Ethnic and Cultural Identity: Perceptions, Discrimination and Social Challenges 9781634838719, 9781634839235

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FOCUS ON CIVILIZATIONS AND CULTURES

ETHNIC AND CULTURAL IDENTITY PERCEPTIONS, DISCRIMINATION AND SOCIAL CHALLENGES

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FOCUS ON CIVILIZATIONS AND CULTURES

ETHNIC AND CULTURAL IDENTITY PERCEPTIONS, DISCRIMINATION AND SOCIAL CHALLENGES

ADRIENNE D. WARNER EDITOR

New York

Copyright © 2015 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means: electronic, electrostatic, magnetic, tape, mechanical photocopying, recording or otherwise without the written permission of the Publisher. We have partnered with Copyright Clearance Center to make it easy for you to obtain permissions to reuse content from this publication. Simply navigate to this publication’s page on Nova’s website and locate the “Get Permission” button below the title description. This button is linked directly to the title’s permission page on copyright.com. Alternatively, you can visit copyright.com and search by title, ISBN, or ISSN. For further questions about using the service on copyright.com, please contact: Copyright Clearance Center Phone: +1-(978) 750-8400 Fax: +1-(978) 750-4470 E-mail: [email protected]. NOTICE TO THE READER The Publisher has taken reasonable care in the preparation of this book, but makes no expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for incidental or consequential damages in connection with or arising out of information contained in this book. The Publisher shall not be liable for any special, consequential, or exemplary damages resulting, in whole or in part, from the readers’ use of, or reliance upon, this material. Any parts of this book based on government reports are so indicated and copyright is claimed for those parts to the extent applicable to compilations of such works. Independent verification should be sought for any data, advice or recommendations contained in this book. In addition, no responsibility is assumed by the publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property arising from any methods, products, instructions, ideas or otherwise contained in this publication. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the subject matter covered herein. It is sold with the clear understanding that the Publisher is not engaged in rendering legal or any other professional services. If legal or any other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent person should be sought. FROM A DECLARATION OF PARTICIPANTS JOINTLY ADOPTED BY A COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION AND A COMMITTEE OF PUBLISHERS. Additional color graphics may be available in the e-book version of this book.

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Published by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. † New York

CONTENTS vii 

Preface Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

The Role of Ethnicity and Culture in Body Dissatisfaction and Disordered Eating among Young Females Virginia L. Lam 

1 

Ethnic Identity in the Shadow of Perceptions of Social Discrimination: The Case of Immigrants from Ethiopia in Israel Pnina Golan-Cook, Keith Goldstein and Elite Olshtain 

19 

Ethnic Identity As a Protective Resource for Discrimination among North American Indians: A Comparison with Mainstream Adults in Canada Barbara M. Gfellner 

37 

The Role of Ethnocentrism in the Relationship between Openness to Experience and Ethnic Prejudice Elizabeth Huxley, Boris Bizumic and Amanda Kenny 

85 

Ethnic Minority Language Use at Home and in Schools: An Investigation into Somali Children’s Bilingualism in Manchester Salman Al-Azami and Chefena Hailemariam 

103 

Chapter 6

The Family Dinner: Mothers’ Perceptions of Family Togetherness Mica N. McGriggs and Andrew S. Walters 

Chapter 7

The Mirror Has Two Faces: Muslim-Identified Women’s Perceptions about Veiling Sara F. Mouhktar and Andrew S. Walters 

145 

How Discrimination Influences Identity Negotiation in International Adoptees Mylène Boivin and Ghayda Hassan 

169 

Cultural Identity and Positive Youth Development: The Centrality of Culture in Effective Health Interventions for Latino Adolescents Andrew S. Walters and Annabelle L. Nelson 

185 

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

121 

vi Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Index

Contents Deconstructing the Mystique of the Latin Lover: Latino Men’s Narratives of Romance Ivan Valenzuela and Andrew S. Walters  Mapping Racial Neoliberalism in US Popular Culture: The Donald Sterling Affair, “Old Racism” Films and Undercover Boss Sean Brayton 

207 

231  249 

PREFACE This book provides the latest research in ethnic and cultural identity. The first chapter examines the relationship between ethnic identity, culture, body dissatisfaction and related disorder eating behaviors among diverse ethnic groups of adolescent and young female adults. The second chapter discusses migrants' perceptions of intergroup relations and ethnic group statue in the host society. The third chapter provides an overview of research on perceived discrimination, which is considered the most severe stressor for minority individuals given its persuasive impact on health and well-being. The fourth and fifth chapters include discussions on the relationship between openness to experience, ethnocentrism, and ethnic prejudice, and the effects of language policy on ethnic minority language maintenance among a relatively newer community in Manchester. The sixth chapter examines how social, gendered, and economic forces have changed the ways in which family systems create and sustain a familial identity. The second half of the book includes a narrative analysis to explore how a sample of Muslim-identified women attributed meaning to the practice of veiling and the contexts by which women decided to - or not to -wear the hijab; a summary of the results of a qualitative study exploring the influence of discrimination on identity negotiation in transracial international adoptees; provides a review of established health risks to Latinoidentifying persons in the United States and successful interventions with various samples; deconstructs the Latin lover stereotype; and finally, maps racial neoliberalism in U.S. popular culture. Chapter 1 - The drive for thinness as part of the ideal female body form is prevalent in Western societies. However, this drive is not necessarily uniformly adopted by all; many women from minority ethnic, particularly Black or African and Caribbean, backgrounds do not accept being thin as part of their cultural beauty standards. In this vein, their ethnic identity and cultural practices and beliefs have been suggested to act as a buffer against body dissatisfaction and appearance esteem issues. The present chapter examines the relationship between ethnic identity, culture, body dissatisfaction and related disordered eating behaviours among diverse ethnic groups of adolescent and young adult females. Particular attention is paid to the notion of attractiveness and beauty ideals or standards across ethnic groups particularly relative to the Eurocentric ‘thin ideals’ prevalent in Western societies, and how cultural and subcultural notions of beauty that differ from the thin ideals may operate as a protective factor for some females and not others. It is discussed how, despite a stronger ethnic identity and higher body satisfaction, the Black woman (and certain other minority females) is not totally immune from eating disorders and that, in fact, the Black-White gap in

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the prevalence of eating disorders has been narrowing in recent times. The prominent theoretical models that have been documented to account for the phenomenon together with the key empirical findings are used to illuminate such increasingly recognised and debated issues while the ‘gaps’ still remaining in the literature are highlighted for future research directions. Chapter 2 - Migrants’ perceptions of intergroup relations and ethnic group status in the host society are believed to be central to identity reconstruction. Previous research validates this position in the case of immigrant students from Ethiopia in Israeli colleges, where ethnic identity increased as a function of perceptions of ethnolinguistic vitality- a measure used to measure ‘group status’ in the social milieu. However, in the case at hand, the objectively low-vitality status of the Ethiopian community in Israel, coupled with perceptions of racial discrimination, creates challenges for migrants who eagerly adopt the dominant Israeli identity while striving to maintain their indigenous identity. The impact of subjective experiences of discrimination on identity reconstruction and overall well-being of migrants have been well-documented in migration research. The migrants’ perceptions of ethnic identity, subjective ethnolinguistic vitality, and need for social change were examined through Simultaneous Equations Modeling (path analysis), taking into account such demographic variables as age at migration. A "best fit" model is presented, which shows how Ethiopian Israelis who maintain their indigenous identity perceive greater group inequalities, and those amongst them with more tenure in the country express greater expectations for social change. Chapter 3 - Ethnic/racial identity (ERI) is examined as a resource for perceived discrimination among North American Indian/First Nation (NAI/FN) and a comparison sample of Caucasian university students in Canada. The chapter provides a review of the background research and describes a study that investigated associations between various dimensions of ERI, perceived discrimination, measures of positive and negative adjustment; and the role of these ERI components as potential moderators in the linkages of perceived discrimination with the functional outcomes. As expected, NAI/FN students’ ratings of perceived discrimination, the distress associated with it, and the ERI measures (except public regard) exceeded those of Caucasian students. Similarities and differences were seen between the groups. Perceived discrimination was not supported consistently as a predictor of the ERI dimensions although exploration was prominent for both groups. Being older and female was associated with ERI on the process dimensions of ERI among NAI/FN students; centrality and private regard were protective resources. As expected, private regard buffered the negative effect of perceived discrimination on indices of distress; and low public regard exacerbated the adverse effect of perceived discrimination on distress among NAI/FN students. Differential effects were found for the Caucasian students. Implications are considered. Chapter 4 - Many studies have found that openness to experience is a personality trait that strongly predicts prejudice against different social groups. Researchers, however, have failed to examine the role of ethnocentrism in the relationship between openness to experience and ethnic prejudice. In addition, studies generally have not addressed the role of the multifaceted nature of openness to experience in ethnic prejudice. In this chapter, the authors argue that ethnocentrism is the key construct that fully explains the link between openness to experience and ethnic prejudice. The authors report a study that examined the

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relationship between openness to experience, ethnocentrism, and ethnic prejudice in a sample of 223 participants. Overall, openness to experience was found to negatively predict ethnic prejudice, but as hypothesized, ethnocentrism fully mediated this relationship. Furthermore, four facets of openness to experience – liberalism, emotionality, adventurousness, and intellect – had significant negative indirect effects on ethnic prejudice via ethnocentrism. The findings suggest that low openness to experience predisposes people to ethnocentric attitudes, which in turn predispose them to increased prejudice against ethnic outgroups. The implications of these findings for the author’s understanding the role of personality in ethnic prejudice are discussed, in addition to limitations of the current study and possible avenues for future research. Chapter 5 - This research investigates the effects of language policy on ethnic minority language maintenance among a relatively newer community in Manchester. It looks into bilingualism among the Somali children in two schools in Manchester in terms of the communicative roles of languages inside and outside the school environment. The study examines the overt and covert issues that affect ethnic minority children’s use of their heritage language while learning in English in their schools. Statistics from local educational authorities provides educational achievement patterns by ethnicity. However, such data may not always reveal the actual linguistic, social and psychological underpinning, such as language literacy practices specific to a community, social identity, school-home cooperation etc. This study deals with issues and emerging themes from focus group meetings conducted with pupils, parents and teachers in two primary schools in Manchester with significant presence of ethnic Somali pupils. The main purpose of this small-scale research was to identify the real issues that young Somali children encounter in a context of constant struggle between their heritage language, which remains their ethnic identity whether they had ever been to Somalia or not, and English, which they have to use to succeed in their adopted country. The study concludes that despite positive reinforcement by both the schools about children’s heritage language and good home-school link lack of effective national language policy regarding teaching ethnic minority languages in schools have contributed to the decline in use of Somali by children in both the schools. The study also observes that over-emphasis on modern foreign languages in UK schools means that ethnic minority languages have little role in the school environment leading to many children’s language shift. Chapter 6 - A number of social, gendered, and economic forces have changed the ways in which family systems create and sustain a familial identity. One historical mechanism through which families gathered was the family dinner. Here, if at no other time during the day, members of a family were assured time with one another. In the context of the family dinner, cultural- and family-based identities could be replicated. For some families, opportunities for a once routine family dinner is less common today than it was for families in recent decades. Family members – parents and children – juggle a number of responsibilities and activities that impede or simply disallow the possibility that all members of the family are available for shared togetherness at the family dinner. In the current study, the authors examined the nature of the family dinner. The authors sampled mothers who reported their families made a commitment to at least two family dinners a week and where an adolescent child was involved in school- or community-activities. Using a qualitative-quantitative mixed-method, mothers in the author’s sample participated in an individual interview exploring perceptions and beliefs about the nature of the family dinner. The authors report limited quantitative results for the entire sample. Using grounded theory, the authors then

