The Role of Curiosity in the Sociopolitical Development of Black and Latinx Adolescents

Abstract

Sociopolitical development, the process of coming to understand and take action against systems of oppression, is associated with key outcomes for youth. Although rooted in Paulo Freire's work on critical consciousness, sociopolitical development models overlook a motivational attribute—curiosity—that Freire characterized as a catalyst of such development. This longitudinal study investigated the relationship between curiosity and two aspects of sociopolitical development (social analysis, societal involvement) in a sample of Black and Latinx adolescents (N = 659). Longitudinal growth models demonstrated positive growth in all constructs over 4‐years of high school. Multivariate growth models revealed a positive correlation at baseline between curiosity and both constructs; growth in curiosity was also positively correlated with growth in social analysis and societal involvement.

Critical consciousness in children and adolescents: A systematic review, critical assessment, and recommendations for future research.

“…In the sample of Black adolescents, structural attributions increased from 10th to 12th grade, while individual attributions remained constant. Consistent with these findings, Clark and Seider’s (2020) longitudinal study showed that both Social Analysis and Societal Involvement generally increased over the course of high school; for Social Analysis only, the rate of change was lower for youth who started high school with higher Social Analysis scores. In addition, Social Analysis and Society Involvement were correlated at baseline and over time.…”

“…A longitudinal study by Clark and Seider (2020) examined the relations between curiosity and sociopolitical development in a sample of majority low-SES youth of color, who were surveyed at the beginning and end of 9th grade and the end of 10th, 11th, and 12th grades. Outcome measures included Social Analysis and Societal Involvement.…”

“…Diemer and Li (2011) compared a cohort of 15-to 20-year-olds to a cohort of 21-to 25-year-olds, and therefore do not provide data on change in critical consciousness within the adolescent period. Among the studies that examined change over time in multiple domains of critical consciousness, Clark and Seider (2020) found that both social analysis and societal involvement increased over the course of four years of high school and were moderately positively correlated over this period. Involvement in critical action at the start of high school also predicted greater growth in critical reflection over the course of high school.…”

“…Understanding the typical course(s) of development of critical consciousness over time is essential if the field is to move forward with the creation and testing of developmentally tailored critical consciousness interventions. Among the studies we reviewed, we identified only two that reported data on critical consciousness within grade or age cohorts (Diemer & Li, 2011; Ngai & Koehn, 2011) and nine that measured critical consciousness longitudinally, reporting on change over time in critical consciousness (Bañales et al, 2020; Clark & Seider, 2020; Diemer, 2009, 2012; Diemer & Li, 2011; Diemer et al, 2010; Ngai & Koehn, 2011; Oosterhoff et al, 2017; Rapa et al, 2018). Only one of these (Ngai & Koehn, 2011) included preadolescent children, and although the study reported data within grade cohorts (1st/2nd grade, 2nd/3rd grade, 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade), it was not designed or powered to examine age-related change in critical consciousness.…”

Sociopolitical Development and Healthcare Career Interest, Self-Efficacy, and Outcome Expectations Among Rural Youth

“…As mentioned previously, researchers have demonstrated that SPD is associated with career outcomes, such as critical consciousness, academic achievement, occupational attainment, and the pursuit of knowledge and new experiences (Clark & Seider, 2019;Dee & Penner, 2017;Diemer et al, 2009;Diemer & Li, 2011). Diemer and Blustein's (2006) study of urban poor Youth of Color found that those with higher levels of critical consciousness and SPD were more likely to view work as important in their futures and had a stronger sense of vocational identity.…”