The goal of this study is to extend research of ethnic identity development by examining how three components of ethnic identity: ethnic search, achievement and commitment; change across the transition from high school to college. Undergraduate research project completed at the University at Buffalo.
How does ethnic identity develop across the transition from high school to college?
There will be an increase across all three components of ethnic identity: ethnic search, achievement, and commitment.
Participants:
We recruited the entire 12th grade from three public high schools in the Buffalo area.
Materials:
The Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM) revised (Phinney, 1992) was used in this study
- Items are rated on a four-point Likert scale (1= strongly disagree through 4= strongly agree).
- The measure contained 13 items:
- 5 ethnic identity search
- 7 achievement and/or commitment
- 3 questions on self identification of ethnicity, father’s and mother’s ethnicity.
We were expecting to see an increase across all three components of ethnic identity across the transition from high school to college
- Our findings supported the hypothesis for the commitment and achievement components
- Participants were more likely to commit to their ethnic identity while in college
- Participants reported significantly higher levels of ethnic identity achievement in college
- Whereas there was a normative decrease in ethnic search over time. This finding does not support our initial hypothesis.