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focus on narratives from five mothers who each saw family togetherness at the dinner table from a different cultural lens. The mothers in the author’s sample believed strongly that the family dinner remains a core and critical component of cultural and family life. Chapter 7 - The research presented in this chapter used narrative analysis to explore how a sample of Muslim-identified women attributed meaning to the practice of veiling and the contexts by which women decided to – or to not – wear the hijab. Social and behavioral research has begun to explore the cultural parameters of how segments of the United States perceive and treat persons who are or who are perceived to be Muslim. Muslim women who veil (i.e., the wearing of the hijab or niqāb) convey to others their affiliation with Islam and, by the mere adornment of clothing, forfeit the potential to pass – that is, to go unrecognized – as a Muslim in what may be unwelcoming environments. In the current chapter, the authors report on how narrative interpretations of informants’ experiences living in the United States defined and expanded their choices to or to not veil. It was of particular interest to explore women’s understanding of and choice to veil in this particular sample because all women were living in the United States after having been raised in a country where Islam is the majority religion. Thus, these women could attest to the experience of veiling in a society where many (or, in some situations, most) women veil and then living in a country where veiling is quite rare and associated with negative impressions or stereotypes from some members of the dominant society. Narratives reflected an understanding of the potential risks women might experience by conveying their membership to the Islamic faith but also a sense of self-assuredness in their decisions to veil. Chapter 8 - Although transracial international adoptees in North America tend to identify with the dominant White culture, they often face challenges related to their ethnic and racial minority statuses. In this context, experiences of discrimination are likely to induce identity dissonance and conflict. This chapter’s purpose is twofold. Firstly, it summarizes the results of a systematic review on ethnic identity, discrimination, and psychological adjustment. The review results show that actual data are insufficient to conclude on a relation between racial socialization practices, a stronger ethnic identity, and a better psychological adjustment in transracial adoptees. It also sheds light on the lack of studies addressing the effects of discrimination in transracial adoptees. Secondly, this chapter underlines the results of a qualitative study exploring the influence of discrimination on identity negotiation in transracial international adoptees. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 teenagers adopted from Asian countries and Ghana by White parents. Grounded theory analysis reveals that assimilation is the strategy most teenagers use, however, this strategy comes at a high cost for those who experience higher levels of discrimination. These teenagers experience identity confusion and loyalty conflicts in relation to families and cultures. Clinical implications and study limitations are discussed. Chapter 9 - Professionals from a variety of disciplines are interested in positive youth development. Substantial literatures detail how educational, public health-focused, and intervention-based programs can facilitate positive outcomes for youth. Program evaluations have documented what components of health interventions have been most effective; these often are mediated or moderated by a number of factors, including youth age, gender, perceptions of peer norms, ecological variables (e.g., household income, caregivers’ educational level), and the extent to which the target population perceives the intervention as personally relevant. Programs and interventions that are created and implemented to be culturally relevant to the target group are likely to have beneficial outcomes. Programs or

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interventions that do not take into account the centrality of culture are less effective or ineffective. In this chapter, the authors focus on youths’ cultural context as contributing to the successes of health-focused interventions. The authors provide a review of established health risks to Latino-identifying persons in the United States and successful interventions with various samples. The authors then describe an intervention designed for and implemented to Latino-identifying middle-school students. The authors focus on how the majority of components to the intervention were created foundationally on Latino and Mexican culture. The authors conclude by emphasizing the critical importance for educators, community leaders, and interventionists to create and implement culturally relevant programs with an eye on positive youth development. Chapter 10 - As part of a larger study exploring dimensions of masculinity within Latinoidentifying men, the authors explored men’s participation and performance with romanticism in their dating or marital relationships. Bibliographic interviews were conduced with twenty men. All men identified as cisgender and as heterosexual. Versions of grounded theory were used to dimensionalize ways in which men performed romance and integrated the nature and value of romance into a larger sense of self. Men understood that several social stereotypes exist about Latino and Hispanic men as romantic partners – a mystique that could be simultaneously mythical, amusing, and ethnically demeaning. The authors found that men rejected the myth of the stereotyped Latin lover, a man whose mystique centers around narcissism and disrespect toward others. Rather, results from the author’s interviews suggest that men approached their romantic relationships with a caring and conscientious commitment to show affection and respect to romantic partners. Using grounded theory, three core themes emerged that centered on men’s integration and participation in romance. Participants recognized that the pleasure they experienced in creating romance with their partners was askew from stereotypes of the Latin Lover; they also understood that the stereotype could be replicated independently by others but that, to them, it was important to establish a romantic relationship based on sincerely-held values of respect, care, and affection for a partner. Chapter 11 - Beset by a series of racial paradoxes, the “Obama era” signals an age of purported “colorblindness” for some and a time of heightened racial violence and police brutality for others. The idiosyncratic “absent-presence” of racial politics is increasingly pervasive in US popular culture. From professional sports and Hollywood films to “reality” TV, popular media provide “public pedagogies” of race and ethnicity that confirm but also contest declarations of colorblindness and neoliberal incarnations. In this essay, the author discusses three distinct but complementary media narratives that appear “multicultural” and “antiracist” but ultimately support a condition of “racial neoliberalism,” where race and racism are “privatized,” historically distanced and/or muted entirely. These narratives include: 1. The disciplinary proceedings of Donald Sterling, the racist (former) owner of the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team; 2. The recent cycle of “old racism” films in Hollywood, including Django Unchained (2012), The Help (2011), Twelve Years a Slave (2013) and The Butler (2013); and 3. Undercover Boss, a “philanthropic” reality TV series where company presidents dress in disguise to learn firsthand how to improve working conditions, optimize productivity and reward “deserving” workers. While Undercover Boss has been widely criticized for its misleading promotion of corporate benevolence during the Great Recession, the series often reveals an employment structure of white male power and racialized labor, which pass unacknowledged and overlooked by cast and critics. My contention is that the

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racial ideologies of Undercover Boss can be teased out and challenged in relation to wider narratives of racial neoliberalism, including those embedded in professional sports and Hollywood films. Though these narratives appear unrelated, they each illustrate in novel ways how racial neoliberalism in political culture is supported but also potentially subverted in popular media.

In: Ethnic and Cultural Identity Editor: Adrienne D. Warner

ISBN: 978-1-63483-871-9 © 2015 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 1

THE ROLE OF ETHNICITY AND CULTURE IN BODY DISSATISFACTION AND DISORDERED EATING AMONG YOUNG FEMALES Virginia L. Lam University of East London, London, UK

ABSTRACT The drive for thinness as part of the ideal female body form is prevalent in Western societies. However, this drive is not necessarily uniformly adopted by all; many women from minority ethnic, particularly Black or African and Caribbean, backgrounds do not accept being thin as part of their cultural beauty standards. In this vein, their ethnic identity and cultural practices and beliefs have been suggested to act as a buffer against body dissatisfaction and appearance esteem issues. The present chapter examines the relationship between ethnic identity, culture, body dissatisfaction and related disordered eating behaviours among diverse ethnic groups of adolescent and young adult females. Particular attention is paid to the notion of attractiveness and beauty ideals or standards across ethnic groups particularly relative to the Eurocentric ‘thin ideals’ prevalent in Western societies, and how cultural and subcultural notions of beauty that differ from the thin ideals may operate as a protective factor for some females and not others. It is discussed how, despite a stronger ethnic identity and higher body satisfaction, the Black woman (and certain other minority females) is not totally immune from eating disorders and that, in fact, the Black-White gap in the prevalence of eating disorders has been narrowing in recent times. The prominent theoretical models that have been documented to account for the phenomenon together with the key empirical findings are used to illuminate such increasingly recognised and debated issues while the ‘gaps’ still remaining in the literature are highlighted for future research directions.

INTRODUCTION Although it is a widely held maxim that ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder,’ and there exist a great deal of individual and cultural variations of beauty ideals and attractiveness

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standards that can also change over time, evidence has accumulated to show that certain beauty criteria seem nevertheless to dominate certain sections of the world. Most notably, in White-majority societies attractiveness appears to be defined overwhelmingly by White or Caucasian criteria, and beauty standards of women of colour, or ethnic minority groups, are often overlooked in the process (Mok 1998). The ‘Eurocentric’ criteria have important implications for the many non-White ethnic minority female members in those societies in terms of the development of their self-concepts, where physical self-evaluations play a particularly significant role since preadolescence (Jaffe and Mahle Lutter 1995). Such a value-laden self-concept, often pitted against some prominent attractiveness standards, known as the body image among diverse ethnic groups of women has become a well-researched area for the past two decades. This is a chapter dedicated to explore the literature on the relationship between ethnic identity, body image dissatisfaction and related eating behaviour among diverse ethnic groups of adolescent and young adult females. The next section will thereby first provide an overview of the links between ethnicity, identity and body image dissatisfaction to examine this phenomenon that has become increasingly recognised and debated in recent years. At the same time, there is clear evidence from a number of fields (e.g., ethnic studies, anthropological observations, sociological research, psychological studies on mental health) to suggest that White standards of attractiveness exert a deleterious effect on ethnic minority women’s psychological well-being and physical health. Now a rapidly accumulating volume of work shows that eating disorders, historically perceived to be illnesses of the young White woman or those of European descent, are increasingly experienced by ethnic minority women in the Western world (see Flowers, Levesque and Fischer 2012, Rogers Wood and Petrie 2010, Stojek and Fischer 2013, for reviews, for instance). And although there has been an increase in research comparing disordered eating symptomatology across ethnic groups, studies that have explored the mechanisms underlying the development of symptoms in nonWhite or minority populations remain comparably scarce. The available literature on such potential mechanisms associating body image dissatisfaction to disordered eating behaviour will be examined in the penultimate section of this chapter. With these issues in mind, it is paramount to ascertain the impact of ethnicity and its associated identity, emotional attachments, and cultural beliefs and practices, whilst living in social environments where standards of attractiveness remain highly Eurocentric, on the wellbeing of diverse groups of young females. There are ‘gaps’ still within the literature in terms of where and how research could go as far as the relationship between ethnicity, body image and mental and physical well-being is concerned. The last section of the chapter will review these key concepts while ‘homing in’ on where future studies can focus on or how they may take shape before a general conclusion amalgamating all the issues that have been discussed.

ETHNICITY, IDENTITY AND BODY DISSATISFACTION It is fair to say that body image dissatisfaction is highly prevalent among women across the world. This dissatisfaction is already commonplace among preadolescent girls (McLaughlin, Belon, Smith and Erickson 2015), and it becomes increasingly common through adolescence and well into adulthood (Jaffee and Mahle Lutter 1995, Talwar, Carter

