Human Development and Family Studies, Michigan State University.
Research and Evaluation Division, OMNI Institute.
Dev Psychol. 2017 Nov;53(11):2154-2169. doi: 10.1037/dev0000388.
The present study bridges the process and content perspectives of ethnic/racial identity (ERI) by examining the longitudinal links between identity process (i.e., exploration, commitment) and a component of identity content, salience. Data were drawn from a 4-wave longitudinal study of 405 ethnically/racially diverse adolescents (63% female) from 9th to 10th grade. Results identified a transactional relation between identity process over the long-term and content in daily experiences: adolescents with stronger ERI commitment reported higher daily mean salience and less variability in salience 6 months later. At the same time, adolescents who reported more daily variability in salience engaged in more exploration 6 months later; this was particularly evident among youth who reported lower levels of mean salience. While centrality moderated some associations, most of the longitudinal associations did not vary by centrality. Building off long-standing theories of identity development that distinguish the independent effects of exploration and commitment, the data suggest that commitment predicts daily ethnic/racial salience experiences, while exploration is predicted by daily salience. Moreover, daily salience seems to serve as a developmental mechanism informing the construction of ERI over time. Implications for ERI development are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record
本研究通过考察身份形成过程（即探索、承诺）与身份内容的一个组成部分（凸显性）之间的纵向联系，弥合了民族/种族认同（ERI）的过程和内容视角。数据来自一项对 405 名来自 9 至 10 年级的不同种族/族裔背景的青少年（63%为女性）进行的 4 波纵向研究。研究结果发现，长期以来身份形成过程与日常经验中的内容之间存在一种交互关系：ERI 承诺较强的青少年报告称，6 个月后，他们的日常凸显性平均值更高，变化更小。与此同时，报告日常凸显性变化较大的青少年在 6 个月后会进行更多的探索；对于报告平均凸显性较低的年轻人来说，这种情况尤其明显。虽然中心性调节了一些关联，但大多数纵向关联并不因中心性而异。基于区分探索和承诺的独立影响的长期身份发展理论，这些数据表明，承诺预测日常民族/种族凸显性体验，而探索则由日常凸显性预测。此外，日常凸显性似乎是一个发展机制，随着时间的推移为 ERI 的构建提供信息。讨论了 ERI 发展的意义。
