Racial‐ethnic Identity in Context: Examining Mediation of Neighborhood Factors on Children's Academic Adjustment

Research consistently shows that neighborhood socio‐demographic characteristics and residents’ neighborhood perceptions matter for youth well‐being, including a positive sense of racial‐ethnic identity. Although elementary‐school children are likely in the earlier phases of identity formation, the authors examined whether objective and subjective neighborhood characteristics are related to their racial‐ethnic identity and, in turn, their academic adjustment. A diverse sample (30.4% African American, 35.2% White, 12.3% Latino, & 22.0% Other) of 227 children in Grades 2 through 5 were surveyed in afterschool programs. Bivariate correlations showed that youth living in disadvantaged neighborhoods reported more barriers due to their race‐ethnicity, but these barriers were not related to their sense of academic efficacy. Residing in a disadvantaged neighborhood was unrelated to youth's academic self‐efficacy. However, path analyses showed that positive neighborhood perceptions were associated with a stronger sense of race‐ethnicity (i.e., affirmation and belonging), which was in turn related to greater academic efficacy. These results suggest that neighborhood connection provides a source of affirmation and value for young children, helping them to understand who they are as part of a racial‐ethnic group and helping to foster a sense of future achievement opportunities. This study provides additional evidence that along with other important proximal contexts (e.g., family, school), young children's neighborhood context is important for development. Results are discussed to highlight environmental influences on young children's awareness of race‐ethnicity and the implications of the combined impact of neighborhood and racial‐ethnic identity on psychosocial adjustment.     

Community group membership protects the well‐being of adults experiencing socio‐economic disadvantage

The present research examined the mechanisms through which community groups improve well‐being in adults (N = 156) experiencing socio‐economic disadvantage. Analysis showed that joining a group improved outcomes by enhancing people's group identification and wider sense of belonging to multiple groups and that this effect was stronger for more socio‐economically disadvantaged participants.     

Identity,Perceived Religious Discrimination,and Psychological Well‐Being in Muslim Immigrant Women

The study investigated perceived religious discrimination and three facets of Muslim identity (psychological, behavioural, and visible) as predictors of psychological well‐being (life satisfaction and psychological symptoms) of 153 Muslim women in New Zealand. The results indicated that although visibility (wearing hijab) was associated with greater perceived discrimination, it predicted positive psychological outcomes. Analysis further revealed that the psychological (pride, belongingness, and centrality) and behavioural (engaging in Islamic practices) facets of Muslim identity moderated the relationship between perceived religious discrimination and well‐being. A strong psychological affiliation with Islam exacerbated the negative relationship between perceived religious discrimination and well‐being. Conversely, engaging in Islamic practices buffered the negative impact of discrimination. The research highlights the complexity of Muslim identity in diasporic women.     

个体和群体歧视知觉对流动儿童主观幸福感的影响

采用整班联系、自愿参加的方式,通过匿名方式对北京市1552名流动儿童施测个体和群体歧视知觉问卷、积极/消极情感量表、生活满意度量表、内群体认同测验与群体地位感测验,探讨个体和群体歧视知觉对流动儿童主观幸福感的影响及内群体认同感和群体地位感在其中的中介作用。结果表明：（1）个体和群体歧视知觉与流动儿童的主观幸福感、内群体情感认同及群体地位感之间存在显著性相关,与内群体认知认同之间相关不显著。（2）个体歧视知觉对流动儿童的主观幸福感存在直接显著的负向预测作用,并通过降低流动儿童的群体地位感,进而间接地负向影响流动儿童的主观幸福感;（3）群体歧视知觉对流动儿童的主观幸福感也存在直接显著的消极影响,并同时借助于群体地位感的中介作用、以及内群体情感认同和群体地位感的双重中介作用间接地降低流动儿童的主观幸福感。     

Are minority status children's cross‐ethnic friendships beneficial in a multiethnic context?