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and Gleaves 2012). The roles of ethnicity and culture are frequently cited in variations of body image dissatisfaction, with the related disordered eating (see the next section), constituting both protective and risk factors. Much literature now reports that ethnic identity is positively associated with general psychological health such as self-esteem for ethnic minorities in all of children, adolescents and adults (Corenblum and Armstrong 2012, Nesdale and Mak 2003, Syed and Azmitia 2009), but research ascertaining its relationship with specific aspects of our well-being—here body satisfaction, and weight and eating concerns— require confirmation. From the research that has accrued, the concept known as ‘thin ideal internalisation,’ or internalisation of ‘societal beauty ideals,’ is of central importance. This refers to the (Eurocentric) view, as surmised in the introduction, that being thin is the standardised beauty ideal at least in Western societies, and how women who ‘internalise’ it— endorse this view for themselves and strive to achieve its relevant criteria—are at greater risk of body image dissatisfaction and related health issues (Rogers Wood and Petrie 2010). This means that those who identify more with the mainstream culture are more likely to adopt attitudes about being thin and become dissatisfied with their own bodies, while those adhering to an ethnic culture that favours other body shapes are not: this discussion will unfold gradually in the following. Previous research has often documented that, relative to White or Caucasian women, Black women, or women of African and Caribbean backgrounds, held a more positive body image and higher self-esteem (Harris 1994, Molley and Herzberger 1998). Even when weight perception was similar between White and Black adolescents, Black girls were more likely to consider themselves attractive, to like the way they looked, and to feel that their bodies were competent and capable (Jaffee and Mahle Lutter 1995). Also, if there was dissatisfaction with the body for Black women, this was largely related to actual weight problems (overweight or obese) whereas White women were more likely to report dissatisfaction and adopt disordered eating despite being of normal weight (e.g., Abrams, Allen and Gray 1993, Petersons, Rojhani, Steinhaus and Larkin 2000). These findings were seen to bear out the differential body image norms or standards of Black or African subcultures (where thinness is not upheld as the ideal standard of beauty), and the women perceived that men of their race or ethnic culture tended less to prefer thin, small-figured women than their respective White male counterparts. There is also some evidence that Latina culture is similarly appreciative of larger bodies than is US mainstream or White culture (Chamorro and Flores-Ortiz 2000). There is recent evidence that the body mass index (BMI), itself a measure of weight in relation to height, is associated with thin-ideal internalisation; the heavier one is, the more he or she wishes or strives to be thin (Rakhkovskaya and Warren 2014). However, ethnic identity moderates this relationship between thin-ideal internalisation and weight and eating concerns, such that for those with weaker ethnic identity their strife for thinness is more strongly related to weight concerns. This research shows that White or European-descent women (who tended to have weaker ethnic identification) showed lower body image satisfaction and more weight and eating concerns than Black women, in particular, who held less thin-ideal internalisation. This is reminiscent of other research (Oney, Cole and Sellers 2011) showing that body image dissatisfaction is linked to lower self-esteem only among African American men and women for whom race was less central to their identity. In particular, higher private regard (positive feelings about own racial group) and lower body dissatisfaction were associated with higher self-esteem and low public regard (perceived

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positive feelings that others have about racial in-group), and higher body dissatisfaction were associated with lower self-esteem. From one of the scarcer studies with Hispanic women, there was evidence that both White and Latina young women were less satisfied with their lower body than Black women, but the greater dissatisfaction in Latinas was associated with weaker ethnic identity (Warren 2014). Similarly, over in New Zealand, even though there are many similarities between the European and Maori young women generally in terms of body dissatisfaction, BMI is related to body concerns particularly among the European than Maori women, and having a stronger Maori ethnic identity is associated with lower levels of weight concerns (Talwar et al. 2012). Taken together, with few exceptions where the relationship between ethnic identification and body dissatisfaction has not been found (e.g., Baugh et al. 2010, Lester and Petrie 2003), most available research suggests that ethnic identity may serve as a ‘protective’ factor against body dissatisfaction and weight concerns for ethnically diverse female groups. Then, how does this actually ‘work’? How strong does one’s identity have to be to ‘confer’ to one such a sense of body satisfaction that the influence of Eurocentric thin ideals no longer holds sway? Jean S. Phinney (1992, 1993), the veteran researcher in ethnic identity formation, for particularly the stage of adolescence, defines ethnic identity as the level of identification one has with one’s own ethnic group, and argues that this identification is what links the person’s ethnicity to his/her psychological outcomes. Her model proposes that a strong or committed ethnic identity requires that the individual resolved issues or feelings about his/her own and other groups and this involves contact with his/her own ethnic group for reference as well as other groups as essential to identity development. Applied to the issue of body satisfaction— if identifying with one’s ethnic group includes notions of what is ideal in terms of beauty and attractiveness—it would go that the young Black (or other non-White) woman with stronger ethnic identification would appreciate larger body sizes (or alternative shapes), with a lower concern for being overweight. Conversely those who embrace the mainstream culture would be more vulnerable to the pressures for thinness. And both have been given support through research (e.g., Abrams et al. 1993, Botta 2000, Schooler, Ward, Merriwether and Caruthers 2004). Such works, often designed to find a connection between media use and body image, have tended to find different patterns for White and Black women. While mainstream media viewing is shown to predict poor body image for White women more than for Black women, Black-oriented media will instead promote healthier image along with ethnic identity. These suggest that effects of media exposure on body image exist in ethnicity-based domains. Indeed, mass media have long been criticised for promoting unrealistically thin ideals through (often White) models and celebrities contributing to mass body image dissatisfaction among women with some research finding that greater exposure to media is related to greater endorsement of the thin ideal, less satisfaction with one’s body, and greater disordered eating symptomatology (e.g., Botta 1999, Harrison 2000, 2001; also the next section). Cultivation theory (Gerbner, Gross, Morgan, and Signorielli, 1994) has long argued that consistent media representations construct, and expose viewers to, a skewed reality (of impossibly thin bodies) that they eventually adopt as if valid, leading to decreased satisfaction with their own bodies. At the same time, researchers are intrigued by how Black women appear to be less vulnerable to the ‘thin-ideal’ media and be satisfied with their bodies despite being larger and consuming more televised media. To this end, a few theories have been better regarded by scholars from mass communications towards understanding the relationships between media exposure and body dissatisfaction. One of the most prominent ones has been the social comparison theory

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(Festinger 1954), which posits that as viewers regularly compare themselves to images they find realistic or attainable, efforts are made to narrow the gap if a discrepancy is detected. Yet central to this premise is similarity: individuals typically like to compare themselves more to others similar to themselves. Because most models in mainstream media are White, this tenet may explain why Black women may be generally less susceptible to the influence of those images as the thin models are not treated as valid ‘referents’ for comparisons. In principle, this ‘protection’ should work even better for young Black women who have a preference for ‘Black-oriented’ over mainstream media (O’Connor, Brooks-Gunn and Graber 2000). The few experimental studies that have made use of stimuli manipulated to represent different body imageries and media portrayals of ‘ideal’ female bodies to gauge respondent’s perceptions have given a rare glimpse into the possible mechanism underlying the association between the representations, expectations about thinness and body satisfaction among young females. For example, an earlier study presented Black female undergraduates’ photographs of either Black or White models, or no photographs, for their evaluations, before they completed measures of their own body esteem, self-esteem, racial identity and attractiveness (Makkar and Strube 1995). It was revealed that body esteem was related to self-esteem for only those who viewed the photographs, and relative self-versus-models attractiveness depended on own self-esteem, racial identity, and the models’ race (more attractive versus White models when self-esteem was high and identity was strong). This indicates that beauty ‘standards’ involve some comparison process, and in the case of Black females with high self-esteem and a secure self-consciousness about their race group, self-evaluations can be heightened against the backdrop of attractiveness attributed to White standards of beauty. More recently, a study designed to examine the influence of exposure to thin ideals in Black-oriented programming on young Black women’s body image disturbance made use of rap music videos varying in body size to gauge exposure to thin-ideal images (Zhang, Dixon and Conrad 2009). The researchers drew on the ‘theory of attributional ambiguity’ (Crocker and Major 1989)—where members of stigmatised groups would ponder whether messages about their groups from others (including the media) reflect truly who they are or social stereotypes (thus attributing negative outcomes to prejudice that can provide a buffering effect protecting one’s well-being). As mentioned, Black women are less likely to use White media images as referents for beauty standards, preferring in-group over out-group comparisons—except that rap music videos similarly objectify Black women sexually in ways that reproduce thin-ideal imagery, rendering thin Black bodies aspirational. The researchers reported that the effect of exposure to ‘thin-ideal’ rap videos on Black women’s body image was shaped by their ethnic identity strength: for women with a stronger ethnic identity viewing was less related to body dissatisfaction, less drive for thinness and lower bulimic tendencies, but the reverse was true for those with a weaker ethnic identity. The above findings suggest that young Black women with a weaker ethnic identity are particularly vulnerable to the influence of thin images. Going by the earlier mentioned theoretical premises of social comparison and attributional ambiguity, some may claim that these women rely less on the “Black” culture per se, but tend to endorse beliefs and attitudes on body image reflecting the mainstream standard of beauty, and engage in ‘upward’ comparisons (against thin White targets) feeling dissatisfied with their bodies (Zhang et al. 2009). For the women with strong ethnic identity, such comparisons are unlikely, as beauty ideals in line with their own culture and a healthier body image are endorsed. This is also apparent in other non-White minorities; a recent study (Schooler and Daniels 2014) with

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Latina teenagers (age 13-18 years) shows that after viewing photographs of thin sexualised (versus non-sexualised) White women they were more likely to spontaneously cite their ethnicity in a self-description task—indicator of ethnic identity salience—which was, in turn, associated with their more positive descriptions of own appearance including the body. These findings are in line with the premise that ethnic identity may act as a protective factor that buffers minority young females from the influence of thin media images by shifting the social comparison process away from dominant thin ideals. The review so far highlights not only the harmful impact of repeated exposure to thin ideals in the media, but also the protective effects of ethnic identity among minority females. Much further research has centred on the degree of ethnic identification and acculturation in relation to body dissatisfaction. As ‘acculturation’ denotes one’s changes in cultural attitudes, values and behaviours resulting from sustained contact (Berry 1980) mainly with the (White) mainstream—including its cultural standards like the thin ideals—these may be accompanied by changes in conceptualisation of the ideal body. Research has already found a link between acculturation and eating disorder (see the next section), thus a link between acculturation and body dissatisfaction and related affect likely form part of the mechanism to disordered eating. Further, apart from ethnic identity, social capitals such as ties to the family and wider ethnic community (who endorse larger body shapes), known to buffer acculturative stress (Romero, Martinez and Carvajal 2007), can make buffers of body-related concerns and dissatisfaction. Research has explored the culturally relevant variables including ethnic identity and ‘familism’ (the extent to which one feels rooted in the family) as buffers against body- and eating-related issues in Mexican American women (Bettendorf and Fischer 2009). Familism became the strongest buffer, with control concerns, restricted eating and body satisfaction being associated with stronger acculturation only among women who had weaker family ties. Ethnic identity was a buffer, but only on the link between restrictive eating and acculturation. Meanwhile, not all minority women are equally buffered from negative body image. A study of college-age European, African and Asian American females (Sabik, Cole and Ward 2010) has found distinct patterns between these groups. For African Americans high in other-group orientation, appearance esteem had a stronger link with drive for thinness, where the highest engagement with the dominant (European) culture was related to lowest esteem and strongest drive for thinness, rendering them vulnerable to weight concerns. Asian Americans, the group generally under-researched, reported relatively lower appearance esteem, similar to European Americans (who were the most discontent), but also the lowest drive for thinness and weightbased self-worth, despite having the highest other-group orientation. These differences mean that cultural explanations such as the buffering ‘hypothesis’ may be useful for some minority women, yet generalising across all groups can overlook other psychological or health issues. The literature then indicates that ethnic identity and affiliation with the ethnic group— including the family, community and media—may play additive roles by promoting a healthy body image as a normative part of their own culture for many Black and minority females. It is worth noting, however, that many media images of Black (and other minority) women can be as exclusionary as those of White women: Black celebrities typically have lighter skin or more ‘Caucasian’ features than the majority of their viewers, for instance (see Schooler et al. 2004). It is also important to note that Black and minority women are not totally ‘immune’ to body image dissatisfaction. The research above has reviewed some protective and risk factors in regard the effects of subscribing to the mainstream beauty ideals. In reality, however, the gap between White and non-White females in body image dissatisfaction and eating disorder

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has been narrowing for years (e.g., Franko, Becker, Thomas and Herzog 2007, Gilbert 2003). In the next section, the paths from body dissatisfaction to disordered eating will be addressed in this growing phenomenon among diverse groups of females.

