TY - JOUR
T1 - The role of mothers' and adolescents' perceptions of ethnic-racial socialization in shaping ethnic-racial identity among early adolescent boys and girls
AU - Hughes, Diane
AU - Hagelskamp, Carolin
AU - Way, Niobe
AU - Foust, Monica D.
N1 - Funding Information:
Diane Hughes is Professor of Applied Psychology in the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development at New York University. There, she is co-director of the doctoral training program in Psychology and Social Intervention and of the Center for Research on Culture, Development, and Education. She received her B.A. from Williams College and her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in Community and Developmental Psychology. Her research focuses on ecological influences on parenting and socialization processes among ethnic minority families. She has authored numerous articles and special journal issues devoted to identifying cultural knowledge and the use of culturally anchored methods, and has studied issues of special relevance to ethnic minority populations including racial discrimination and ethnic-racial socialization. She is currently cochair of the cross-university study group on race, culture and ethnicity. Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, The National Institutes of Mental Health, the William T. Grant Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the Carnegie Corporation.
Funding Information:
Niobe Way is Professor of Applied Psychology in the Department of Applied Psychology at New York University. She is also the Director of the Developmental Psychology program and the co-director of the Center for Research on Culture, Development, and Education at NYU. She received her doctorate from the School of Education at Harvard University in Human Development and Psychology and was an NIMH postdoctoral fellow in the psychology department at Yale University. Way’s research focuses on the intersections of culture, context, and human development, with a particular focus on the social and emotional development of adolescents from low-income families. She is primarily interested in how schools and families as well as larger political and economic contexts influence the developmental trajectories of children and adolescents. Her work also focuses on adolescents’ experiences of social identities, including both their gender and ethnic identities. Way is a nationally recognized leader in the use of mixed methods; she has combined quantitative and qualitative methods to examine developmental processes during adolescence for over two decades. Way is the author of numerous books and journal articles. Her sole authored books include: ‘‘Everyday Courage: The Lives and Stories of Urban Teenagers’’ (NYU Press, 1998); and ‘‘Friendship among Adolescent Boys’’ (to be published by Harvard University Press). Her co-edited or co-authored books include: ‘‘Urban Girls: Resisting Stereotypes, Creating Identities’’ (NYU press, 1996); ‘‘Adolescent Boys: Exploring Diverse Cultures of Boyhood’’ (NYU Press, 2004), and ‘‘Growing up Fast: Transitions to Adulthood among Inner City Adolescent Mothers’’ (Erlbaum Press, 2001)’’. The latter co-authored book (with Bonnie Leadbeater) received the Best Book Award from the Society of Research on Adolescence (2002). Her current projects focus on the influence of families and schools on the trajectories of social and emotional development among middle school students in New York City and in Nanjing, China. Her research has been funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, The National Science Foundation, The William T. Grant Foundation, The Spencer Foundation, and by numerous other smaller foundations.
PY - 2009/5
Y1 - 2009/5
N2 - The current study examined relationships between adolescents' and mothers' reports of ethnic-racial socialization and adolescents' ethnic-racial identity. The sample included 170 sixth graders (49% boys, 51% girls) and their mothers, all of whom identified as Black, Puerto Rican, Dominican, or Chinese. Two dimensions of ethnic-racial socialization (cultural socialization and preparation for bias) were evaluated alongside three dimensions of ethnic-racial identity (exploration, affirmation and belonging, and behavioral engagement). Mothers' reports of their cultural socialization predicted adolescents' reports, but only adolescents' reports predicted adolescents' ethnic-racial identity processes. Mothers' reports of preparation for bias predicted boys' but not girls' reports of preparation for bias. Again, only adolescents' reports of preparation for bias predicted their ethnic-racial identity. Thus, several gender differences in relationships emerged, with mothers' and adolescents' perceptions of cultural socialization, in particular, playing a more important role in girls' than in boys' identity processes. We discuss the implications of these findings for future research.
AB - The current study examined relationships between adolescents' and mothers' reports of ethnic-racial socialization and adolescents' ethnic-racial identity. The sample included 170 sixth graders (49% boys, 51% girls) and their mothers, all of whom identified as Black, Puerto Rican, Dominican, or Chinese. Two dimensions of ethnic-racial socialization (cultural socialization and preparation for bias) were evaluated alongside three dimensions of ethnic-racial identity (exploration, affirmation and belonging, and behavioral engagement). Mothers' reports of their cultural socialization predicted adolescents' reports, but only adolescents' reports predicted adolescents' ethnic-racial identity processes. Mothers' reports of preparation for bias predicted boys' but not girls' reports of preparation for bias. Again, only adolescents' reports of preparation for bias predicted their ethnic-racial identity. Thus, several gender differences in relationships emerged, with mothers' and adolescents' perceptions of cultural socialization, in particular, playing a more important role in girls' than in boys' identity processes. We discuss the implications of these findings for future research.
KW - Early adolescence
KW - Ethnic identity
KW - Ethnic minorities
KW - Ethnic socialization
KW - Gender differences
KW - Racial identity
KW - Racial socialization
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U2 - 10.1007/s10964-009-9399-7
DO - 10.1007/s10964-009-9399-7
M3 - Article
C2 - 19636759
AN - SCOPUS:63049108336
SN - 0047-2891
VL - 38
SP - 605
EP - 626
JO - Journal of Youth and Adolescence
JF - Journal of Youth and Adolescence
IS - 5
ER -