Showing papers by "Seth J. Schwartz published in 2014"

Ethnic and racial identity during adolescence and into young adulthood: an integrated conceptualization.

Abstract: Although ethnic and racial identity (ERI) are central to the normative development of youth of color, there have been few efforts to bring scholars together to discuss the theoretical complexities of these constructs and provide a synthesis of existing work. The Ethnic and Racial Identity in the 21st Century Study Group was assembled for this purpose. This article provides an overview of the interface of ERI with developmental and contextual issues across development, with an emphasis on adolescence and young adulthood. It proposes a metaconstruct to capture experiences that reflect both individuals’ ethnic background and their racialized experiences in a specific sociohistorical context. Finally, it presents milestones in the development of ERI across developmental periods.

Ethnic and racial identity in adolescence: implications for psychosocial, academic, and health outcomes.

Abstract: The construction of an ethnic or racial identity is considered an important developmental milestone for youth of color. This review summarizes research on links between ethnic and racial identity (ERI) with psychosocial, academic, and health risk outcomes among ethnic minority adolescents. With notable exceptions, aspects of ERI are generally associated with adaptive outcomes. ERI are generally beneficial for African American adolescents' adjustment across all three domains, whereas the evidence is somewhat mixed for Latino and American Indian youth. There is a dearth of research for academic and health risk outcomes among Asian American and Pacific Islander adolescents. The review concludes with suggestions for future research on ERI among minority youth.

Feeling good, happy, and proud: a meta-analysis of positive ethnic-racial affect and adjustment.

Abstract: One point of intersection in ethnic and racial identity research is the conceptual attention paid to how positively youth feel about their ethnicity or race, or positive ethnic–racial affect. This article reports results of a series of meta-analyses based on 46 studies of this dimension and psychosocial, academic, and health risk outcomes among ethnic and racial minority youth. The overall pattern of results suggests that positive ethnic–racial affect exhibited small to medium associations (r range = |.11| to |.37|) with depressive symptoms, positive social functioning, self-esteem, well-being, internalizing, externalizing, academic achievement, academic attitudes, and health risk outcomes. Implications for theory and research about the role of positive ethnic–racial affect among youth growing up in an increasingly diverse society are discussed.

Perceived context of reception among recent Hispanic immigrants: conceptualization, instrument development, and preliminary validation.

Abstract: Context of reception has been discussed widely in the sociological and anthropological literature, but no measures of this construct exist. We designed a measure of perceived context of reception and provide initial support for the factorial validity, internal consistency reliability, and incremental and discriminant validity of scores generated by this measure. A sample of 302 recent-immigrant Hispanic parent-adolescent dyads from Miami and Los Angeles completed the new perceived context of reception measure, as well as measures of perceived discrimination; Hispanic/American cultural practices, values, and identifications; and depressive symptoms. In Phase 1, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses extracted a factor for negative perceived context of reception. A subscale corresponding to this factor was used in Phase 2; for parents and adolescents, negative perceived context of reception and perceived discrimination were differentially associated with acculturation-related variables – suggesting discriminant validity between perceived discrimination and negative perceived context of reception. For adolescents at both sites and for parents in Los Angeles only, the negative perceived context of reception dimensions were significantly associated with depressive symptoms six months later, over and above the contribution made by perceived discrimination – suggesting incremental validity. Results are discussed in terms of perceived context of reception as a new and emerging construct.

Risky business: Is there an association between casual sex and mental health among emerging adults?

Abstract: A multiethnic sample of single, heterosexual, emerging-adult college students (N = 3,907) ages 18 to 25, from 30 institutions across the United States, participated in a study about identity, culture, psychological well-being, and risky behaviors. Given ongoing debates about the connection between casual sex and psychological adjustment, in the current study we assessed the cross-sectional association of participation in casual sex with psychological well-being and distress. A greater proportion of men (18.6%) compared to women (7.4%) reported having had casual sex in the month prior to assessment. Structural equation modeling indicated that casual sex was negatively associated with well-being (s = .20, p < .001) and positively associated with psychological distress (s = .16, p < .001). Gender did not moderate these associations. For emerging-adult college students, engaging in casual sex may elevate risk for negative psychological outcomes.