FROM BODY DISSATISFACTION TO DISORDERED EATING Despite the common perceptions to the contrary as explored above, women of diverse ethnic origins do experience body dissatisfaction and eating pathology. Yet meta-analyses do reveal that White or European-descent women suffer from eating disorders more than other women, in particular Black or African-descent women (e.g., O’Neill 2003, Petersons et al. 2000), if the differences are not large. Why prevalence of eating disorders should be lower among the Black female population has been subject to much speculation. This section explores the key explanations for, or pathways to, eating disorders in different groups, most involving a main factor of ethnicity or mainstream acculturation as earlier described, and some in combination with other key factors such as body image concerns, leading to disordered eating behaviours. Various proponents from sociological and cultural anthropological perspectives have emphasised the role of culture as a risk for developing eating disorder through internalisation of the thin female ideal that is prevalent in the Western world. In specific, the ‘sociocultural’ model of disordered eating (Stice 1994) has been a broadly endorsed account. This account explains eating disorders as being channelled through three factors: 1) physical appearance as central for gender self-concept (that physical features are associated with being ‘beautiful’ as a female); 2) importance of physical appearance for societal success (that being attractive can lead to being successful in careers, relationships and life in general); and 3) thin ideals being promoted for women as earlier discussed. The latter factor in and of itself has received much attention as reviewed in the previous section, but the following will examine whether it can ‘take a step further’ leading to actual disordered eating in diverse groups of women. According to the sociocultural model, awareness of the cultural thin ideal can already foster an internalisation of this ideal, leading to body dissatisfaction, which will in turn place individuals at risk for developing eating disorders. This has largely been supported by studies with White women (e.g., Stice 2001, 2002). Past research with non-White women tended to explore concepts that are theoretically or empirically relevant to them (such as ethnic identity or acculturation), or capturing experiences of women that can offer a framework for body- or eating-related concerns. For instance, research has revealed that levels of body dissatisfaction and disordered eating in Latinas are similar to, or even higher than, those of Whites, and that they are susceptible to the kinds of eating and body concerns addressed in Whites, insofar as they are acculturated (reviewed by Bettendorf and Fischer 2009). Yet whether the ‘thin ideals’ are internalised, or whether it is internalisation that gives rise to disordered eating, is unclear. This queries whether specific traits characterising body dissatisfaction, an affect, do not only transpire into the relevant attitudes such as drive for thinness, but also the behaviour of eating control such as dieting or binge eating. From the limited research assessing disordered eating with this group, evidence for the role of dominant group (Anglo American) orientation rather than that of ethnic identity is apparent. This is the case with a Mexican American sample that included a sub-group diagnosed with eating disorders (Cachelin,

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Phinney, Schug and Striegel-Moore 2006), and a multi-ethnic urban adolescent sample that included Mexican Americans (Rhea and Thatcher 2013). Thus it appears that, instead of ethnic identity and affiliations to the ethnic culture, findings point to the role of mainstream acculturation, if without specifying thin-ideal internalisation, in the aetiology of eating disorders at least among young Latina females. Relatively more research examining cultural factors for disordered eating with Black or African American females is available, perhaps due to the fact that this group has a lower prevalence of eating disorders. Earliest research showing that restrictive eating among Black women was related to the degree to which they assimilated to mainstream culture dated over 20 years ago (Abrams et al. 1993). Petersons et al. (2000) later conducted a nationwide study comparing White and Black college-age females’ ethnic identity and feelings and behaviours towards food. Interestingly, ethnic identity was the predictor of all of drive for thinness, body dissatisfaction and bulimia in Whites only, but not Black females, as for Mexican Americans above. The researchers reason that unlike White women, who readily adopt thin beauty ideals emphasised by mainstream culture as part of the identity, this is not the case in Black women reflecting different standards for ideal appearance and lesser tendencies for eating disorders. More recent research has measured specific elements within acculturation that likely lead to maladaptive eating. One study has tested a measure of expectancies about eating and thinness—beliefs that eating can ‘manage’ affect and thinness may lead to life improvement (Henrickson, Crowther and Harrington 2010). In this context, the function of eating is posited as central to eating disturbance; women with eating disorders are known to use food to reduce intense feelings, escape from reality, gain control, or maintain the status quo, etc. (Sherwood, Crowther, Wills and Ben-Porath 2000). African Americans experiencing conflict with ethnic identity and cultural demands for beauty and acceptance may be prone to eating disturbance if they endorse these beliefs. Henrickson et al. report that maladaptive eating was negatively associated with ethnic identity (like a buffer) for those with strong expectancies about eating and thinness and positively associated with other-group orientation (as a risk factor) for those with high expectancies about thinness. The latter is of interest since mainstream acculturation serves as a risk factor specifically in women who expect that restraint and thinness can lead to overgeneralised life improvement—similar to the second factor of the sociocultural model on the importance of appearance for societal success. As pressures to conform to the mainstream increase, conflict may arise between maintaining identification with the ethnic culture and the dominant culture. To the extent that minority women expect that eating can help manage their affect or thinness can improve their lives, binge eating and dieting may become mechanisms to cope with stress from this conflict (acculturative stress), which if extreme, may precipitate eating disorders. In another study from that year to also examine the sociocultural model, Rogers Wood and Petrie (2010) tested African American women from five universities and found that while ethnic identity and societal pressures regarding thinness were directly related to internalisation of societal beauty ideals, only societal pressures was directly related to body image concerns, and in turn internalisation and body image concerns directly predicted disordered eating. This means that ethnic identity (with societal pressures) has an indirect effect on disordered eating perhaps by lessening the likelihood to adopt mainstream beauty ideals, but it is the adoption (internalisation) of these ideals and body dissatisfaction (that results from societal pressures) that lead to disordered eating. This indirect impact of ethnic identity has also been found for Asian American college women, through its association with

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self-esteem, which buffers the relationship between pressures for thinness and body preoccupation, which joins forces with thin-ideal internalisation to directly predict eating disorder symptoms (Phan and Tylka 2006). In a recent study, the influence of thin-ideal internalisation has further been shown to precipitate the onset of restraint or self-initiated attempts to restrict food intake among ethnic minority females, as it has often been found in White samples. In a prospective design, Stojek and Fischer (2013) followed up Black and White students over the first college semester and found that while White women did experience more restraint than Black women both groups experienced an increase over the semester. In addition, endorsement of thinness expectancies added significant increment to the restraint over time and this was not moderated by ethnicity or ethnic identity. The onset phenomenon of disordered eating in ethnic minority women may therefore work in a similar way, from the endorsement of the function of eating and thinness, through body dissatisfaction towards eating restraint, as it does for White women. A study covered earlier (Bettendorf and Fischer 2009) shows that familism moderated the links between acculturation, body dissatisfaction, control concerns, and restrictive eating, in Mexican American women. Since control and restriction have been consistently addressed as behaviours associated with eating disorders among White women (French et al. 1997), the pathway from internalisation of thin ideals and body dissatisfaction, through control concerns and eating restraints, may be one of the ‘default’ mechanisms through which certain minority women also develop eating disorders. Arguably, then, ethnic minorities may experience many of the same sociocultural risk factors, which are well known among their White counterparts, not least internalisation of societal beauty ideals and body dissatisfaction, while research has simply ascertained their relationships with disordered eating. The above pattern does seem to converge with the idea that mainstream acculturation or dominant-group orientation, and in particular components pertaining to felt societal pressures about thin ideals and internalisation of the ideals, poses a risk factor towards eating disorders through body dissatisfaction in ethnic minority women. It can be that for those who are more ‘mainstream’ oriented, pressures to be thin are heightened and the likely ‘precursors’ towards eating restraint like internalisation of thin ideals and body image concerns are elicited, due to greater exposure to, or adoption of, mainstream beauty ideals. Unlike working as a protective factor or buffer from body dissatisfaction as reviewed in the previous section, ethnic identity and ethnic culture orientation seem to exert a more indirect influence, where eating disorder status in women does not tend to be associated with the degree to which they are attached to the ethnic group. Alas, neither identity nor cultural orientation are not either-or constructs; a bi-cultural or bi-dimensional approach to acculturation is recommended (Phinney 2003) that takes into account how much the individual orients towards both host and ethnic cultures for adjustments and well-being. In the case of disordered eating, it could be that markers of more ‘mainstream’ cultural orientation (such as the use of the English language and having White/Anglo American friends) can give greater access or exposure to societal norms governing attractiveness standards and related sex-role attitudes (Cachelin et al. 2006). The attitudinal and concomitant behavioural changes that result in the disordered eating such as body image concerns and eating restrictions are therefore directly impacted by what one adopts from the host culture, even though body dissatisfaction, as reviewed earlier, may be buffered by what one holds onto from the ethnic culture that upholds alternative beauty ideals.

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Having established the above trend, it is timely to note that recent meta-analyses (e.g., Franko et al. 2007) reveal that White-Black differences in the prevalence of eating disorders are indeed diminishing. Meanwhile, newer evidence suggests that ethnic identity in some cases can be a direct buffer against disordered eating. For African American women, for example, ‘self-hatred’ specific to racial group membership (measured from self-report racial identity) is associated with negative psychological outcomes, notably maladaptive eating behaviours, and this association is stronger for those with high body dissatisfaction (Flowers et al. 2012). Moreover, when compared to White and Mexican American female adolescents, only Black females who showed a combination of strong ethnic identity and associated high self-esteem reported fewer at-risk (bulimic) disordered eating behaviours. Thus a strong racial identity in Black women may act as a protective factor against disordered eating, but a weak or negative identity may be an equally potent risk factor that can contribute to the development of eating disorder symptoms. At the same time, while sociocultural accounts emphasise the role of internalisation of media standards of attractiveness—especially thin-ideal internalisation—in body satisfaction, weight concerns and eating pathology, they rarely investigate how different ethnic groups of women really are in the tendency to endorse thin ideals or how differences may be borne out by their differential risks towards body dissatisfaction and pathological eating (Cheng 2014). Specific cultural factors aside from global forms of ethnic identity and acculturation, such as ethnic belonging, real and perceived racial discrimination and felt pressures towards thinness, should be kept in mind that can complement the overall sociocultural model to understanding disordered eating issues in different groups. A developing idea in the context of disordered eating termed the objectification theory (see Fredrickson and Roberts 1997, Fredrickson et al. 1998) may add further tenets to existing sociocultural variables. The theory posits that as women and girls are typically acculturated to internalise the observer’s perspective as a primary view of their physical selves, this can lead to habitual body monitoring, which can in turn increase tendencies towards anxiety or shame, and decrease awareness of internal bodily and motivational states. As such, this perspective is in part responsible for a range of common mental health risks among women including eating disorders. An argument has been recently put forth that an internalised multicultural inclusive racial identity or attitudes can moderate the relationship between the objectifying experiences (such as exposure to thin female imagery and women seeing themselves objectified in such a way) and internalised societal (thin) standards of beauty. This, in turn, should ameliorate the effects of thin ideals on body image concerns and surveillance that lead to disordered eating (Watson, Ancis, White and Nazari 2013). Indeed, the research reports that when objectifying experiences were high and internalised multicultural inclusive racial identity attitudes were low, young African American women were more likely to internalise the dominant standards of beauty (thinness), which was associated with higher body shame and surveillance, greater appearance anxiety as well as higher levels of disordered eating. These findings suggest that interventions may be developed from counselling ethnic minority girls and young women to develop a more positive and inclusive identity and greater racial awareness to challenge the dominant mainstream standards of beauty to diminish body image concerns and disordered eating. In sum, although the causes for body image dissatisfaction or related eating disorders are multi-fold, the most direct factors concern an endorsement of beauty standards involving being thin, at times with its perceived function to improve societal success, worries about

