The process of ethnic identity formation for second-generation Mexican-American first-year college students: Exploring peers’ role in ethnic identity development

Ethnic identity development is an important task that can be particularly complex for adolescents with immigrant parents. Ethnic identity stage theory suggests there are three stages of ethnic identity development and the bioecological model indicates that an individual’s context influences change or stability over time. In adolescence, peers become a more prominent socializing agent in adolescents’ ethnic identity development. However, there is limited research on how peer ethnic socialization influences adolescents’ ethnic identity development over time. The current study examined peers’ role in second-generation Mexican American adolescents’ ethnic identity development in high school and during their first year of college. A longitudinal qualitative research design with grounded theory was used. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 20 second-generation Mexican American first-year college students during the fall and spring semester. Participants were asked to describe the messages they received from their peers about their ethnicity and if they felt the messages differed between their high school peers and college peers. Grounded theory analyses examined the content and impact of peer ethnic socialization messages; distinctions in ethnic socialization messages from same-ethnic peers and different-ethnic peers emerged from the data. Based on this analysis, I identified three constructs of peer ethnic socialization messages: influencing ethnic identity exploration, informing ethnic identity resolution and salience, and promoting positive ethnic identity affirmation. Additionally, I identified three patterns of ethnic identity development over time: ethnic identity normative development trajectories, revisiting ethnic identity search, and diffused unexamined ethnic identity. Overall, peers (especially same-ethnic peers) appear to be a key socializing agent in adolescence and in the college context, which influences different trajectories of ethnic identity development over time. This study adds to a limited body of work examining ethnic identity development in college longitudinally, as well as the limited work on peer ethnic socialization and distinction by ethnicity of peer group. The study also addresses critiques of stage theory, by taking into account social interactions and situational influences impacting ethnic identity development and identifying different patterns and sub-patterns of ethnic identity stage development over time beyond the normative progressive linear trajectory.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Human Dvlpmt & Family Studies

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2022

Author dc:creator

• Munoz, Lorraine

Contributors dc:contributor

• Raffaelli, Marcela
• Smith, Sharde
• Larson, Reed W.
• Dowling, Julie A.

• Ethnic Identity Development
• College Students
• Peers

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2022 Lorraine Munoz

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/116078

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F116078