Racial Identification Fluidity and Psychological Outcomes from Adolescence Through Young Adulthood

The present study examined whether shifts in racial identification categories between adolescence and young adulthood have psychological implications in adulthood. The present study was inspired by the work of Hitlin, Brown, and Elder (2006). Although there are many models for racial/ethnic identity development models, the stability of racial identifications is seldom studied. By utilizing a longitudinal dataset, the present study examined racial identifications at two time points, when the participants were in grades 7 to 12 and when they were between the ages of 18 and 26. Employing multi-level modeling, both environmental and personal factors were controlled for. Depressive symptoms and selfesteem were utilized as measures of psychological outcomes. Findings included main effects of racial trajectories on depressive symptoms and self-esteem as well as moderation effects by individual and contextual factors. For example, among those who switched racial categories between the two time points, individuals who switched to a minority group showed higher self-esteem than ones who switched to majority group. Additionally, among members of the switching group, if they were in schools with higher percentage of White individuals, their self-esteem decreased over time. On the other hand, if they were in schools with lower percentage of White individuals, their self-esteem increased over time. Post-hoc analyses employing subcategories of racial identification trajectories were also conducted. These findings illustrate the complexity of how racial identification interacts with both environmental and personal factors.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Counseling Psychology (UMKC)

Grantor

University of Missouri--Kansas City

Year dc:date.issued

2014

Author dc:creator

• Sweetwood, Sachiko Ogata

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Barber, Carolyn E.

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10355/45644

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:mospace.umsystem.edu:10355/45644