Methodological Issues in Ethnic and Racial Identity Research With Ethnic Minority Populations: Theoretical Precision, Measurement Issues, and Research Designs

Abstract: This article takes stock of research methods employed in the study of racial and ethnic identity with ethnic minority populations. The article is presented in three parts. The first section reviews theories, conceptualizations, and measurement of ethnic and racial identity (ERI) development. The second section reviews theories, conceptualizations, and measurement of ERI content. The final section reviews key methodological and analytic principles that are important to consider for both ERI development and content. The article concludes with suggestions for future research addressing key methodological limitations when studying ERI.

Domains of Acculturation and Their Effects on Substance Use and Sexual Behavior in Recent Hispanic Immigrant Adolescents

Abstract: This study evaluated the immigrant paradox by ascertaining the effects of multiple components of acculturation on substance use and sexual behavior among recently immigrated Hispanic adolescents primarily from Mexico (35 %) and Cuba (31 %). A sample of 302 adolescents (53 % boys; mean age 14.51 years) from Miami (n = 152) and Los Angeles (n = 150) provided data on Hispanic and US cultural practices, values, and identifications at baseline and provided reports of cigarette use, alcohol use, sexual activity, and unprotected sex approximately 1 year later. Results indicated strong gender differences, with the majority of significant findings emerging for boys. Supporting the immigrant paradox (i.e., that becoming oriented toward US culture is predictive of increased health risks), individualist values predicted greater numbers of oral sex partners and unprotected sex occasions for boys. However, contrary to the immigrant paradox, for boys, both US practices and US identification predicted less heavy drinking, fewer oral and vaginal/anal sex partners, and less unprotected vaginal/anal sex. Ethnic identity (identification with one’s heritage culture) predicted greater numbers of sexual partners but negatively predicted unprotected sex. Results indicate a need for multidimensional, multi-domain models of acculturation and suggest that more work is needed to determine the most effective ways to culturally inform prevention programs.

Opposite Ends of the Same Stick? Multi-Method Test of the Dimensionality of Individualism and Collectivism

Abstract: The construct of individualism–collectivism (IND-COL) has become the definitive standard in cross-cultural psychology, management, and related fields. It is also among the most controversial, in particular, with regard to the ambiguity of its dimensionality: Some view IND and COL as the opposites of a single continuum, whereas others argue that the two are independent constructs. We explored the issue through seven different tests using original individual-level data from 50 studies and meta-analytic data from 149 empirical publications yielding a total of 295 sample-level observations that were collected using six established instruments for assessing IND and COL as separate constructs. Results indicated that the dimensionality of IND-COL may depend on (a) the specific instrument used to collect the data, (b) the sample characteristics and the cultural region from which the data were collected, and (c) the level of analysis. We also review inconsistencies, deficiencies, and challenges of conceptualizing ...

Meaning in Life in Emerging Adulthood: A Person‐Oriented Approach

Abstract: The present study investigated naturally occurring profiles based on two dimensions of meaning in life: Presence of Meaning and Search for Meaning. Cluster analysis was used to examine meaning-in-life profiles, and subsequent analyses identified different patterns in psychosocial functioning for each profile. A sample of 8,492 American emerging adults (72.5% women) from 30 colleges and universities completed measures on meaning in life, and positive and negative psychosocial functioning. Results provided support for five meaningful yet distinguishable profiles. A strong generalizability of the cluster solution was found across age, and partial generalizability was found across gender and ethnicity. Furthermore, the five profiles showed specific patterns in relation to positive and negative psychosocial functioning. Specifically, respondents with profiles high on Presence of Meaning showed the most adaptive psychosocial functioning, whereas respondents with profiles where meaning was largely absent showed maladaptive psychosocial functioning. The present study provided additional evidence for prior research concerning the complex relationship between Presence of Meaning and Search for Meaning, and their relation with psychosocial functioning. Our results offer a partial clarification of the nature of the Search for Meaning process by distinguishing between adaptive and maladaptive searching for meaning in life.

