Developmental trajectories of ethnic and national identities in adolescents from migrant families: The role of social identification with family and classmates

Abstract

Given that adolescents from migrant families live within at least two cultural contexts (i.e., the heritage and the destination cultures), they generally must negotiate and construct ethnic and national identities. Accordingly, the present three-wave longitudinal study was designed to identify distinct developmental trajectories of ethnic and national identities among adolescents from migrant families ( n = 244, 56.6% female; Mage = 14.90, SDage = 0.84 at Time 1). Multivariate latent class growth analyses indicated that participants could be classified into one of four groups based on their identity profiles: ethnic-oriented identity, national-oriented identity, dual identity, and marginalized identity. Further, social identification with family and classmates was examined as a predictor of memberships in these distinct identity profiles. Results of multinomial logistic regression analysis indicated that greater social identification with family increased the probability of being classified into the ethnic-oriented and dual identity profiles rather than into the marginalized identity profile, whereas greater social identification with classmates increased the likelihood of being classified into either national-oriented or dual identity profiles rather than into the marginalized identity profile. These findings provide novel insights into the roles of families and peers as influential socializing agents during the negotiation of ethnic and national identities among immigrant youth.

Editorial: Youth personality development

“…The studies in the current special issue replicate and build on these earlier findings by mapping developmental patterns of temperament (Lawson et al, 2023), personality traits (de Moor et al, 2023; Li et al, 2023; Tetzner et al, 2023), and other conceptualizations of personality (self-esteem: Gonzalez Avilés et al, 2023; Scherrer et al, 2023; identity: Karataş et al, 2023; Timar-Anton et al, 2023; values: Bacchini et al, 2023; and prejudice: Bobba et al, 2023) across various cultural contexts. For example, the study by Avilés and colleagues examines average trends of self-esteem development among romantic late bloomers over a period of 10 years from adolescence till emerging adulthood (ages 16–26).…”

“…Overall, this special issue offers novel insights on youth personality development. The results on developmental patterns, predictors and mechanisms, and life outcomes provide a nuanced understanding on how youth from diverse European (Gonzalez Avilés et al, 2023; Bacchini et al, 2023; Bobba et al, 2023; De Moor et al, 2023; Karataş et al, 2023; Laceulle et al, 2023; Scherrer et al, 2023; Tetzner et al, 2023; Timar-Anton et al, 2023), American (Lawson et al, 2023), and Asian (Li et al, 2023) cultural contexts, develop in adolescence and in the transition to emerging adulthood. Importantly, this set of articles pave the way for more research that adopts integrative perspectives to further enrich a developmental understanding of youth personality.…”

“…Moving to the role of youth's immediate environments and their relationships (microsystems and mesosystems), the studies by Bacchini et al (2023) and Karatas ¸et al (2023) focus on family and peers. Findings indicated that they are influential socializing agents in the development of identity (social identification with family and peers; Karatas ¸et al, 2023) and openness to change (but none of the other values assessed was predicted by paternal rejection; Bacchini et al, 2023). The subsequent three articles all demonstrate the role of the school context.…”

Identity Matters for Well-Being: The Longitudinal Associations Between Identity Processes and Well-Being in Adolescents with Different Cultural Backgrounds

“…A significant difference was found between the correlated changes in interpersonal commitment and those in social well-being. This result can be explained in light of the relational challenges to which the increasing multiculturality of nowadays society exposes adolescents (Karataş et al, 2023 ; Svensson & Syed, 2019 ). Specifically, individuals who belong to minority groups face the difficult task of trying to fit in, and in some cases struggling with the complex process of integrating some sides of the self that belong to their ethnic group of origin with some other sides that are part of the host culture (Mastrotheodoros et al, 2021 ).…”

“…As such, these youth might develop both ethnic and national identities (Berry et al, 2006 ). While some adolescents can successfully develop a dual identity in which both ethnic and national identity are equally relevant, others can be more ethnic-oriented, national-oriented, or experience a marginalized identity, namely with low ethnic and national identity (Karataş et al, 2023 ; Mancini & Bottura, 2014 ).…”