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body image, desires to lose weight and the concomitant maladaptive eating. While preoccupation with the body and eating is a shared factor among women at risk, dissatisfaction from the discrepancy between own body and the ideal is defined by varying sources of cultural inputs, and counter-sources for healthier ideals are available for women of colour. Internalisation of the dominant cultural beauty ideals is, of course, not the only or definitive cause of disordered eating for all ethnic minority females. Other psychological or situational factors (including the tendency to compare own appearance with others, desires to be attractive to boys and negative comments or teasing about appearance; Jaffee and Mahle Lutter 1995)—some of which will be reviewed in the next section—may work independently as well as hand-in-hand with the key factors as above reviewed to heighten the vulnerable women’s risk towards disordered eating.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS The preceding sections have examined the mechanisms through which young ethnic minority, in particular Black, females may be generally at lower risk of body dissatisfaction and eating disorders compared with their White counterparts. Ethnic identity and, relatedly, affiliations to the ethnic group as well as the opposite of orientation to other groups (in particular dominant or mainstream culture) serve as overall protective and risk factors, respectively. However the more specific factors, notably thin-ideal internalisation, societal pressures regarding thinness and expectancies about the function of eating, diet and thinness for managing negativity and improving success or obtaining control, are equally and at times more directly responsible for precipitating the kinds of eating disturbance that can become pathological. Although ethnicity and culture have been shown to make huge potential contribution to numerous females’ body image dissatisfaction and associated disordered eating, it is crucial to point out that this is not the full picture, nor do identity and acculturation explain all cases of body dissatisfaction and eating disorder in ethnic minority women. The overall contributors to body dissatisfaction (ethnic identity with acculturation to ethnic versus mainstream culture) aside, other potential contributory, and in some cases more directly relevant, factors should be taken into account. For instance, recent research suggests that, particularly among preadolescence and adolescence, teasing by peers is seen by girls to have a highly negative influence on body satisfaction (McLaughlin et al. 2014). In a study of older adult (sorority) Black women, maternal attachment plays a hugely significant predictor of positive body-esteem, with particular regard to the physical condition and weight control, over ethnic identification (Baugh and Barnes 2015). Other studies suggest that ethnic or racial teasing works in addition to other issues that contribute to eating disorders in ethnic minority women, and these include Western beauty ideal (thin) internalisation (Cotter et al. 2015) and perceived discrimination (Cheng 2014). Perhaps more particular to Chinese females, parental overprotection and care and perceived pressures from their best female friends to lose weight, may work alongside low body satisfaction to contribute to eating pathology in both Westernacculturated and traditional women (Humphry and Ricciardelli 2004). Furthermore, the literature hitherto covered on disordered eating has investigated the aspects concerning weight loss. For some cases, especially among African Americans, while

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strongly identifying with own cultural beauty ideals may protect against disordered eating to lose weight, it may also increase the risk of developing disordered eating towards weight gain such as binge eating. Although African American women are not at greater risk for bulimia or binge eating than other groups, obesity has been a common concern for them (O’Neill 2003), and overweight African American women are less likely than European American women to correctly perceive their weight statuses (Paeratakul et al. 2002). Additionally, heavier weight has been associated with increased body image concerns and binge eating (Hrabosky and Grilo 2007), while depression is strongly associated with overweight for African American women with higher levels of ethnic identity (Siegel, Yancey and McCarthy 2000). On the other hand, recent research shows that low levels of ethnic identity pose a risk factor in African American women for binge eating and bulimic pathology, versus for European American women where high levels of ethnic identity is a risk factor towards binge eating and global eating pathology (Shuttlesworth and Zotter 2011). Therefore, certain cultural sensitivity about matters of weight and eating concerns is needed for future research with diverse populations of women some of whom may be at risk or actually suffer from eating disorders involving weight gain or obesity while culturally responsive approaches that support healthy body image and weight treatment taking into account such diversities should be trialled. A rare study on this subject area in the UK using a qualitative approach interviewed firstand second-generation Pakistani women on diet, weight gain, obesity and related health issues (in particular Type 2 diabetes, which is relatively prevalent among that population) has likewise found barriers to addressing the issue (Ludwig, Cox and Ellahi 2011). These included all of cultural, familial and religious factors, including perceptions about the causes of weight gain (that include divine predestination), prioritisation of the family over individual lifestyles for the woman and the influence of Islam. These findings concerning minority females being prone to eating behaviours related to weight gain and ill health mean that multiple dimensions of ethnic identity and culture, including complex beliefs and practices of such groups, need to be understood for novel models that address the risks and propose relevant solutions. The above also reminds that, though there is a maturing literature on the subject from North American countries and an emerging one from Australasia, research from the UK and Europe, or indeed the non-Western world, is extremely rare in comparison. This is paramount as owing in part to the legacy of colonisation and the pervasiveness of mass communications, much of the world receives a diet of Western or Western-influenced media, with both directly and indirectly its prevalent beauty ideals. There has been evidence that non-Western viewers share a similar beauty ideal of thinness as Western broadcasters, or that their cultural beauty ideals have shifted (to become more westernised; see Lee 1993, Lee and Lee 2000). This is not surprising as it has been reported that Western-acculturated females that have emigrated from countries in the ‘East’ readily adopt Western standards of attractiveness, including thin ideals (Lake, Staiger and Glowinski 2000). Future studies may explore Western influences on the body image of women and girls in non-Western societies, and whether these have had any impact on their diets, eating attitudes and behaviours and prevalence of eating disorders. The aforementioned works also highlight the fact that the vast majority of research is correlational and retrospective in design, and based on standardised self-report responses for data. As such, causality cannot be inferred, nor can perspectives of individuals on their body image and ideals, or explanations for decisions taken towards eating behaviours, be revealed

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and scrutinised. With the several notable exceptions of prospective or experimental research assessing specific aspects of cultural factors or body- and appearance-based evaluations (e.g., Schooler and Daniels 2014, Stojek and Fischer 2013, Zhang et al. 2009), one could form more summative assertions about development of the issues. Research using qualitative methods as cited above could explore the nature of less established issues or even shed light on the experiences or accounts of the sufferers of eating disorders. These types of inquiries, though more costly, are also more informative and should be encouraged in future research endeavours. While the links between ethnicity, culture, body dissatisfaction and eating disorders in female ethnic minority populations are becoming more established, another perspective to the matters is perhaps not overly ‘pathologising’ them. Instead, efforts to promote positive body image, or body appreciation or acceptance, for the women concerned may be preferable, and indeed ethnic identity has been associated with such appreciation (Cotter, Kelly and Mitchell 2015). This is of great interest for practical applications from the perspective of intervention and prevention of eating disorders that can be derived from more research in this area.

CONCLUSION The literature documents that Black and certain other minority females have fewer concerns about weight or are more satisfied with their bodies compared with their White counterparts. The differentiating factor for the women with higher satisfaction and healthier eating may be their ‘frame of reference’ as termed by Schooler et al. (2004) in the form of adopting a beauty standard that does not value thinness, which is the Western societies’ default marker of being attractive as reflected in their mainstream media. Yet many Black and certain other minority females, in particular those with a strong ethnic identity, do reject the media’s thin ideals as a valid source for comparisons and may instead refer to others of their own ethnic background. By not adopting the thin ideals (internalising), these women are likely to be at a lower risk of body dissatisfaction and disordered eating. On the flipside, this means that minority females that do orient more to the mainstream culture, in particular if they adopt its thin ideals (thin-ideal internalisation), may be at greater risk of body dissatisfaction and eating disorders. This risk may be heightened for those who experience some conflict between identifying with the ethnic and dominant cultures, endorse the expectant functions of diet in managing their affect and of thinness in improving their lives, or perceive greater pressures to be thin, and for those who have a weak or negative ethnic identity and related low self-esteem. Identifying the mechanisms through which females in diverse groups may be at risk for internalising unattainably thin body ideals that leads to disordered eating will be a key for understanding their experiences and treating the attitudes and behaviours. Future work should be directed to identifying more sociocultural and psychological factors that can promote body satisfaction, challenge unrealistic beauty ideals or decrease their negative impact, and channel maladaptive eating into other forms of coping more suited to the differing demands in diverse groups of the female population.

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REFERENCES Abrams, K. K., Allen, L. R. and Gray, J. J. (1993). Disordered eating attitudes and behaviours, psychological adjustment, and ethnic identity: a comparison of Black and White female college students. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 14(1), 49-57. Baugh, E. J. and Barnes, A. (2015). An examination of the influence of ethnic identity and parental attachment on the body esteem of Black sorority women. Journal of Black Studies, 46(3), 316-329. Baugh, E., Mullis, R., Mullis, P., Hicks, M. and Peterson, G. (2010). Ethnic identity and body image among Black and White college females. Journal of American College Health, 59(2), 105-109. Berry, J. W. (1980). Acculturation as varieties of adaptation. In: A. M. Padilla (Ed.), Acculturation: theory, models and some new findings (pp. 9-25). Boulder, CO: Westview. Bettendorf, S. K. and Fischer, A. R. (2009). Cultural strengths as moderators of relationship between acculturation to the mainstream US Society and eating- and body-related concerns among Mexican American women. Journal of Counselling Psychology, 56(3), 430-440. Botta, R. (1999). Television images and adolescent girls’ body image disturbance. Journal of Communication, 49(2), 22-41. Botta, R. A. (2000). The mirror of television: a comparison of Black and White adolescents’ body image. Journal of Communication, 50, 144-159. Cachelin, F. M., Phinney, J. S., Schug, R. A. and Striegel-Moore, R. H. (2006). Acculturation and eating disorders in a Mexican American community sample. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 30, 340-347. Chamorro, R. and Flores-Ortiz, Y. (2000). Acculturation and disordered eating patterns among Mexican American women. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 19, 239248. Cheng, H-L. (2014). Disordered eating among Asian/Asian American women: Racial and cultural factors as correlates. The Counselling Psychologist, 42 (6), 821-851. Corenblum, B. and Armstrong, H. D. (2012). Racial-ethnic identity development in children in a racial-ethnic minority group. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 44(2), 124137. Cotter, E. W., Kelly, N. R. and Mitchell, K. S. (2015). An investigation of body appreciation, ethnic identity, and eating disorder symptoms in Black women. Journal of Black Psychology, 41(1), 3-25. Flowers, K. C., Levesque, M. J. and Fischer, S. (2012). The relationship between maladaptive eating behaviours and racial identity among African American women in college. Journal of Black Psychology, 38(3), 290-312. Franko, D. L., Becker, A. E., Thomas, J. J. and Herzog, D. B. (2007). Cross-ethnic differences in eating disorder symptoms and related distress. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 40, 156-164. Fredrickson, B. L. and Roberts, T. A. (1997). Objectification theory: towards understanding women’s lived experience and mental health risks. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21, 173-206.

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Makkar, J. K. and Strube, M. J. (1995). Black women’s self-perceptions of attractiveness following exposure to White versus Black beauty standards: the moderating role of racial identity and self-esteem. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 25(17), 1547-1566. McLaughlin, E. A., Belon, K. E., Smith, J. E. and Erickson, S. J. (2015). Mothers’ and daughters’ beliefs about factors affecting preadolescent girls’ body satisfaction. Body Image, 13, 9-17. Mok, T. A. (1998). Asian Americans and standards of attractiveness: what’s in the eye of the beholder? Cultural Diversity and Mental Health, 4(1), 1-18. Molley, B. L. and Herzberger, S. D. (1998). Body image and self-esteem: a comparison of African-American and Caucasian women. Sex Roles, 38(7-8), 631-643. Nesdale, D. and Mak, A. A. (2003). Ethnic identification, self-esteem, and immigrant psychological health. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 21, 23-40. O’Connor, L. A., Brooks-Gunn, J. and Graber, J. (2000). Black and White girls’ racial preferences in media and peer choices and the role of socialization for Black girls. Journal of Family Psychology, Special Issue: Cultural Variation in Families, 14(3), 510521. Oney, C. N., Cole, E. R. and Sellers, R. M. (2011). Racial identity and gender as moderators of the relationship between body image and self-esteem for African Americans. Sex Roles, 65(7-8), 619-631. Paeratakul, S., White, M. A., Williamson, D. A., Ryan, D. H. and Bray, G. A. (2002). Sex, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and BMI in relation to self-perception of overweight. Obesity Research, 10, 345-350. Petersons, M., Rojhani, A., Steinhaus, N. and Larkin, B. (2000). Effect of ethnic identity on attitudes, feelings, and behaviours towards food. Eating Disorders, 8, 207-219. Phan, T. and Tylka, T. L. (2006). Exploring a model and moderators of disordered eating with Asian American college women. Journal of Counselling Psychology, 53(1), 36-47. Phinney, J. S. (1992). The multigroup ethnic identity measure: a new scale for use with diverse groups. Journal of Adolescent Research, 7(2), 156-176. Phinney, J. S. (1993). A three-stage model of ethnic identity development in adolescence. In: M. Bernal and G. Knight (eds.), Ethnic identity: formation and transmission among Hispanics and other minorities (pp. 61-79). New York: State University of New York Press. Phinney, J. S. (2003). Ethnic identity and acculturation. In: K. M. Chun and P. B. Organista (Eds.), Acculturation: advances in theory, measurement, and applied research (pp. 6381). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Rakhkovskaya, L. M. and Warren, C. S. (2014). Ethnic identity, thin-ideal internalization, and eating pathology in ethnically diverse college women. Body Image, 11(4), 438-445. Rhea, D. J. and Thatcher, W. G. (2013). Ethnicity, ethnic identity, self-esteem, and at-risk eating disordered behavior differences of urban adolescent females. Eating Disorders 21, 223-237. Rogers Wood, N. A. and Petrie, T. A. (2010). Body dissatisfaction, ethnic identity and disordered eating among African American women. Journal of Counselling Psychology, 57(2) 141-153. Romero, A. J., Martinez, D. and Carvajal, S. C. (2007). Bicultural stress and adolescent risk behaviours in a community simple of Latinos and non-Latino European Americans. Ethnicity and Health, 12, 443-463.