Effects of language of assessment on the measurement of acculturation: Measurement equivalence and cultural frame switching.

Abstract: The present study used a randomized design, with fully bilingual Hispanic participants from the Miami area, to investigate two sets of research questions. First, we sought to ascertain the extent to which measures of acculturation (heritage and U.S. practices, values, and identifications) satisfied criteria for linguistic measurement equivalence. Second, we sought to examine whether cultural frame switching would emerge – that is, whether latent acculturation mean scores for U.S. acculturation would be higher among participants randomized to complete measures in English, and whether latent acculturation mean scores for Hispanic acculturation would be higher among participants randomized to complete measures in Spanish. A sample of 722 Hispanic students from a Hispanic-serving university participated in the study. Participants were first asked to complete translation tasks to verify that they were fully bilingual. Based on ratings from two independent coders, 574 participants (79.5% of the sample) qualified as fully bilingual and were randomized to complete the acculturation measures in either English or Spanish. Theoretically relevant criterion measures – self-esteem, depressive symptoms, and personal identity – were also administered in the randomized language. Measurement equivalence analyses indicated that all of the acculturation measures – Hispanic and U.S. practices, values, and identifications – met criteria for configural, weak/metric, strong/scalar, and convergent validity equivalence. These findings indicate that data generated using acculturation measures can, at least under some conditions, be combined or compared across languages of administration. Few latent mean differences emerged. These results are discussed in terms of the measurement of acculturation in linguistically diverse populations.

Development of Sexual Expectancies among Adolescents: Contributions by Parents, Peers and the Media

Abstract: To expand the scant research on sexual expectancies development among non-sexually active adolescents, we examined the relationship between adolescents' exposure to four socializing agents--mother/female guardian, father/male guardian, peers, and television programs with high sexual content--and their endorsement of four sexual expectancies: social benefit, pleasure, social risk, and health risk. Data are from Waves 2 and 3 of a three-wave annual longitudinal study conducted among California adolescents, the majority of whom were not sexually active (N = 914, 84%). Structural equation models were conducted to examine cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between the socializing agents and the sexual expectancies. Cross-sectional results indicate associations between peer sexual communication and social benefit, pleasure, and social risk expectancies. A positive association was found between exposure to music videos and social benefit expectancies, and a negative association was found between exposure to music videos and health risk expectancies. Longitudinal results suggest that communication with peers positively predicted pleasure expectancies and negatively predicted social risk expectancies. No other socializing agents were associated with any sexual expectancies. An invariance test found that significant correlations were similar across the different age groups. Results suggest that efforts to support positive sexual decision making among non-sexually active adolescents should target peer sexual communication.

The identity dynamics of acculturation and multiculturalism: situating acculturation in context

Abstract: We discuss the identity processes involved in acculturation and multiculturalism, drawing on insights from various social psychological theories of identity. According to self-categorization theory, people are especially likely to view their cultural values and practices as self-defining in situations of intercultural contact. Social identity theory suggests that members of cultural majorities and minorities will find various ways of maintaining the positive distinctiveness of their cultural identities: for example, migrants may compete directly with receiving-society individuals (e.g., Asian Americans in science and mathematics), or they may find creative ways of affirming cultural differences (e.g., opening restaurants specializing in heritage-culture cuisine). However, multicultural national contexts can be understood not only in terms of intergroup relations, but also in terms of intragroup dynamics by which members of different cultural groups negotiate and defend competing definitions of a superordinate national identity. Drawing on integrated threat theory and on motivated identity construction theory, we suggest that these intergroup and intragroup dynamics will bring a wider range of identity motives and processes into play. Moreover, the elaborated social identity model emphasizes the importance of viewing majority and minority groups’ identity processes as reciprocally related over time, rather than treating them separately. Our analysis helps to explain why migrants and receiving-society members often behave in ways that seemingly contradict the predictions of earlier theories of acculturation and of intergroup relations.

