The Self - Lecture 3 Flashcards
What is self-concept?
traits and attributes we use to describe ourselves.
What did James Marcia do?
expand on Erikson’s ideas about identity in adolescence
James Marcia: need to
consider both exploration
and commitment
talked abotu adolescence as a time period of exploration. He argues that we need to look at exploration (have you tried out different selves, thought about who you are?)of our identitiy and commitment (do you feel certain about who you are etc.) to our identity as separate concepts
What is identity Moratorium in terms of exploration and commitment?
What is Identity diffusion in terms of exploration and commitment?
What is identity achievement in terms of exploration and commitment?
What is identity foreclosure in terms of exploration and committment?
High exploration, low commitment
low exploration, low commitment
high exploration, high commitment
low exploration, high commitment
explain identity diffusion
- Identity diffusion
- Associated with higher levels of behavioural and emotional
problems, difficulties with relationships - More likely to report low levels of parental warmth/support
(identity diffusion. You haven’t explored or committed. Often “I don’t know who I am” and I also haven’t put a lot of thought into it. )
(where diffiusion is correlated with poor outcomes is if they start to persisit. This then turns into emotional and behavioural problems and also correlated with difficult parent relationships. )
Explain identity foreclosure
- Identity foreclosure
- Tend to show low anxiety and general life satisfaction
- Associated with higher levels of prejudice, inflexibility, need for
social approval, lower sense of autonomy - More common with controlling or overly protective parents
(you’ve committed but you haven’t necessarily thought about it. This tends to be correlated with low anxiety and high life satisfaction but it is linked with higher prejudice, more infleibility, more concerns about what other people think, more likely to do what others say. Correlated with having more controlling parents. )
Explain Moratorium
- Moratorium
- Can be associated with high levels of anxiety, conflict with authority
- Correlates may depend on the length of exploration, and amount of
rumination about exploration
(this is the most common stage for 17-19 years olds. Super common. You are trying out different things. Higher anxiety, more conflict etc. A lot of these negative outcomes seem to depend on how long the moratorium goes on. )
Explain Identity achievement
- Associated with high achievement, maturity, intimacy
- Agency → a sense of control and responsibility for one’s own
actions
you’ve explored and figured out who you are. You’ve done the testing and now you’ve committed. Correlated with hgih achievement, more maturiy, more intamacy in relationships. A sense of agency a well.
Is identity status rigid?
Often a continuous
process! It is common to
move between statuses
multiple times
this is a continuous process its really common to fluidly move between them.
this is called MaMa cycling. This is going back and forth between moratorium and achievement.
What is the difference between ethnic-racial identification and ethnic-racial identity?
Ethnic racial identification:
- how someone labels their race and/or ethnicity. Examples: Latinx, Vietnamese, White, or Navajo
(Racial/ethnic labeling and knowledge
seems to develop in childhood)
(this is how you or others label your race and ethnicity. identification shows up earlier in development. )
Ethnic racial identity: A person’s thought and feelings about their race and ethnicity and the process of developing those thoughts and feelings.
(Questions of identity
seem to be heightened in
adolescence)
(this more has to do with your thoguhts and feelings about your race and ethnicity. How you are integrating this into your overall theory of yourself. How does this start to become part of your story of yourself. These questions are thought to be heightened in adolescence. )
What is the flow chart for the ethnic-racial identity process?
unexamined ethnic identity ->
(unexamined ethnic identity. YOu haven’t really thought about what it means to who you are, how you see yourself, how others see me. )
in between: Experience/ comments;
realization of “difference”
exploration - >
(testing out how you feel about your race and ethnicity. I will start going to cultural events, I joined a club for students with the same race as me. Often friend groups start to become more homogenous. )
resolution
(this is a resolution. A way of integrating all this into your sense of self. )
What is the ethnic-racial identity content?
- Affirmation (private regard): how good/bad
a person feels about being part of their
ethnic/racial group - tends to be a protective factor
(this can vary depending on the other aspects of our ERI. If you think positively about it and it isn’t central, this is maybe not as protective. BUT if it is really central, it can make you more susceptible to steretype threat. )
(how good or bad you feel about your ethnic/racial group. Is this something positive for you or not? This is a protective factor so it is associated with better outcomes for youth. Feeling good about your racial belonging is protective. )
- Public regard: how positively a person
believes other people view their ethnic/racial
group - may depend on other aspects of ERI
how do others view your group? Maybe you feel a lot of pride but you know that most people have negative feelings towards your group.
- Centrality: how important a person’s
ethnic/racial group is to their identity - may depend on other aspects of ERI
(how central is this to yourself. Is it important to how you see yourself?)
- Salience: how important a person feels their
ethnic/racial group is to a particular situation - may depend on other aspects of ERI
(saliance can shift from time and place. )
What is Berry’s Model of Acculturation; Galan’s Multidimensional Model
graph about ethnic-racial identity for racial/ethnic “minority” youth?
What is assimilated, marginalized, bicultural, and separated?
if you come from a non-dominant racial group in a dominant culture, you often hace to come to terms with both aspcts of your ERI.
assimilated: high identify with majority culture, low identify with minority culture
marginalized: low identify with majority culture, low identify with minority culture
Bicultural: high identify with majority and minority culture (Often associated with positive outcomes, but
not always) (for Indigenous youth, bicultural identity can be complex. )
Separated: high identify with minority culture, low identify with majority culture. For some, may
be more ideal (Again, for Indigenous youth, bicultural identity can be complex. )
What does positive ERI tend to be associated with in young adults and adolescents?