Past research has demonstrated the negative impact of perceived ethnic discrimination (PED) on psychological well‐being among children. Given research demonstrating the benefits of cross‐ethnic friendship for children's intergroup attitudes, we examined whether cross‐ethnic friendships would attenuate the effects of PED on well‐being and resilience within a multi‐ethnic context. Two hundred and forty‐seven South Asian British children (M = 11 years) recruited from 37 classrooms completed measures of perceived cross‐ethnic friendship quantity and quality, PED, psychological well‐being, and resilience. Friendship quality, but not quantity, had direct positive associations with psychological well‐being and resilience. A higher quantity of cross‐ethnic friendships moderated the negative effects of PED on both outcomes. Results suggest that cross‐ethnic friendships are beneficial for South Asian British children by functioning as a protective factor from the negative effects of discrimination within a multi‐ethnic context.     

个体与群体歧视知觉对流动儿童学业倦怠的影响：学业自我妨碍的中介作用和认同整合的调节作用

以363名初中阶段流动儿童为被试,采用问卷法考察学业自我妨碍在流动儿童个体和群体歧视知觉与学业倦怠关系中的中介作用,以及认同整合的调节作用。结果如下：（1）个体和群体歧视知觉正向预测流动儿童学业倦怠;（2）学业自我妨碍在流动儿童个体和群体歧视知觉与学业倦怠关系中起中介作用;（3）认同整合会调节个体歧视知觉、学业自我妨碍对学业倦怠的影响。     

流动儿童认同整合与歧视知觉的关系：社会支持和应对方式的作用

采取整群抽样方法对来自北京市、山东省的1307名流动儿童进行问卷调查,探讨流动儿童感受到的歧视对其认同整合的影响,以及应对方式和社会支持在其中所起的作用。结果表明：（1）流动儿童感受到了一定程度的歧视,认同整合水平良好;（2）流动儿童的歧视知觉会对其认同整合产生消极影响,歧视知觉越高,认同整合水平越低;歧视知觉也通过应对方式和社会支持对流动儿童的认同整合产生显著的影响;（3）社会支持不仅在歧视知觉对认同整合的关系中起到了显著的部分中介作用,社会支持还又在应对方式和认同整合之中起到了显著的部分中介作用。     

The Role of Neighborhood Context and School Climate in School‐Level Academic Achievement

In recent years, the quality of education available to children has become increasingly dependent on the social and economic demographics of neighborhoods in which the children live. This study assesses the role of community violence in explaining the relation between socio‐economic status (SES) and academic outcomes and the potential of positive school climate to promote academic achievement. With a sample of 297 Chicago public elementary schools, we examine community‐level and school‐level data and use Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping to illustrate how school academic achievement coincides with neighborhood economics and crime statistics. Results support the hypothesized mediation, such that lower SES was associated with lower academic achievement, and violent crime partially mediated this relation. School climate was positively associated with academic achievement, and student safety significantly moderated the relation between SES and academic achievement. Implications for theory, research, and intervention are discussed.     

Perceived discrimination and psychological adjustment among Russian‐speaking immigrant adolescents in Finland

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between perceived discrimination and psychological adjustment among immigrant adolescents. The subjects were 170 Russian‐speaking adolescents, all born in the former Soviet Union, aged between 12 and 19 years, who immigrated to Finland between 1987 and 1996. According to the results, self‐esteem served as a major mediator between perceived discrimination and psychological adjustment. The adolescents' experiences of parental support influenced their perceptions of discrimination and enhanced their self‐esteem, especially among the boys. Adherence to traditional values increased experiences of parental support, and also directly enhanced psychological adjustment. In addition, experiences of paternal support were found to be the most important for the boys, whereas experiences of maternal support were important for the girls.     