Investigating the structure and measurement invariance of the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure in a multiethnic sample of college students.

Abstract: In this article, we evaluate the factor structure of the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM; Phinney, 1992) and test whether the MEIM exhibits measurement invariance across ethnic groups taken from a diverse sample of students from 30 different colleges and universities across the United States (N = 9,625). Initial analyses suggested that a bifactor model was an adequate representation of the structure of the MEIM. This model was then used in subsequent invariance tests. Results suggested that the MEIM displayed configural and metric invariance across 5 diverse ethnic groups (i.e., White, Black, Hispanic, East Asian, and South Asian). There were indications that the MEIM displayed a similar factor structure with roughly equivalent factor loadings across diverse ethnic groups. However, there was little evidence of scalar invariance across these groups, suggesting that mean-level comparisons of MEIM scores across ethnic groups should be interpreted with caution. The implications of these findings for the interpretation and use of this popular measure of ethnic identity are discussed.

Bicultural stress, identity formation, and alcohol expectancies and misuse in Hispanic adolescents: a developmental approach.

Abstract: Hispanic immigrant youth engage in increased health risk behaviors, such as alcohol misuse, due in part to being confronted with acculturative stress in addition to facing major normative developmental challenges, such as identity consolidation (Berry et al. in Appl Psychol 55:303–332, 2006). Using a developmental psychopathology framework, in the present study we examined the effect of bicultural stress on alcohol misuse among immigrated Hispanic adolescents, indirectly through trajectories of identity formation and alcohol expectancies. Our sample consisted of 302 recently immigrated Hispanic adolescents (53 % male; Mage = 14.5 at baseline) who were interviewed every 6 months for 3 years. Bivariate growth curve modeling was used to examine the influence of initial early bicultural stress on later alcohol misuse via change in identity development (i.e., coherence and confusion) and subsequent growth in cognitive alcohol expectancies. Findings revealed that initial levels and growth of identity coherence were not significantly associated with either bicultural stress or tension reduction (TR) alcohol expectancies. Multiple mediation analyses indicated that the effect of bicultural stress at time 1 on the frequency of being drunk at time 6 was mediated via high initial levels of identity confusion, followed by growth in risky TR expectancies (T4–T6). A developmental approach to the genesis of alcohol use problems in immigrant youth is discussed.

Association of acculturation with drinking games among Hispanic college students.

Abstract: Objective: This cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate which components of acculturation relate to drinking games participation among Hispanic college students. We also sought to examine whether the relationships between acculturation and drinking games would differ from the associations between acculturation and other alcohol-related outcomes. Method: A sample of 1,397 Hispanic students aged 18–25 (75% women; 77% US-born) from 30 US colleges and universities completed a confidential online survey. Results: Associations among acculturative processes, drinking games participation, general alcohol consumption, and negative drinking consequences differed across gender. Most significant findings emerged in the domain of cultural practices. For women, US cultural practices were associated with greater general alcohol consumption, drinking games frequency, and amount of alcohol consumed while gaming, whereas for men, US cultural practices were associated with general alcohol consumption and ...

Cultural measures associated with sexual risk behaviors among Latino youth in Southern California: a longitudinal study.