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In: Ethnic and Cultural Identity Editor: Adrienne D. Warner

ISBN: 978-1-63483-871-9 © 2015 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 2

ETHNIC IDENTITY IN THE SHADOW OF PERCEPTIONS OF SOCIAL DISCRIMINATION: THE CASE OF IMMIGRANTS FROM ETHIOPIA IN ISRAEL Pnina Golan-Cook*, Keith Goldstein and Elite Olshtain NCJW Research Institute for Innovation in Education, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel

ABSTRACT Migrants’ perceptions of intergroup relations and ethnic group status in the host society are believed to be central to identity reconstruction (Giles and Johnson, 1987). Previous research validates this position in the case of immigrant students from Ethiopia in Israeli colleges (Golan-Cook et al., 2014), where ethnic identity increased as a function of perceptions of ethnolinguistic vitality- a measure used to measure ‘group status’ in the social milieu. However, in the case at hand, the objectively low-vitality status of the Ethiopian community in Israel, coupled with perceptions of racial discrimination, creates challenges for migrants who eagerly adopt the dominant Israeli identity while striving to maintain their indigenous identity. The impact of subjective experiences of discrimination on identity reconstruction and overall well-being of migrants have been well-documented in migration research (e.g., Liebkind et al. 2004). The migrants’ perceptions of ethnic identity, subjective ethnolinguistic vitality, and need for social change were examined through Simultaneous Equations Modeling (path analysis), taking into account such demographic variables as age at migration. A "best fit" model is presented, which shows how Ethiopian Israelis who maintain their indigenous identity perceive greater group inequalities, and those amongst them with more tenure in the country express greater expectations for social change.

*

Corresponding author: Email address for contact: [email protected].

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INTRODUCTION From Euphoria to Disgruntlement Israel is a country that defines itself by immigration, and has an open arm policy for returning Jews to the homeland. This heritage migration from Ethiopia was perceived as a return to the "promised land.” For both the receiving community and the new arrivals, the dramatic story of the arrival of one of Judaism’s most diverse ethnic groups, solidified Zionist narratives about rebuilding the Jewish nation. As Thomas Friedman wrote of the migration at the time: “Stories of Ethiopians arriving barefoot and ragged at Ben Gurion Airport, and immediately kneeling to kiss the tarmac, have touched even the coldest hearts” (Friedman 1985). The inclusion of the Ethiopian population into Israeli citizenship symbolized an achievement of the Zionist vision. Despite this welcoming ideology, challenges of integration are faced by migrants and hosts alike. In the case of the Ethiopian migration, cultural distance and racial stigma magnified the challenge of social inclusion. Years of perceived discrimination reached a boiling point after an incident on April 27, 2015 when an Israeli police officer was caught on camera assaulting an Ethiopian Israeli soldier in an act that was regarded by many as an example of police brutality that had racial underpinnings, an illustration of racism that the Ethiopian population viewed as endemic in Israeli society. Release of the video sparked violent protests from the Ethiopian community, the largest such demonstrations ever of their kind. The decision by the police not to press charges against the police officer renewed protests and public outcry. Frustration of the Ethiopian population with racial inequalities which had hitherto remained largely passive appeared to be boiling over. Images from the protests highlight a younger generation of Ethiopians, who are not content with social justice towards their community. In view of the social context described above, migrants' perceptions of social injustice need to be addressed. This research examines the socio-cultural identity of immigrants from Ethiopia, perceptions of status as measured by subjective ethnolinguistic vitality (SEV), and desire for social change. Our primary predicting variable is age at migration. Our results show how those who arrived at a younger age, believe that Ethiopian vitality in Israel is low, and yet maintain a strong Ethiopian identity are the most likely to promote social change. Furthermore, perceptions of social justice are determined by age at migration and Ethiopian identity, regardless of whether one adopts the Israeli identity. The results highlight the growing dissatisfaction of Ethiopian Israelis who are beginning to vocalize themselves and stand up for their rights as equal citizens.

Socio-Cultural Identity in the Context of Migration and Acculturation Cultural transition which takes place in the context of migration results in a process of acculturation, defined by Gibson (2001, p. 19) as the "cultural change and adaptation that occurs when individuals from different cultures come into contact.” This process involves the intrapersonal renegotiation and reconstruction of cultural, ethnic and national allegiances on the part of the migrant (Horenczyk, 2000; Golan-Cook and Olshtain, 2011).

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The construct of identity was first conceptualized by Erikson (1950, 1968) as a coherent, self-constructed organization of one's drives, abilities and personal experience - the result of the interplay between the individual and his environment. Erikson distinguished between the personal and social aspects of identity, the latter serving as the basis upon which cultural identity was later defined (Brown 2000; Tajfel and Turner 1986). Schwartz et al.’s (2006) defined identity as one’s subjective perception of self and the organization of self-understandings that define one’s “place in the world.” This definition constitutes a synthesis of three components: 1) personal identity, pertaining to the goals, values and beliefs held by the individual (Erikson 1968); 2) social identity, referring to the group one identifies with and the extent to which this leads to favoring the "ingroup" and distancing one's self from the "outgroup" (Tajfel and Turner 1986); and 3) cultural identity, which refers to a sense of solidarity with the ideals of a particular cultural group, leading to endorsement of its beliefs, attitudes and behaviors (Jensen 2003; Roberts et al. 1999). The fusion of the latter two components defines socio-cultural identification with a particular ethnic group, and is central to the process of acculturation and identity reconstruction. Traditionally, acculturation was viewed as a unidimensional process leading to a full and complete abandonment of the "old" identity and culture and the adoption of the "new" in its place (e.g., Nguyen et al. 1999). Assimilation models associated with a "melting pot" ideology of dominant cultures, favored cultural hegemony, down-playing the maintenance of ethnic cultures and identities (Shamai and Ilatov 2005). In contrast, an alternative approach to acculturation defines this process in terms of two parallel dimensions: (a) adoption of the receiving culture and (b) retention of the source culture (Phinney et al. 2001). Models that adhere to this approach (e.g., Berry 1997) conceptually allow for cultural pluralism, whereby ideals, values and behaviors of the heritage culture are preserved alongside the adoption of the new host identity. Acculturation research strongly suggests that a multi-faceted identity, incorporating a positive connection to both national and ethnic identities, is associated with higher levels of adaptation and mental health, including positive self- esteem (e.g., Berry and Kim 1988). Cote (2006) further posits that the internalization of a positive ethnic identity is essential to the re-construction of a positive socio-cultural identity, particularly among adolescents and emerging adults. Several demographic, personal and social factors are believed to impact identity reconstruction in the context of migration. Two such migrant-related demographic factors are age at migration and tenure in the receiving society. Ethnic identification has been shown to decline as a function of length of residence in the host society, while national identity is strengthened (Jasinskaya–Lahiti and Liebkind 2000; Liebkind 1993; Liebkind et al. 2004). At the same time, early exposure to the dominant, national culture is believed to facilitate and strengthen the development of the receiving culture identity, sometimes at the expense of ethnic identity. Migrants' personal dispositions, including their resilience in the face of change and their openness to adoption of a new identity have also been cited as contributory factors in determining the degree to which ethnic identity is maintained and the new, national identity is embraced (Schwartz et al. 2006; Berry 1997). Clearly, however, migrants' acculturation choices and their renegotiation of socio-cultural identity orientations are not made in a social vacuum but rather, within the broader sociopolitical context of the host society (Berry 1997; Bourhis et al. 1997). Migrants' perceptions of intergroup relations and ethnic group status in the host social milieu are believed to be

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central to identity reconstruction (Giles and Johnson 1987). The construct of ‘Ethnolinguistic Vitality’ (EV), defined in terms of demographic strength (population, birth rate and geographical concentration), institutional support (media recognition and representation in education and government) and social status (economic, political and linguistic prestige), has been used to measure 'group status' in the social milieu. Giles and Johnson's (1981, 1987) Ethnolinguistic Identity Model incorporates one's subjective assessment of a group's ethnolinguistic vitality (SEV) and maintains that the more positive one's perceptions of group vitality, the stronger one's identification with the group. Finally, migrants' perceptions of the 'acculturation ideologies' of the host community (e.g., host expectations of migrants and the degree of their acceptance of the immigrant group) are also believed to impact acculturation choices, and may potentially become a source for conflict and stress (Bourhis at al. 1997; Horenczyk 2000). In communities where members of the dominant group are highly oriented towards the receiving culture, immigrants may be expected to relinquish their "cultural baggage" (Schwartz et al. 2006; Zagefka and Brown 2002), and may experience acculturative stress, having to shed their home culture under social duress (Shamai and Ilatov 2005). Conversely, in cases where immigrants' desires for integration are met with resistance of inclusion by the host society, identity reconstruction may be impeded (Bourhis at al. 1997). Migrants' sense of rejection and discrimination on the part of the receiving society have been reported as major deterrents towards developing an "integrative" approach to acculturation (Jasinskaja-Lahti and Liebkind 2001; Liebkind et al. 2004), and may even lead to marginalization (e.g., see Liebkind and Mc Alister's study of immigrants in the Finnish context, 1999). Empirical studies suggest, however, that perceptions of social injustice and discrimination are mitigated by emphasizing commonalities between groups, thus distracting members of the marginalized ethnicity from noticing differences in power (Saguy et al. 2009). Moreover, positive intergroup contact was associated with less support for social change by members of disadvantaged groups (Saguy et al. 2009; Saguy and Chernyak-Hai 2012). Conversely, in keeping with this line of thought, strong feelings of affiliation with the ethnic group, which is seen at a disadvantage, may magnify feelings of social injustice towards that group and increase beliefs in the need for social change.

The Case of Immigrants from Ethiopia in Israel Ethiopian Israelis, known as Beta Israel, constitute only about 1.5% of the Israeli population.1 Following the 1973 recognition of their Jewish status, emigration of the Jewish community began - first as a trickle, followed by several waves of immigration: 'Operation Moses' (1984) rescued Jewish refugees from Sudanese camps, 'Operation Solomon' (1991) airlifted Jews from Addis Ababa, and there has been an ongoing immigration of the Falash Mura (Christian converts) since the mid-1990s. Transition from a poor rural environment to a modern, western society was however burdened by limited economic, educational and social resources, as well as by deep cultural differences. To date, institutional representation of this immigrant community and its 1

119,700 in 2012 according to Brookdale 2012, out of approximately 7.5 million Israelis recorded that same year according to CBS 2010.

