The Impact of the Family Environment on the Ethnic Identity Development of Multiethnic College Students

Abstract

In this qualitative study of 5 multiethnic college students, the findings indicate that family environment played a significant role in the participants' ability to develop secure ethnic identities. The participants who described their family members as supportive of their multiple ethnic backgrounds also felt confident about their ethnic identity, whereas the participants who described their family members as unsupportive of their multiple ethnic backgrounds maintained that they often felt insecure about their ethnic identity.

A content and methodological review of articles concerning multiracial issues in six major counseling journals.

“…For example, Jourdan (2006) and colleagues (2002, 2005) emphasized the importance of family in accessed by following the link in the citation at the bottom of the page. Psychology, Vol.…”

Ethnic Identity and Psychosocial Outcomes in Foster Care Youth

“…Furthermore, Kiang and Fuligini (2009) found that this bond could also provide a purpose or meaning in life, which could possibly function as a helpful or valuable strength. Jourdan (2006) conducted a qualitative study of 5 multiethnic college students. Jourdan found that for these college students, their family environment played a critical role in the individual's facility to develop secure ethnic identities.…”

Taking Racism to Heart: Race‐Related Stressors and Cardiovascular Reactivity for Multiracial People

“…Of all racial stressors that multiracial people face, two of the most potent are identity invalidation and racial discrimination from family (Jourdan, 2006; Rockquemore & Brunsma, 2002; Sanchez, 2010). Identity invalidation is defined as the negation of one's racial identity by others and applies to experiences in which others perceive one as a race of which they do not personally identify (Lou, Lalonde & Wilson, 2011; Rockquemore & Laszloffy, 2003).…”