Abstract: CONTEXT Cultural variables have been associated with sexual risk behaviors among Latino youth, but findings across studies are inconsistent. METHODS A longitudinal study of acculturation patterns followed Latino youth in Southern California from 2005 to 2012. Data from 995 participants were used in logistic and ordered regression analyses to test whether cultural variables measured in high school were associated with sexual risk behaviors in emerging adulthood, and whether gender moderated these associations. RESULTS The cultural value of respect for parents was negatively associated with participants’ odds of reporting an earlier age at sexual debut (odds ratio, 0.8) and condom nonuse at most recent sexual intercourse (0.8). A measure of acculturation reflecting U.S. cultural practices was positively associated with the likelihood of being sexually experienced (1.2), having concurrent sexual partners (1.5) and, among males only, having a greater number of sexual partners (1.3). Second- and later-generation immigrant youth had lower odds of not using a condom at most recent sexual intercourse than first-generation youth (0.6 and 0.5, respectively). Strength of endorsement of Latino cultural practices was negatively associated with females’ lifetime number of partners (0.8), but positively associated with males’ (1.4). CONCLUSIONS The cultural measures associated with Latino youths’ sexual behaviors differed across outcomes and by gender. Further understanding of these associations and their underlying mechanisms may help inform the development of culturally sensitive sexual health interventions.

Surveying the Literature on Acculturation and Alcohol Use among Hispanic College Students: We're Not All on the Same Page

Abstract: During the past several years, a steadily growing body of literature examining acculturation and alcohol use among Hispanic college students has emerged. A review of this literature suggests that there have been (and continues to be) mixed findings regarding the association between acculturation and alcohol use in this population. Thus, the exact nature of this association is not clear. This paper provides an overview of this literature and outlines recommendations for future research that will help to elucidate the complexities inherent in this line of work.

Cultural self, personal self: Links with life satisfaction among Mexican American college students

Abstract: Un modelo de ecuaciones estructurales fue utilizado para deteriminar las relaciones entre la retencion de la herencia cultural (es decir, la adhesion a los valores de la cultura Latina, la identidad etnica y la autoestima colectiva), la autoestima personal, la satisfaccion con la vida y el exito academico de 446 estudiantes universitarios mexico-americanos. Los resultados indicaron que el modelo de la hipotesis de ajuste a los datos. Como hipotesis, la autoestima personal mediado parcialmente la relacion entre la conservacion de la herencia cultura y la satisfaccion con la vida. Especificamente, la retencion de la herencia cultural predijo la autoestima personal; y la retencion de la herencia cultural y la autoestima personal predijeron la satisfaccion con la vida. El efecto mediado por la retencion de la herencia cultural para la satisfaccion con la vida a traves de la autoestima personal tambien fue significativa. La relacion de la autoestima personal al bienestar subjetivo fue significativa en ambos sexos, pero mas fuerte para las mujeres que resultan en un efecto mediado mas fuerte de la retencion de la herencia cultural en la satisfaccion con la vida de las mujeres que en los hombres. En contra de la hipotesis, el exito academico no fue predicha por la satisfaccion con la vida y por lo tanto, no indirectamente relacionados con la retencion de la herencia cultural o la autoestima personal. En general, la retencion de la herencia cultura predijo niveles mas altos tanto de la autoestima personal y la satisfaccion con la vida. El aumento de la autoestima personal predijo un mayor bienestar subjetivo. El modelo hipotetico explico 28% de la varianza en la satisfaccion con la vida. Se discuten las implicaciones para la investigacion y la practica.

Peers and Delinquency

Abstract: In this article, we outline the importance of peers in adolescent delinquency. We review ways in which peers influence different deviant behaviors, as well as the ways in which deviant adolescents tend to select like-minded friends (homophily). The coexistence of the peer influences deviance and deviance peer selection directions of effects is also explored, where the same adolescents and behaviors co-occur in both directional pathways. We also discuss ecological (especially family) influences on peer selection and effects, as well as the ways in which peer network effects may differ between “life course persistent” and “adolescence limited” adolescent deviance. Finally, we briefly review biological and early-experiential vulnerabilities that predispose adolescents toward selecting antisocial peers. Keywords: Adolescence; Peers; Delinquent Behavior; Family; Substance Use