Perceived Discrimination and the Well-being of Immigrant Adolescents

Mesch, Gustavo S.; Turjeman, Hagit; Fishman, Gideon

doi:10.1007/s10964-007-9210-6

Cited by 78 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…The null finding could be understood as an optimistic message being that feeling personally discriminated against does not necessarily impede adolescents' social inclusion, neither in immigrant nor in host-national peer groups. The findings correspond to previous non-significant effects of perceived discrimination on immigrant adolescents' preference for in-group socialization (Mesch, Turjeman, & Fishman, 2008). Following the social discount approach (Crocker & Major, 1989), immigrant adolescents may have used the stigma to discount their peers' evaluations.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

When do immigrant adolescents feel personally discriminated against? Longitudinal effects of peer preference

Reitz

Asendorpf²,

Motti‐Stefanidi

2015

International Journal of Behavioral Development

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Despite research showing that immigrant adolescents differ in the degree to which they feel personally discriminated against, little is known about individual predictors of their perceived personal discrimination. We studied the role of a major developmental task in adolescence that is highly relevant for discrimination experiences: being liked by peers. We followed N ¼ 532 13-year old immigrant students (n ¼ 294 boys) in Greek high schools over 2 years to examine longitudinal links between personal ethnic discrimination and social preference among hostnational and immigrant classmates. We applied a sociometric method to asses peer preference and we assessed self-perceived preference. Cross-lagged models revealed that preference among host-national peers but not by immigrant peers predicted low personal ethnic discrimination beyond self-perceptions of preference and group ethnic discrimination. Group ethnic discrimination moderated the effect of preference among host-national peers on low personal ethnic discrimination. Peer preference, in turn, did not feed back on personal ethnic discrimination. Findings highlight the importance of being liked by host-national classmates for immigrant adolescents: it can prevent feelings of being personally discriminated against, even if they perceive their group to be discriminated against.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

When do immigrant adolescents feel personally discriminated against? Longitudinal effects of peer preference

Reitz

Asendorpf²,

Motti‐Stefanidi

2015

International Journal of Behavioral Development

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“…This impedes the development of their ethnic identity and decreases their racial or ethnic pride (Smith et al, 2003), causing a reduced sense of security, feelings of social distancing, and a pessimistic view of the future (Becerra et al, 2009). Among the side effects reported are the reduction in academic self-concept and performance (Brown & Chu, 2012), the decrease in global self-esteem (Verkuyten & Thijs, 2006;Seaton & Yip 2009;Seaton et al, 2013), and an increase in depressive symptomology (Mesch et al, 2008) and behavioral problems (Wong et al, 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethnic Discrimination against Mapuche Students in Urban High Schools in the Araucanía Region, Chile

Becerra¹,

Merino²,

Mellor³

2015

IES

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Ethnic or racial discrimination towards children and adolescents at schools is of concern in many contexts around the world because it is associated with diverse psychosocial, behavioural, emotional, and identity problems. The purpose of this study was to identify the types of ethnic discrimination experienced by indigenous Mapuche adolescents in schools in Chile. The study was qualitative in nature and two techniques were used: semi-structured interviews and focus groups involving an 'indicative' sample of 80 participants (30 students and 50 teachers) from three urban high schools in the Araucanía Region, Chile. Three modes of ethnic discrimination were identified: verbal, behavioural-attitudinal and institutional. A 'non virtuous cycle' of discrimination is suggested. It originates with teachers' prejudiced attitudes that lead to attributions of deficit among Mapuche adolescents. When these attributions are activated, they lead to a diminished sense of competence, avoidance and segregation among Mapuche students who then withdraw from active participation in learning, which perpetuates and confirms teachers' prejudice and attributions. Recommendations for the educational system, schools, and teachers are discussed to diminish the manifestation of ethnic discrimination at schools and its negative consequences for indigenous adolescent population.

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“…Despite this call, few studies have longitudinally examined the links to adjustment (for exceptions see Benner & Graham, 2013; Berkel et al, 2010; Mesch et al, 2008; Nair et al, 2013), and even fewer studies have examined these socio-cultural stressors simultaneously, leaving us with limited knowledge about the relative consequences of each stressor for youths’ adjustment, especially among particularly vulnerable populations like Mexican-origin adolescent mothers. Utilizing a within-person analytic design, the current study examined how fluctuations in perceived stressors within individuals related to their levels of adjustment, while also taking into account the role of between-person differences.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Idiographic and Nomothetic Approach to the Study of Mexican-Origin Adolescent Mothers’ Socio-cultural Stressors and Adjustment

et al. 2014

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The current study examined the longitudinal relations of socio-cultural stressors (i.e., acculturative stressors, enculturative stressors, ethnic discrimination) and Mexican-origin adolescent mothers’ depressive symptoms and risk-taking behaviors. Utilizing an idiographic and nomothetic approach, we conducted lagged analyses to examine how individuals’ fluctuations in stressors predicted subsequent adjustment. Further, we investigated potential threshold effects by examining if the impact of fluctuations in stressors differed at varying levels of stressors. Mexican-origin adolescent females (N = 184) participated in yearly in-home assessments across 5 years and reported on their experiences of acculturative and enculturative stressors, ethnic discrimination, depressive symptoms, and risk-taking behaviors. Findings revealed that within-person fluctuations in acculturative stressors, and to a lesser extent, perceived discrimination, related to youths’ depressive symptoms. For risk-taking behaviors, however, only within-person fluctuations in enculturative stressors emerged as significant. Further, a threshold effect emerged in the link between enculturative stressors and risk-taking behaviors, suggesting that fluctuations in enculturative stressors predicted changes in risk-taking behaviors at high levels of enculturative stressors, but not low levels. Our findings highlight the differential relations between socio-cultural stressors and adolescent females’ adjustment, and suggest that prevention programs aimed at reducing depressive symptoms should attend to any degree of change in socio-cultural stressors, whereas programs focused on risk-taking behaviors should be especially attuned to levels of enculturative stress.

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Perceived Discrimination and the Well-being of Immigrant Adolescents

Cited by 78 publications

References 29 publications

When do immigrant adolescents feel personally discriminated against? Longitudinal effects of peer preference

When do immigrant adolescents feel personally discriminated against? Longitudinal effects of peer preference

Ethnic Discrimination against Mapuche Students in Urban High Schools in the Araucanía Region, Chile

An Idiographic and Nomothetic Approach to the Study of Mexican-Origin Adolescent Mothers’ Socio-cultural Stressors and Adjustment

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