unique experiences of ethnic identity salience for the same individual across different contexts as well as for different individuals in the same contexts. To this end, we employ a combination of experience sampling, daily diary and survey methods to measure ethnic identity at more than on level. As well, the literature on ethnic identity suggests that it is related to how youths feel about themselves; therefore, this study will examine how the fluidity of ethnic identity salience is associated with the fluidity of psychological feelings across days and situations. Finally, we will examine these associations over a three-year period in order to examine how everyday experiences impact the development and maintenance of stable ethnic identity over time. Developmental theorists have suggested that it is youths repeated experience in settings that culminate over time to influence the development and maintenance of more stable traits; we will test this theory by examining ethnic identity. We believe that this project is of particular relevance to understanding the everyday experiences of minority youth in the United States and how these experiences shape their psychological adjustment (e.g., depression, anxiety) and feelings of self-worth (e.g., self-esteem) over time. By including African, Asian and Latino American youth, we will be able to examine differences between youths in each of these groups as well as commonalities they share as minorities.