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participation in Israeli culture, the media and public institutions are also limited (Dobiner 2012). As such, this immigrant community may be defined as a "low-vitality" group on the Israeli social landscape. Studies show that this migrant population tends towards an integrational style of acculturation (Shabtay 1995), their underlying motivations governed by the need to be similar to everyone else, alongside a strong need to retain valued aspects of their ethnic identity (Shabtay 2000). Racial differences, however, visibly distinguish these immigrants from the host group, creating an additional barrier towards social inclusion. Growing cultural gaps and immigrants' dark skin color have been identified as major obstacles to full inclusion (Ben-David and Tirosh Ben-Ari, 1997), and a "black” identity is reportedly evolving among young Ethiopian Jews as a result of their encounter with Israeli society (Ben-Eliezer, 2004). Perceptions of exclusion, discrimination and racism on the part of the host society (Offer, 2007) have triggered the creation of an 'African Israeli' identity (Goldblatt and Rosenblum 2007). A tendency exists to attribute integration challenges and all encounters with mainstream Israeli society as racial "different- ness" and discrimination (Ben-David and Tirosh Ben-Ari 1997). Perceptions of exclusion are also reflected in Hilbron's (2008) revealing study, which examined the manner in which Ethiopian immigrants defined themselves as Jews, Israelis and Ethiopians, as opposed to their perceptions of how Israeli veterans viewed them. In that study only 20% of the migrants surveyed believed that Israelis viewed them as fellow Israelis. Moreover, in contrast to their own definition of themselves as Jews, few Ethiopian immigrants believed that other Israelis Jews perceived them as such. Further research (Mizrachi and Zadawe 2012) defines two polar identity types adopted by Ethiopian immigrants in their attempt to construct their identity in the local, as opposed to the global context. The local approach seeks to focus on the common Jewish identity binding this community to mainstream Israel. As one participant in this study expressed himself: "I am a black, Jewish man, progeny of the people of Israel. I have my own beliefs, religion, and culture all of which are the product of my Jewish heritage. I intend to raise my black children in the spirit of justice and their Jewish and Israeli heritage and not in comparison to other black people in the world" (pp. 437). This view was reportedly more representative of lower to middle class migrants. Conversely, the global approach expresses pride and identification with black leaders and culture- choosing to be distinguished from the local population. In this study, the latter narrative was primarily representative of a small number of highly educated middle-class individuals, those who had access to broader social networks. However, the global approach is also reminiscent of that of marginalized Ethiopian immigrant youth, who have turned to 'black culture' in response to feelings of alienation from the local culture (Edelstein 1999; Shabtay 2003). These empirical findings should be seen in the context of a certain ambivalence shown by Israeli society towards Ethiopian immigrants- as reflected in the messages portrayed in the local media: research shows that Israeli journalism has tended, on one hand, to include the immigrants within the ancient Jewish collective, while at the same time, treating them as being culturally ignorant (Mengistu and Avraham 2015). From the outset the status of this community as Jews was debated, and only in 1973, when the Sephardic Chief Rabbi recognized them as Jews, was the road paved for their immigration to Israel under the Law of Return (Ben-Ezer 2002). Their children were initially placed in the State's religious school system, so as to prevent rapid secularization of this

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essentially observant community (Kaplan and Solomon 1998). This schooling ensured that they were raised in accordance with conventional Orthodox Jewish practice. In hindsight these policies might appear to be discriminatory, but they were generally accepted by the community, in keeping with their religious orientations. This being said, channeling the children into the Israeli religious school system created a particular acculturation track for this population. As opposed to the immigrants from the Former Soviet Union (FSU), whose migration coincided temporally with that of the Ethiopian migration, the latter were not given choices. Immigrants from the FSU were presumed capable of handling life and making independent choices in a modern society and were thus provided with a 'direct migration' aide basket which they could use as they saw fit. The Ethiopian population was perceived by the receiving society as underdeveloped and incapable of making its own choices and its absorption process was strictly controlled by absorption authorities ('indirect migration'), creating a total dependence on the State and its social services (Swirski and Swirski 2002). It is suggested that these initial policy decisions later created a perception by Ethiopian ethnics of social discrimination against their community. Moreover, their acculturation track may have been molded by these early experiences. In addition, a series of unpleasant confrontations between this immigrant community and the host society have characterized the ongoing nature of intergroup relations. One such incident was the “blood bank affair” in the mid-1990s, which involved the selective discarding of Ethiopian blood in blood banks, in fear of HIV infection. A significantly large percentage of carriers of HIV were found among the Ethiopian immigrants in comparison to the local population, causing medical experts to fear that although the blood was tested, early stages of infection were not always detected. Unfortunately, their decisions regarding the discarding of the blood were interpreted by the Ethiopian community as unwarranted discrimination. Signs at the protests included expressions, such as: “We are black, but our blood is red” and “The dream has gone to hell” (Knight-Ridder 1996). These first large scale protests by the Ethiopian community highlighted several sensitive issues, such as inclusion of this community in Israeli society, social acceptance and social equality. Over time the shadow of perceptions of social discrimination has caused these old wounds to fester, giving rise to new calls for social justice that deserve serious consideration.

The Current Research This research examines the inter-relationships between the socio-cultural identity of immigrants from Ethiopia studying at Israeli higher educational institutions, their perceptions of their ethnic group's status as measured by subjective ethnolinguistic vitality (SEV), and their expressed desire for social change, taking into account the contributory impact of age at migration. In the case at hand, it is suggested that the objectively low-vitality status of the Ethiopian community in Israel, coupled with immigrants' perceptions of racial discrimination and social injustice, create challenges for migrants who eagerly adopt the dominant Israeli identity while striving to maintain indigenous roots. In keeping with the position outlined by Giles and Johnson's Ethnolinguistic Identity Model (1987), recent research shows that among Israeli college students of Ethiopian origin, ethnic identity increased as a function of perceived ethnic vitality (Golan-Cook et al. 2014),

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such that more positive appraisal of ethnic status and vitality, was associated with stronger feelings of ethnic affiliation. At the same time, Walsh and Tuval-Mashiach's (2012) qualitative study suggests that Ethiopian migrants' personal disposition, as well as their positive reconstruction of cultural and personal identities in the receiving country, tend, in turn to impact coping strategies adopted in the face of perceived discrimination. Their findings show that emerging adults who manage to establish a positive personal identity and a high sense of self-esteem alongside adoption of the dominant Israeli identity cope with racism in more active ways - as opposed to avoidance of acknowledging and confronting it. Figure 1 outlines a tentative, explanatory model incorporating theory and findings to date, as described above. This model presumes there is a causal path by which age at migration explains the variance in SEV, identity, and need for social change, and maps out the hypothesized relations between these constructs. The causal flow of the model is based on the premise that demographic factors (i.e., age at migration) serve as antecedents to ideologies, attitudes and perceptions, which consequently impact behavior (Cassessoves-Ferrer and Sankoff 2003). In addition, a bi-dimensional approach to acculturation is adopted, whereby this process is examined independently with respect to the culture of origin and to the host culture (Phinney et al. 2001). In keeping with general findings regarding the impact of early migration on identity reconstruction (Liebkind et al. 2004), as well as previous research of Ethiopian students (Golan-Cook et al. 2014), it is posited that older age at migration and more positive perceptions of ethnic group status in the host society will increase the maintenance of a strong ethnic identity. Based on empirical findings of acculturation research that a positive, integrated sociocultural identity is associated with higher levels of mental health and a positive self-esteem (Berry and Kim 1988; Cote 2006), and Walsh and Tuval-Mashiach's (2012) findings regarding the relationship between higher self-esteem and a "fighter" coping style in the face of perceived discrimination, it is further posited, that socio-cultural identity affects the responses of migrants in dealing (coping) with such perceptions. Maintenance of a positive ethnic identity alongside the adoption of a positive national identity is expected to promote a proactive approach to perceived discrimination, in the form of expression of a need for social change.

Figure 1. Theoretical model of factors that predict expressed desire for social change.

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Moreover, in view of the findings of Saguy et al. (2009) which indicate that an emphasis on commonalities between ethnic and dominant groups can reduce support for social change, it is hypothesized that strong feelings of ethnic identity, emphasizing group differences and "other-ness" will, conversely, magnify feelings of social injustice and strengthen beliefs in the need for social change.

METHODOLOGY 1. Participants A sample of 121 students of Ethiopian origin were randomly recruited from six higher educational institutions in Israel. These colleges and universities were chosen because of the relatively large proportions of Ethiopian students enrolled in them. The age of participants ranged between 20 and 35 (mean = 24.5). Sixteen percent were born in Israel and of the remaining 84% who immigrated, age at migration ranged from 1 to 24 (mean = 6.3). Fifty percent did not attend any educational framework in Ethiopia, while only 12% had more than 5 years of schooling in that country. Ninety-seven percent indicated that they had studied at least 12 years in Israel, i.e., they had fully completed their secondary education - as expected of all Israeli university students. Male respondents constitute a minority of the sample (33%). Secular students are similarly a minority (18%); 37% defining themselves as "orthodox" and 43% as "conservative.”

2. Research Instrument Paper-based self-report questionnaires developed in a previous study of Israeli students from the Former Soviet Union (Olshtain and Golan Cook 2011) were adapted to the current population. As in the previous study, the questionnaire was made available in Hebrew and the respondents’ home language, in this case Amharic. The questionnaire was divided into sections on the basis of the sets of variables measured: migrants' background, socio-cultural identity, SEV, and perceptions of a need for social change. Background information was based on standard questions: current age and age at the time of immigration, as well as gender, schooling, and religious orientations. Subjective ethnolinguistic vitality (SEV) for both ethnic and national groups was measured using Kraemer’s (1990) revised version of the SEV questionnaire developed by Bourhis et al. (1981). Nine items were presented, examining perceptions of each group's socio-linguistic and economic status and representation in formal institutions (e.g., mainstream politics, education, and culture). Socio-cultural identity was defined in terms of social group affiliation and endorsement of cultural behaviors (Phinney 1992; Rosenthal and Hrynevich 1985) and was measured, in part, based on scales developed by Ben-Shalom (2002). Eight identity questions were provided for ethnic (Ethiopian) and national (Israeli) identities independently. These examined such aspects as the nature of social relations (e.g., friendships) with members of each group, cultural preferences (e.g., adherence to ethnic/Israeli traditions and customs and

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consumption of ethnic/Israeli literature, art and music), and pride associated with group membership. Three questions were provided about the need for social change with respect to: social status of Ethiopian immigrants in Israel, representation of members of the Ethiopian community in Israeli culture, and the political influence of Ethiopian immigrants in Israel. A three-point scale was provided in which respondents were asked to assess the status of their ethnic community with respect to each of the above (its status needs to be lower than it is today; doesn’t need to change, and needs to be higher than it is today).

3. Data Analysis Statistical model building involved two steps: 1) Factor Analysis and 2) Path Analysis. Regarding the former, a Principle Components Analysis (PCA) revealed the variables that formed the best factors for Ethiopian and Israeli identity and SEV. Results were computed in the open source statistics program- R. Regarding the latter, simultaneous equations for a path analysis were computed in Lavaan, an R based statistics program (see Beaujean 2014). Path analysis was utilized for model building rather than Structural Equation Modeling, as this method provided better convergence statistics. Age at migration is the primary independent variable of our model. This variable was computed based on the respondent’s age and the year in which he or she migrated to Israel. For those respondents who were born in Israel, age at migration was set to zero. Identity and SEV factors are the primary mediating variables in our model. Need for social change is the primary dependent variable of our model. Owing to the fact that only 3% of the respondents marked a response that some aspect of social change needs to be less, results were categorized according to those who believe that all aspects of Ethiopian status need to be improved (value = 3, 40%), two aspects need to be improved (value = 2, 30%), and just 1 or no aspect needs improvement (value = 1, 30%). Using this categorization coding, the model achieved a more robust model fit. Our theoretical model (see Figure 1, above) presumes there is a causal path by which age at migration explains the variance in SEV, identity, and need for social change. A best fit model was obtained by calculating a series of path analyses. This model outlines the direct and indirect effects of age at migration on perceptions of the need for social change, as it is mediated by SEV and identity. Model fit statistics are based on the Comparative Fit Index (NFI) and Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA). All parameters were standardized to a scale of 0 to 1.

