Integrating Process with Content in Understanding African American Racial Identity Development

Abstract

Historically, racial identity research has focused on either the process by which identity develops or the content of the identities that individuals hold. This paper investigates the nexus of these approaches. Specifically, cluster analysis was used to locate 204 African American college students in one of four statuses of development outlined by Phinney (1989) and examine movement across clusters over time. Mean differences in the content of individuals' racial Centrality, racial Regard, and racial Ideology beliefs across clusters at both time points were then assessed. Results indicate some relationship between process and content such that higher levels of development are associated with higher levels of identification with and more positive attitudes toward one's racial group.

Accusations of Acting White

“…Several scholars suggest that ethnic identity should be assessed in conjunction with racial identity because these constructs share overlapping beliefs-particularly for African Americans where the distinction between race and ethnicity is difficult to unravel due to the loss of ethnic ties from the slave trade (Scottham, Cooke, Sellers, & Ford, 2010). Neal-Barnett et al (2010) argue that the acting White phenomenon is deeply rooted within the racial identity literature and they advocate for future research to consider how process and content aspects of racial/ethnic identity are related to the acting White insult.…”

Perceived Stress and Depressive Symptoms Among Latino Adults

“…2004) provides additional empirical support for the existence and stability of these EIS clusters, thereby also providing support for ethnic identity theory (Marcia, 1980(Marcia, , 1994Umaña-Taylor et al, 2004). Findings indicate there may be consistent ethnic identity patterns in the population, an assumption that underlies much of the research on ethnic identity to date (e.g., Scottham et al, 2010;Seaton et al, 2006;Syed et al, 2007;Umaña-Taylor et al, 2004;Yip et al, 2006), and as stated in identity development theory (e.g., Erikson, 1968;Marcia, 1966Marcia, , 1980Phinney, 1989;Umaña-Taylor et al, 2004). In addition, these cluster patterns provide evidence that individuals can hold multiple ethnic identity attitudes simultaneously and to varying degrees across the identity development categories (i.e., exploration, resolution, and affirmation).…”

“…The use of EIS ethnic identity cluster patterns for clients has the potential to improve treatment planning by clinicians and thus improve the quality of services rendered to clients. Although the stability of EIS cluster patterns continues to be established, support for the existence of ethnic identity cluster patterns across samples is growing (e.g., Scottham et al, 2010;Seaton et al, 2006;Syed et al, 2007;Umaña-Taylor et al, 2004;Yip et al, 2006). Based on the EIS cluster patterns found in this study and by Umaña-Taylor et al (2004), a clinician could use clients' EIS scores to get a general sense of their ethnic identity cluster pattern.…”

“…To date, five studies examining ethnic identity have used cluster analyses, a multivariate procedure that classifies the structural characteristics of individuals with similar profiles together into clusters (Hair & Black, 2000). Cluster analyses was used to examine ethnic identity, as measured by the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM; Phinney, 1992), for African Americans (Scottham, Cooke, Sellers, & Ford, 2010;Seaton, Scottham, & Sellers, 2006;Yip, Seaton, & Sellers, 2006) and for Latinos (Syed, Azmitia, & Phinney, 2007). The Umaña-Taylor et al (2004) study is the only study to examine ethnic identity clusters as measured by the Ethnic Identity Scale (EIS; Umaña-Taylor et al, 2004).…”

Hope, Agency, or Disconnect

“…Whereas racial identity focuses on the self-concept processes related to the significance of and attitude toward one’s racial group based on a common history and shared values (Sanders Thompson, 1999; Scottham, Cooke, Sellers, & Ford, 2010; Sellers, Smith, Shelton, Rowley, & Chavous, 1998; Thompson, Anderson, & Bakeman, 2000), racial cohesion demonstrates the attitudinal, interpersonal, and behavioral manifestations of this attachment. Thus, racial identity focuses on how one feels about being a Black person, while racial cohesion reveals enactments of these feelings.…”