The Role of Racial Discrimination in the Economic Value of Education Among Urban,Low-Income Latina/o Youth: Ethnic Identity and Gender as Moderators

The present study used resilience theory to explore relationships among perceived racial discrimination, ethnic identity, gender, and economic value of education (EVE) among urban, low‐income, Latina/o youth. It was expected that racial discrimination would predict poorer perceptions of the EVE among Latina/o adolescents. Ethnic identity was hypothesized to buffer the negative effect of racial discrimination on Latina/o students’ EVE. The participants in this study were 396 urban, low‐income Latina/o high school students from a large, Midwestern city who completed surveys in both 9th‐ and 10th‐grade. Structural equation modeling was used to test the relationships among racial discrimination, ethnic identity, and EVE. Results supported a protective model of resilience. Specifically, ethnic identity served as a protective factor by buffering the negative effect of perceived racial discrimination on EVE for male participants. The present study is the first to examine ethnic identity as a buffer of racial discrimination on EVE among Latina/o high school students. Future directions and implications are discussed.     

歧视知觉对城市流动儿童幸福感的影响：中介机制及归属需要的调节作用

采用整群取样法对选自北京市的1551名流动儿童进行测查, 探讨歧视知觉对城市流动儿童的个体和群体幸福感的影响机制, 即内群体认同和群体地位感在其中的中介作用, 以及不同归属需要下内群体认同和群体地位感的中介作用差异。结果表明：(1)公立学校小学流动儿童的个体和群体幸福感相对较高; 流动男生比流动女生具有较高的生活满意度, 流动女生比流动男生具有较高的群体幸福感。(2)歧视知觉对城市流动儿童的个体和群体幸福感存在直接显著的负向预测作用, 并通过内群体情感认同和群体地位感的中介作用负向预测群体幸福感。(3)不同归属需要下歧视知觉对个体和群体幸福感的作用机制存在差异。在高归属需要组, 歧视知觉对个体幸福感存在直接显著的负向预测作用, 并通过群体地位感和群体幸福感的双重中介消极地影响个体幸福感; 歧视知觉完全通过群体地位感的中介消极地影响群体幸福感。在低归属需要组, 歧视知觉对个体幸福感既存在直接的负向预测作用, 也通过内群体情感认同和群体地位感的中介发挥间接性的积极作用; 歧视知觉对群体幸福感只存在间接的消极影响, 内群体情感认同和群体地位感在其中发挥完全中介作用。这表明, 内群体情感认同和群体地位感在流动儿童歧视知觉与幸福感之间的中介效应受到归属需要的调节影响。     

Parental styles,gender and the development of hope and self‐esteem

We examined the developmental trajectory of trait hope and self‐esteem over 4 years and the impact of gender and perceived parental styles on these trajectories. Participants were 884 high school students. There was a general decline in hope and self‐esteem over time, with females declining more rapidly than males. Girls had higher hope than boys in Grade 7, but lower hope by Grade 10. Perceived parental authoritativeness at Time 1 was related to high hope across the 4 years, whilst perceived parental authoritarianism was related to low self‐esteem. We discuss the importance of perceived parental styles for adolescent well being, as well as possible explanations for changes in hope and self‐esteem. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

How international transracial adoptees and immigrants cope with discrimination? The moderating role of ethnic identity in the relation between perceived discrimination and psychological well‐being

Research has consistently shown that discrimination based on ethnic group membership affects the psychological well‐being of ethnic minorities. Recent studies revealed that discrimination is also a relevant experience for international transracial adoptees, who have experienced a unique migration process. Yet, there is still a paucity of studies focused on similarities and differences between how immigrants and international transracial adoptees perceive discrimination and on how perceived discrimination impacts psychological well‐being, also depending on ethnic identity. Our study aimed to fill these gaps by investigating the moderating role of ethnic identity affirmation in the association between perceived discrimination and psychological well‐being, measured in terms of self‐esteem. A comparison between international transracial adoptees and immigrants was carried out in the Italian context. Participants were 119 international transracial adoptees and 90 immigrants, aged between 15 and 24, all categorizing themselves as Latinos. Findings revealed that immigrants perceived more discrimination and showed higher levels of ethnic identity affirmation than did adoptees, but no difference emerged with respect to self‐esteem. Ethnic identity affirmation buffered the detrimental effects of perceived discrimination on self‐esteem among international transracial adoptees but not among immigrants. Results are discussed in relation to practical implications for preventive interventions.     

