Ethnic Identity Development and Acculturation Preferences Among Minority and Majority Youth: Norms and Contact

Child Dev. 2017 May;88(3):743-760. doi: 10.1111/cdev.12788. Epub 2017 Mar 20.

Abstract

This article tests a longitudinal model of the antecedents and consequences of changes in identification with indigenous (Mapuche) among indigenous and nonindigenous youth in Chilean school contexts over a 6-month period (633 nonindigenous and 270 Mapuche students, Mages = 12.47 and 12.80 years, respectively). Results revealed that in-group norms supporting contact and quality of intergroup contact at Time 1 predicted student's changes in Mapuche identification at Time 2, which in turn predicted changes in support for adoption of Chilean culture and maintenance of Mapuche culture at Time 2; some of the relationships between these variables were found to be moderated by age and ethnicity. Conceptual and policy implications are addressed in the Discussion.

MeSH terms

  • Acculturation*
  • Adolescent
  • Child
  • Chile / ethnology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Indians, South American / ethnology*
  • Male
  • Social Identification*
  • White People / ethnology*