In adolescents and young
adults, positive ERI tends to
be associated with…
* Lower levels of depressive
symptoms
* Higher self-esteem
* Positive academic outcomes
* Protection in the face of
discrimination
Is Discrimination pervasive for youth
from ethnic-racial
minorities/marginalized groups? What percentage?
What is this linked to?
yes.
94% black adolescents have experienced discrimination
90% Latinx adolescents have experienced discrimination
84% Asian adolescents have experienced discrimination
Discrimination is pervasive for youth
from ethnic-racial
minorities/marginalized groups
Linked to less ideal adjustment →
mental health, academic, social, etc.
discrimination -> maladjustment
But, a strong ERI may be protective (teens with high ERI are less impacted by discrimination. )
What are influences on ERI?
Ethnic racial socialization:
where children learn about the
values, attitudes, behaviours,
and perceptions associated with
race/ethnicity
* Much more common in
marginalized groups
* Common themes:
* Understanding/valuing ones’ culture
* Dealing with racism
* Succeeding in mainstream society
What does Sladek et al 2022 say about influences on ERI?
Sladek et al. (2022): “So, like, it’s
all a mix of one”: Intersecting
contexts of adolescents’ ethnic-
racial socialization
* Qualitative study → focus group
interviews with teenagers
* Asked about how they
experienced and learned about
their ethnic-racial background
they are asking what are the contexts of ethnic racial socialization. They are trying to look at broader contexts than just family. This is a qualitative study. They are doing a focus group with adolescents.
all of these contexts intersect together through interaction
feeling good about your race or ethnicity is associated with things like better self-esteem, better health, better grades, etc.
- Learning about ERI through family
→ in connection with community,
peers, media, school (family brought you to cultural events, cultural teahcings etc., )
- Learning about ERI from peers in
context of school, community;
from media in the context of
school (the wya parents help with school assignments or come in to schools to talk about ethnicity or culture. ) - Teens discussed ERI
development occurring within
systems of racism/oppression
(you can’t leave ERI socialization just throguh the family, it is helpful for the community to provide things, schools to provide things. )
What is the identity project?
What is the identity project curriculum
the identity project. Teachers are given a curriculum and each week the students are doing different projects like going home and talking to the family about your traditions etc. Generally the research finds pretty positive effects of this. Children seem to have higher self esteem, less depressive symptoms, and higher grades.
Identity Project Curriculum
1 Unpacking Identity
2 Group Differences: Within and
Between
3 Stories of Our Past
4 Symbols, Traditions, and Rites of
Passage
5 My Family History
6 Photo Processing and Storyboards
7 Ethnic-Racial Identity as a Journey
8 Grand Finale
one year later, higher self-esteem, lower depressive symptoms and higher grades.
What do we know about ERI development in multicultural youth?
limited research
almost all the focus is on monoracial or monoethnic youth. There has been a significant rise in multiracial youth. IN 200 in the US about 10% of the population had multuple ethnicities. In 2015 we have about 15%
in 2000 in Caanda 8%, 2016 15%.
This is a pretty significant population that we know less about. Development of ERI may be particularly challenging for multiracial youth. They tend to report less exploration, less affirmation, less centrality.
- May be particularly challenging!
- More likely to report ERI exploration, but
less affirmation/positive ERI, less ERI
centrality - Parents may not have experience with all
aspects of a child’s ERI; may have different
attitudes in socializing multiracial children
(if you have parents who are 2 different races or ethnicities, their race or ethnicities don’t fully match with yours. You see less ERI socialization in these homes. )
- May experience racial/ethnic invalidation
(you may be told you are not enough of each of your different aspects of your racial or ethnic identity. This may contribure to the first bullet point. ) - May be more fluid, changing over
situations and time
(it can different depending on the situation you are in and how old you are. Your feelings might change overtime. ) - May carry assets: reflection on identity;
flexible thinking?
there are assets, biracial multiethnic youth have doen mroe reflection on identity and there is also some pretty cool research finding that biracial youth may engage in more flexible thnking. May come up with more creative problem solutions. THis is similaer to research we see in bilingual development.
What do we know about ERI in white youth?
- White youth tend to discuss ERI as less
important to their identity, and white
parents engage in less ERI socialization - White youth also tend to report less
positive ERI → less exploration,
affirmation, centrality - Researchers have raised questions
about the impact of “positive” ERI in
white youth, and the need to consider
other dimensions of ERI (ie, “white
guilt”, racial consciousness)
(research on identity development more broadly was primarily done on white westenr samples but it was researchers of colour who started studying ethnic racial diveridentity because there is a benefit in the face of discrimination. Many of the historical studies on ERI have left out what id ERI on white youth.)
more positive affirmation for white youth is linked with less positive intergroup interactions/feelings.
How is ERI development impacted by context
The ethnic-racial context we grow up
in matters!
* How homogeneous/heterogeneous
schools and communities are…
* Outside of North American contexts?
* Social stratification exists across
societies!
* Which domains distinguish access to
power/resources/etc. can vary → race,
migration status, language, religion, skin
colour, etc.
- Social stratification exists across societies! (various social stratification exists across different cultures and societies etc. But what specific elements those are can vary across cultures or countries. )
- Which domains distinguish access to power/resources/etc.
can vary → race, migration status, language, religion, skin
colour, etc.
(the racial context we grow up in matters!)
