Ethnic identification in response to perceived discrimination protects well-being and promotes activism: A longitudinal study of Latino college students
Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online May, 2012
Ethnic identification in response to perceived discrimination protects well-being and promotes activism: A longitudinal study of Latino college students
Using structural equation modeling and cross-lagged analyses, this longitudinal study investigates ethnic identification, a group-based coping strategy, as a mediator of the influence of perceived discrimination on psychological well-being and willingness to engage in activism on behalf of one’s ethnic group among Latino students in both their first and fourth years of college. We found cross-sectional evidence for the rejection–identification model (RIM) during both years of college. Further, multiple step bootstrapping analyses of the longitudinal data showed that the relationships between perceived discrimination during Year 1 and both well-being and activism during Year 4 were sequentially mediated by activism during Year 1 predicting ethnic identification during Year 4. These data extend the RIM by including activism as an additional outcome variable that has important implications for Latino students across time.
AlbaR.NeeV. (2003). Remaking the American mainstream: Assimilation and contemporary immigration. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
2.
ArmentaB. E.HuntJ. S. (2009). Responding to societal devaluation: Effects of perceived personal and group discrimination on the ethnic group identification and personal self-esteem of Latino/Latina adolescents. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 12, 23–39.
3.
BarlowF. K.SibleyC. G.HornseyM. J. (2011). Rejection as a call to arms: Inter-racial hostility and support for political action as outcomes of race-based rejection in majority and minority groups. British Journal of Social Psychology. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1111/j.2044-8309.2011.02040.x10.1111/j.2044-8309.2011.02040.x
4.
BeanF.StevensG. (2003). America’s newcomers and the dynamics of diversity. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.
5.
BranscombeN. R.FernándezS.GómezA.CroninT. (2011). Moving toward or away from a group identity: Different strategies for coping with pervasive discrimination. In JettenJ.HaslamC.HaslamS. A. (Eds.), The social cure: Identity, health and well-being (pp. 115–131). New York, NY: Psychology Press.
6.
BranscombeN. R.SchmittM. T.HarveyR. D. (1999). Perceiving pervasive discrimination among African Americans: Implications for group identification and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 135–149.
7.
BrownT. A. (2006). Confirmatory factor analysis for applied research. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
8.
ClarkR.AndersonN. B.ClarkV. R.WilliamsD. R. (1999). Racism as a stressor for African Americans: A biopsychosocial model. American Psychologist, 54, 805–816.
9.
ColeD. A.MaxwellS. E. (2003). Testing mediational models with longitudinal data: Questions and tips in the use of structural equation modeling. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 4, 558–577.
10.
ContradaR. J.AshmoreR. D.GaryM. L.CoupsE.EgethJ. D.SewellA.… ChasseV. (2000). Ethnicity-related sources of stress and their effects on well-being. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 9, 136–139.
11.
CrockerJ.MajorB. (1989). Social stigma and self-esteem: The self-protective properties of stigma. Psychological Review, 96, 608–630.
12.
CrockerJ.MajorB.SteeleC. M. (1998). Social stigma. In GilbertD. T.FiskeS. T.LindzeyG. (Eds.), The handbook of social psychology (Vol. 4, pp. 504–553). Boston, MA: Mcgraw-Hill.
13.
CrockerJ.VoelklK.TestaM.MajorB. (1991). Social stigma: The affective consequences of attributional ambiguity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 218–228.
14.
DionK. L. (1986). Responses to perceived discrimination and relative deprivation. In OlsonJ. M.HermanC. P.ZannaM. P. (Eds.), Relative deprivation and social comparison: The Ontario Symposium (Vol. 4, pp. 159–179). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
15.
EllemersN.SpearsR.DoosjeB. (1997). Sticking together or falling apart: Ingroup identification as a psychological determinant of group commitment versus individual mobility. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72, 617–626.
16.
EllemersN.van LaarC. (2010). Individual mobility. In DovidioJ.HewstoneM.GlickP.EssesV. (Eds.), Handbook of prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination (pp. 561–576). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
17.
EthierK. A.DeauxK. (1994). Negotiating social identity when contexts change: Maintaining identification and responding to threat. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 243–251.
18.
GarstkaT. A.SchmittM. T.BranscombeN. R.HummertM. L. (2004). How young and older adults differ in their responses to perceived age discrimination. Psychology and Aging, 19, 326–335.
19.
HansenN.SassenbergK. (2006). Does social identification harm or serve as a buffer? The impact of social identification on anger after experiencing social discrimination. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32, 983–996.
20.
HayesA. F.PreacherK. J.MyersT. A. (2010). Mediation and the estimation of indirect effects in political communication research. In BucyE. P.HolbertR. L. (Eds.), Sourcebook for political communication research: Methods, measures, and analytical techniques (pp. 434–465). New York, NY: Routledge.
21.
HeathertonT. F.KleckR. E.HeblM. R.HullJ. G. (Eds.). (2000). The social psychology of stigma. New York, NY: Guilford.
22.
Jasinskaja-LahtiI.LiebkindK.SolheimE. (2009). To identify or not to identify? National disidentification as an alternative reaction to perceived ethnic discrimination. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 58, 105–128.
23.
JettenJ.BranscombeN. R.SchmittM. T.SpearsR. (2001). Rebels with a cause: Group identification as a response to perceived discrimination from the mainstream. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27, 1204–1213.