Perceptions of ethnic discrimination by minority and majority early adolescents in the Netherlands

This research investigates perceptions of discrimination among ethnic majority and minority group early adolescents (aged between 10 and 12 years) living in the multi‐ethnic context of the Netherlands. In two studies (N = 679 and N = 2630), personal and group discrimination was examined in terms of name‐calling and social exclusion, and in relation to ethnic identity and family allocentrism. All early adolescents reported more group than personal discrimination. The personal‐group discrimination discrepancy (PGDD) was found independently of ethnic group, gender, allocentrism, and ethnic identity. Hence, the PGDD seems a more general phenomenon that already exists among early adolescents and across different domains. However, minority group participants perceived far more discrimination overall than majority group early adolescents, and the Turkish participants reported more discrimination than the Moroccan and Surinamese early adolescents. Furthermore, family allocentrism was positively related to perceived discrimination among all ethnic groups in Study 2 and among the Dutch in Study 1. In agreement with ethnic identity development models, strength of ethnic identity was not related to perceived discrimination. Ethnic identity was, however, positively related to allocentrism. In both studies, ethnic minority group participants had higher scores for allocentrism and for ethnic identity than majority group participants. In addition, boys had stronger ethnic identity than girls and ethnic identity was negatively associated with perceived discrimination for the boys but not for the girls. It is concluded that in order to understand early adolescents' perception of discrimination it is necessary to pay attention to basic (cognitive) tendencies that cross ethnic lines, to cultural and status differences between the majority group and ethnic minorities as a category and between ethnic minority groups, and to within‐group differences or individual level variables.     

Constructing a minority group identity out of shared rejection: the case of international students

With a sample of international students, we investigated how perceptions of rejection by the host community are related to a sense of identification with other international students. Based on the rejection‐identification model (Branscombe, Schmitt, & Harvey, 1999 ) we predicted that perceiving prejudice from the host university would be negatively related to psychological well‐being. We expected that group identification with international students would mediate a positive effect of perceived discrimination on self‐esteem, thus suppressing the negative effect of perceiving prejudice on self‐esteem. Consistent with predictions, results supported a model in which identification with international students increased in response to perceiving prejudice and suppressed the costs of perceiving oneself as excluded from the host community. Interestingly, identification with participants' home country was not predicted by perceptions of discrimination. Results are discussed in terms of how minority group members construct group identities in response to the intergroup context. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Parental Involvement in Career Development among Disadvantaged Adolescents

The study investigated perceived parental involvement in career development amongst disadvantaged adolescents. Participants were 14 Grade 9 learners (8 boys and 6 girls: mean age =14 years) from a disadvantaged community in North-West Province in South Africa. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews, and analyzed thematically. Perceived constructive verbal persuasion or encouragement was influential in parents' facilitation of career development in their adolescent children. One-way communication from the parents to the adolescents was perceived to be non-supportive of their career development. Vicarious learning was manifested in the adoption of well-known people as role models in the absence of parental role models.     

Teacher Racism,Academic Self‐Concept,and Multiculturation: Investigating Adaptive and Maladaptive Relations With Academic Disengagement and Self‐Sabotage for Indigenous and Non‐Indigenous Australian Students

