Developing and Enacting Racial/Ethnic Identities

描述(由申请人提供)：拟议的研究重点是来自大西洋中部州的一个主要是非洲裔美国人和欧洲裔美国人的样本中种族和民族[R/E]认同的发展、维持和后果，并进行持续的分析和新的数据收集，以检查R/E认同、相关过程和从青春期早期(约12岁)到成年早期(约30岁)的健康发展。我们提出了一个多年的混合方法研究项目，该项目考察了个人和语境的含义：(A)与参与者的类别R/E组成员资格有关，(B)形成个人水平R/E身份的基础，(C)与种族歧视的观念有关，以及(D)系统地与健康发展有关。第一个主要目标是记录R/E群体成员身份的性质(由个人和社会群体定义)、这些群体成员身份的心理意义的程度(即，R/E身份认同)以及相应的发展路径(由R/E身份认同和健康的精神、身体和社会发展指标界定)。第二个主要目标是研究R/E认同的结构和过程如何调节基于种族的社会应激源和最佳人类发展之间的关系。我们计划检验的主要假设是，感知到的种族歧视对健康发展的影响将作为个人R/E认同的内容、结构和过程(例如，关于社会构建的群体成员类别的信念、感觉和价值观)的函数而系统地变化。我们还希望实证地记录青少年心理R/E认同发展对成年早期持续的R/E认同发展和健康成人功能的影响程度。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The proposed research is focused on the development, maintenance, and consequences of racial and ethnic [R/E] identity among a primarily African-American and European-American sample from a mid-Atlantic state, with continued analyses and a new data collection which will allow for the examination of R/E identity, related processes, and healthy development from early adolescence (approximately age 12) through early adulthood (approximately age 30). We propose a multi-year, mixed-methods research project that examines the personal and contextual meanings that (a) are associated with participants' categorical R/E group memberships, (b) form the basis for person-level R/E identities, (c) are associated with perceptions of racial discrimination, and (d) relate systematically to healthy development. The first major aim is to document the nature of R/E group memberships (defined by both individuals and social groups), the extent of psychological meanings attached to these group memberships (i.e., R/E identity), and the corresponding developmental pathways (defined by both R/E identity and indicators of healthy mental, physical, and social development). The second major aim is to examine how R/E identity structures and processes moderate the relations between race-based social stressors and optimal human development. The primary hypothesis we plan to test is that the effects of perceived racial discrimination on healthy development will vary systematically as a function of the content, structure, and processes of individuals' R/E identities (e.g., beliefs, feelings, and values about socially-constructed, group-membership categories). We also want to document empirically the extent to which adolescent psychological R/E identity development matters for continued R/E identity development during early adulthood and for healthy adult functioning.