LeachC. W.Rodriguez MosqueraP. M.VliekM. L. W.HirtE. (2010). Group identification and group devaluation. Journal of Social Issues, 66, 535–552.
27.
LevinS.van LaarC. (Eds.). (2006). Stigma and group inequality: Social psychological approaches. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
28.
LevinS.van LaarC.FooteW. (2006). Ethnic segregation and perceived discrimination in college: Mutual influences and effects on social and academic life. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 36, 1471–1501.
29.
LevinS.van LaarC.SidaniusJ. (2003). The effects of ingroup and outgroup friendships on ethnic attitudes in college: A longitudinal study. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 6, 76–92.
30.
LittleT. D.PreacherK. J.SeligJ. P.CardN. A. (2007). New developments in latent variable panel analyses of longitudinal data. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 31, 357–365.
31.
MathesonK.AnismanH. (2009). Anger and shame elicited by discrimination: Moderating role of coping on action endorsements and salivary cortisol. European Journal of Social Psychology, 39, 163–185.
32.
MacKinnonD. P.KrullJ. L.LockwoodC. M. (2000). Equivalence of the mediation, confounding, and suppression effect. Prevention Science, 1, 173–181.
33.
McCoyS. K.MajorB. (2003). Group identification moderates emotional responses to perceived prejudice. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 1005–1017.
34.
OuttenH. R.SchmittM. T.GarciaD. M.BranscombeN. R. (2009). Coping options: Missing links between minority group identification and psychological well-being. Applied Psychology, An International Review, 58, 146–170.
35.
PascoeE. A.Smart RichmanL. (2009). Perceived discrimination and health: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 135, 531–554.
36.
PedhazurE. J.SchmelkinL. P. (1991). Measurement, design, and analysis: An integrated approach. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
37.
PostmesT.BranscombeN. R. (2002). Influence of long-term racial environmental composition on subjective well-being in African Americans. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 735–751.
38.
PreacherK. J.HayesA. F. (2004). SPSS and SAS procedures for estimating indirect effects in simple mediation models. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments & Computers, 36, 717–731.
39.
RomeroA. J.RobertsR. E. (1998). Perception of discrimination and ethnocultural variables in a diverse group of adolescents. Journal of Adolescence, 21, 641–656.
40.
RosenbergM. (1961). The Self Esteem scale. In RobinsonJ.ShaverP.WrightsmanL. (Eds.), Measures of personality and social psychological attitudes (pp. 121–123). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
41.
SchmittM. T.BranscombeN. R. (2002). The meaning and consequences of perceived discrimination in disadvantaged and privileged social groups. European Review of Social Psychology, 12, 167–199.
42.
SchmittM. T.BranscombeN. R.KobrynowiczD.OwenS. (2002). Perceiving discrimination against one’s gender group has different implications for well-being in women and men. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28, 197–210.
43.
SchmittM. T.BranscombeN. R.PostmesT. (2003), Women’s emotional responses to the perception of pervasive gender discrimination. European Journal of Social Psychology, 33, 297–312.
44.
SchmittM. T.SpearsR.BranscombeN. R. (2003). Constructing a minority group identity out of shared rejection: The case of international students. European Journal of Social Psychology, 33, 1–12.
45.
SidaniusJ.LevinS.van LaarC.SearsD. O. (2008). The diversity challenge: Social identity and intergroup relations on the college campus. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.
46.
SimonB., (1997). Self and group in modern society: Ten theses on the individual self and the collective self. In SpearsR.OakesP.EllemersN.HaslamS. A. (Eds.), The social psychology of stereotyping and group life (pp. 318–335). Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.
47.
SimonB.LoewyM.SturmerS.WeberU.FreytagP.HabigC.… SpahlingerP. (1998). Collective identification and social movement participation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 646–658.
48.
Spencer-RodgersJ.CollinsN. L. (2006). Risk and resilience: Dual effects of perceptions of group disadvantage among Latinos. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 42, 729–737.
49.
SwimJ. K.StangorC. (Eds.). (1998). Prejudice: The target’s perspective. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
50.
TajfelH.TurnerJ. C. (1986). The social identity theory of intergroup behavior. In WorchelS.AustinW. G. (Eds.), Psychology of intergroup relations (2nd ed., pp. 7–24). Chicago, IL: Nelson-Hall.
51.
TroppL. R.BrownA. C. (2004). What benefits the group can also benefit the individual: Group-enhancing and individual-enhancing motives for collective action. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 7, 267–282.
52.
TroppL. R.HawiD.van LaarC.LevinS. (2011). Cross-ethnic friendships, perceived discrimination, and their effects on ethnic activism over time: A longitudinal investigation of three ethnic minority groups. British Journal of Social Psychology. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1111/j.2044-8309.2011.02050.x10.1111/j.2044-8309.2011.02050.x
53.
TurnerJ. C.HoggM. A.OakesP. J.ReicherS. D.WetherellM. S. (1987). Rediscovering the social group: A self-categorization theory. New York, NY: Blackwell.
54.
TylerT. R.BoeckmannR. J.SmithH. J.HuoY. J. (1997). Social justice in a diverse society. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
WalkerI.SmithH. J. (Eds.). (2002). Relative deprivation: Specification, development and integration. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
58.
WrightS. C.TroppL. (2002). Collective action in response to disadvantage: Intergroup perceptions, social identification and social change. In WalkerI.SmithH. (Eds.), Relative deprivation: Specification, development, and integration (pp. 200–236). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