The issue of patterns of educational disengagement for Indigenous Australian students has long been of considerable concern within Indigenous education research. Although there is an expanding research base identifying factors that may increase (or decrease) the risk of disengagement for Indigenous students, little acknowledgement has been given to international research highlighting how stigma and discrimination may be associated with student disengagement and the resiliency factors that may nullify these associations. Utilising a sample of 1,376 (305 Indigenous; 1,071 non‐Indigenous) students from five New South Wales high schools in Australia, this study sought to examine the influence of academic self‐concept and two culturally sensitive constructs—specifically, perceived multiculturation (perceived cultural respect) and racial discrimination—on two disengagement‐orientated outcomes: affective disengagement and self‐sabotaging behaviour (behavioural disengagement) for both Indigenous and non‐Indigenous students. The findings showed relatively consistent direct and positive effects of academic self‐concept and direct negative effect of teacher racism for both groups of students. An interaction effect (discrimination × multiculturation) for the Indigenous students only was also identified, which suggested that the negative effects of racial discrimination on self‐sabotaging behaviour are exacerbated when the Indigenous students perceived higher levels of cultural respect from others. Overall, while these findings suggest that promoting higher levels of inter‐cultural respect may be beneficial for Indigenous and non‐Indigenous alike (e.g., culturally inclusive programmes), such positive perceptions may put Indigenous students at greater risk if the impact of racism is not also addressed. The implications of these findings suggest that cultural safety must be framed both in promoting the positive (cultural respect) and in eliminating the negative (racism).     

歧视知觉与流动儿童社会疏离感的关系:一个有调节的中介模型

采用问卷法对1101名流动儿童进行调查研究,考察歧视知觉对流动儿童社会疏离感的影响,同时考察认同整合在其中的中介作用,以及该过程是否受到社会支持的调节。结果表明：（1）在控制了性别、学校性质、转学次数之后,歧视知觉对流动儿童社会疏离感具有正向预测作用;（2）认同整合在流动儿童歧视知觉和社会疏离感关系中起到部分中介作用;（3）认同整合的中介作用受到社会支持的正向调节,相对于社会支持水平低的流动儿童,中介作用对社会支持水平高的流动儿童更显著。因此,歧视知觉对流动儿童社会疏离感的影响是有调节的中介效应。这些结果对于综合解释城市适应过程中环境与个体因素对流动儿童社会疏离感的作用路径与机制具有重要意义。     

Pupils' perceptions of self and of labels: Moderate learning difficulties in mainstream and special schools

Background: The study is set in the context of international moves towards more inclusion of children with disabilities into mainstream schools and the greater importance attached to the child's voice in decision making in education. Aims: To examine how children with moderate learning difficulties (MLD) in mainstream and special schools see themselves; to investigate their positive, negative and mixed self‐perceptions; to explore their evaluations of the terms and labels used by others to describe them; and to examine whether their perceptions vary according to special educational placement, age or gender. Sample: One hundred and one children; 50 in special and 51 in mainstream schools, of whom 51 were age 10–12 and 50 13–14 years; within each age group half were boys and half were girls. Method: Semi‐structured in‐depth interviews based on a common framework derived from the research questions. Results: Most pupils were aware of their learning difficulties and felt mainly negative about their difficulties. Pupils in special schools had more positive self‐perceptions of educational abilities than those in mainstream schools. Self‐perceptions of general characteristics were mainly a mixture of positive and negative with no differences by placement. ‘Stupid’ and ‘thick’ were perceived as the most negative labels, while ‘has help’ was the most positive label. The SEN term was infrequently recognized. Conclusions: The findings are discussed within the context of a multi‐dimensional, complex and contrary framework of self‐perceptions, and reference groups as the bases for self‐perceptions and as an active and interpretive process in the formation of self‐perceptions.     

流动儿童歧视知觉与社会文化适应：社会支持和社会认同的作用

采用整群取样方法对选自北京市的1164名流动儿童进行问卷调查, 考察社会支持、社会认同在歧视知觉与社会文化适应关系中的作用。结果表明, 流动儿童的歧视知觉整体上并不明显, 其社会文化适应状况整体良好; 歧视知觉对社会文化适应有显著负向预测性(β=-0.39, p<0.001); 在歧视知觉与社会文化适应的负向预测关系中, 社会支持起部分中介作用, 城市认同有增强作用, 老家认同有缓冲作用; 社会支持的中介作用受到城市认同、老家认同的调节。