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Developmental Interplay between Ethnic, National, and Personal Identity in Immigrant Adolescents
Stefanos Mastrotheodoros1, Olga Kornienko2, Adriana Umaña-Taylor3
1Department of Youth and Family, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands. s.mastrotheodoros@uu.nl.
Journal of Youth and Adolescence
|April 17, 2021
Summary
Adolescent immigrant identity development shows strong links between ethnic, national, and personal identities over time. Longitudinal connections between ethnic and national identities were negative, with limited links to personal identity.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Sociology
- Adolescent Studies
Background:
- Adolescent identity formation is crucial.
- Immigrant youth must integrate ethnic and national belonging into their identity.
- Understanding this process is vital for supporting immigrant youth.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the longitudinal interplay between personal, ethnic, and national identities.
- Investigate identity exploration and commitment in immigrant youth.
- Analyze how these identities influence each other over time.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study with three waves of data collection.
- Sample of 765 middle school immigrant youth in Greek schools.
- Trivariate Cross-Lagged Panel Models used to analyze identity links.
Main Results:
- Robust positive associations found between ethnic, national, and personal identities within time points.
- Some evidence of negative longitudinal links between ethnic and national identities.
- Limited longitudinal support for associations between these domains and personal identity.
Conclusions:
- Identity development in immigrant youth is complex, with strong within-time connections.
- Longitudinal dynamics suggest potential tension between ethnic and national identities.
- Findings may be specific to second-generation youth and vary by ethnic background.
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