RESULTS Description of Factors Optimizing the factors that would be used in our final model required a filtering process to identify the variables that should be excluded. Out of the 9 SEV questions for ethnic and national groups, only one did not have a significant loading score: international status of

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Amharic and Hebrew language.2 Israeli SEV is very high (9.4/10), while Amharic SEV remains quite low (4.0/10). Both factors have very high inter-reliability measures: Israeli SEV (α = .83), Ethiopian SEV (α = .84). These findings highlight the disparity between SEV for ethnic/Ethiopian and national/Israeli groups, whereby the perception of dominant, Israeli group vitality is far higher than that of the ethnic Ethiopian group. Identity proved to be a factor with greater variance between the different measures. Results of the factor analysis discerned three variables to be excluded due to their incongruence with other variables in the factor: ‘If I was born again, I would like to be born in Israel’ (2.0/4); ‘I adhere to Israeli traditions and customs (3.6/4)’; and ‘I meet with Ethiopian friends’ (3.1/4). Most of the respondents do not wish they were born in Israel, but adhere to Israeli traditions and customs and have Ethiopian friends. Furthermore, correlations between these variables with other questions about identity were insignificant. After excluding the incongruent variables, identity factors had sufficient inter-reliability measures: Israeli (α = .72), Ethiopian (α = .77). Averages were taken from the congruent variables in each factor. The respondents overall have equivalent levels of Israeli (3.2/4) and Ethiopian identity (3.2/4). The perception of the 'need for social change' was computed based on whether respondents believe the status, cultural representation, and political influence of Ethiopians in Israel need to be improved. A factor analysis revealed high inter-reliability between all three variables (α = .86). High correlations are fueled by the large group of respondents who indicated that all aspects of Ethiopian status need to be improved. Overall, respondents believe a great deal more can be done to improve their status in Israeli society (2.7/3).

Description of Path Analysis Model The model presented below (Figure 2) shows the final, best-fit model after modifications. Israeli SEV was removed from the model, owing to the high vitality that all respondents perceive of the host nation. Age at migration proved to be a crucial predictor of identity and perceptions of social justice. The first finding that stands out is the direct negative effect of age at migration on the need for social change (β = -.29); as age of arrival in Israel increases, the perception of a need for social change decreases. At the same time, our model reveals other causal paths, where Ethiopian ID acts as a mediator to the indirect effects of both age at arrival and SEV on perceptions of the need for social change. Ethnic identity increases as a function of being older at the time of arrival (β = .26) and as a function of higher perceptions of Ethiopian SEV (β = .22). Migrants' heightened sense of ethnic identity in turn directly strengthens perceptions of a need for social change (β = .31). In addition, age at migration decreases Israeli ID (β = -.22), but the latter has no significant effect on desire for social change.

2

These variables were deemed incongruent with our factors, being exceptionally low for both national groups: Hebrew (5.1) and Amharic (3.7).

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= a causal path = covariance of error terms * = statistically significant parameters (p < .05) Model Fit Statistics: X ^ 2 = 2.91, DF = 2, CFI = .98, RMSEA = .05 Figure 2. Path Analysis Model for Predicting the Need for Social Change.

These results indicate that older immigrants who do not maintain ethnic identity are the least likely to demand social change. Those who tend to view the social status (SEV) of the Ethiopian community in Israel in a more positive light are more likely to maintain a strong ethnic (Ethiopian) identity and hence perceive the necessity for social change, but this is not dependent on age at migration. Conversely, immigrants who were born in Israel or had come at a younger age are less likely to maintain a strong ethnic (Ethiopian) identity, but are more likely to perceive the necessity for social change. Hence, the results also indicate that those who are most likely to demand social change are younger immigrants with a high sense of ethnic identity. Finally, the model shows the contradictory roles that Ethiopian and Israeli ID have on the need for social change. While Ethiopian ID played a significant role, Israeli ID did not. Israeli ID is stronger among immigrants who arrived at a younger age, but it does not predict the need for social change.

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CONCLUSION The current research examined the contributory impact of age at migration, perceptions of ethnic group status (SEV) and socio-cultural identity on the desire for social change. Path analysis was used to derive a best-fit model to describe the processes involved herein. It should be noted that the population we investigated is not representative of the general population, but rather, comprised of students of higher education. They represent the aspiring Ethiopian immigrant youth, who struggle to fight their way past perceived discrimination towards successful integration into Israeli society. Nationally, only 14% of this immigrant group met university entrance requirements, and hence we are focusing on a unique sector of this community (CBS 2004). While this study focuses on emerging adults in higher education, future research should reveal whether these results can be generalized to the general population. The results of our research indicate that age of migration plays an important role in shaping perceptions of social inequality and the need for social change. It appears, however that its impact is complex: On one hand, older migrants seem to endorse a status quo approach, with minimal expression of desire for social change. This approach could be explained by the tendency of older immigrants to maintain the social norms of the native culture, having been impacted by early years of socialization (Liebkind et al. 2004). Passive submission and acceptance of the social status quo adheres to Ethiopian core values (e.g., Weil 1995; Ben-Ezer 2006). On the other hand, younger immigrants, who were exposed to the dominant culture from a very early age, act in accordance with its norms and take on a more proactive approach. Such results highlight the integration of this population with an Israeli cultural norm that embraces criticism and vocal expression of dissatisfaction (Yair 2011). At the same time, however, age at migration seems to have the opposite effect on social attitudes when mediated by ethnic identity. Here, migrants who immigrate at an older age tend to maintain a stronger sense of identity with the ethnic group, as expected, based on the literature in this regard (Leibkind et al. 2004). In this case, however, the heightened sense of ethnic identity leads to greater desire for social change. This finding would tend to be supportive of the position put forth by Saguy et al. (2009), whereby a strong sense of ethnic identity may cause one to focus on intergroup differences, and "otherness,” rather than on the shared identity with the national (Jewish, Israeli) group. This "divergent" approach has been shown empirically to lead to perceptions of discrimination and social inequality, and to the desire for social change (Saguy et al. 2009). It should be noted, however, that as a group, those who reported high levels of Ethiopian ID tended to express equally high levels of Israeli identification – reflecting an adaptive, integrative approach to acculturation (Berry 1997; Berry and Kim 1988). Their proactive response to discrimination, as seen in their greater reported desire for social change may be explained by Walsh and Tuval-Mashiach's (2012) position regarding the relationship between an adaptive socio-cultural identity, which is open to adopting Israeli values and modes of behavior and a proactive, "fighting back" approach to coping with perceived discrimination. Our finding regarding the contribution of positive perceptions of ethnolinguistic vitality (SEV) on ethnic identity are also supportive of previous research (Golan-Cook et al. 2014) and in in keeping with Ethnolinguistic Identity Theory, as posited by Giles and Johnson

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(1987). Moreover, the current research reconfirms the pivotal role played by ethnic identity in shaping a wide range of social attitudes and behaviors – from governing language choices and bilingual orientations (Golan-Cook and Olshtain 2011) to altering social attitudes and perceptions, and mediating the nature of one's response to perceived discrimination and social inequality.

The Challenge of Preserving Ethnic Identity in the Context of Social Inequality To summarize, the current research has attempted to provide a comprehensive picture of the process of socio-cultural identity reconstruction in the context of migration, as it relates to such factors as age at migration, perceptions of ethnic group status in the local social landscape, and evolving attitudes regarding social inequality and social change. The model used was based on documented theories and tested with empirical findings. Our research highlights two competing factors. On the one hand, heightened ethnic identity, coincides with "divergence" from the dominant culture, resulting in a heightened sense of a need for change. On the other hand, age at migration heightens ethnic identity but reduces expressions of a need for social change. In view of the apparent existence of coincident paths in our model, it is suggested that elements of personal disposition and individual acculturation experiences may also be impacting ethnic SEV and identity, which in turn mediate perceptions of discrimination and social inequality, forming desire for social change. These findings contribute to our understanding of the processes experienced by Ethiopian migrants. Such research is critical at this point in time, as some of the underlying social issues are beginning to spill over and to find expression in social tension, as seen in recent protests by this community. We believe that left unaddressed, growing perceptions of discrimination and feelings of alienation from the dominant society will result in greater social cleavages and further unrest in the future, fueled by a younger generation of Ethiopian Israelis, many of whom were born in the country, perceive themselves as Israeli, have higher expectations for equality, and demand social change. At the same time, there may be a growing urge to explore and seek renewed pride in one’s ethnic roots, which according to our model will also increase desire for social justice. Moreover, it is suggested from our results that younger immigrants may be endorsing the tools and social norms of the dominant society as a means of protesting on behalf of the older generation that does not stand up for its own rights. Future ethnographic research in the form of in depth interviews with Ethiopian migrants from a broader section of the population, as well as longitudinally measuring attitudes of Ethiopians and other Israelis about the Ethiopian population, is necessary to shed more light on the process of acculturation and perceptions of social discrimination. Such research would also yield more in depth knowledge regarding the necessary changes to be made by the receiving nation in areas of education, health, social services and law, so as to alleviate growing social tensions. Clearly, migrants respond to ambivalence from the host culture about their inclusion in society (Bourhis et al. 1997). This ambivalence needs to be addressed, so that it ceases to be a catalyst for marginalization and the strengthening of "black identity" among Jewish Ethiopian immigrants. De-emphasizing the negative stigma associated with the "differences" between the host and ethnic cultures, while highlighting the Jewish connection

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which binds this group to the dominant society, may be one step on the road to acceptance and social change.

REFERENCES Beaujean, A. (2014). Latent Variable Modeling using R: A Step-By-Step Guide. Routledge: Taylor and Francis. Ben-David, A. & Tirosh Ben-Ari, A. (1997). The experience of being different: Black Jews in Israel, Journal of Black Studies, 27, 510-527 Ben-Eliezer, U. (2004). Becoming a black Jew: Cultural racism and anti-racism, Contemporary Israel Social Identities, 10, 254-266 Ben-Ezer, G. (2002). The Ethiopian Exodus: Narratives of the Migration Journey to Israel, 1977-1985. London: Routledge Ben-Ezer, G. (2006). Group counseling and psychotherapy across the cultural divide: The case of Ethiopian Jewish immigrants in Israel, Transcultural Psychiatry, 43, 205-234 Ben-Shalom, U. (2002). Immigrants from the Former Soviet Union in the IDF: Ethnic Identity, National Identity and Adaptation in the Context of Assimilation. Doctoral dissertation submitted to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Hebrew). Berry, J. W. (1997). Immigration, acculturation, and adaptation. Applied Psychology, 46, 568. Berry, J. W. & Kim, U. (1988). Acculturation and mental health. In P. Dasen, J.W. Berry, & N. Sartorius (Eds.). Health and Cross - cultural Psychology: Towards Applications, (207 236). Beverly Hills: Sage. Bourhis, R., Giles, H. & Rosenthal, D. (1981). Notes on the construction of a 'subjective vitality' questionnaire for ethnolinguistic groups. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 2, 145 - 155. Bourhis, R., Moise, L. C., Perreault, S. & Senecal, S. (1997). Towards an interactive acculturation model: A social psychological approach. International Journal of Psychology, 32, 369 - 386. Brookdale, (2012). The Ethiopian-Israeli Population: Facts and Figures 2012 Retrieved 28 August 2015, from http:// brookdale.jdc.org.il/ _Uploads /dbsAttachedFiles/Myers-JDCBrookdale-Institute-Facts-and-Figures-on-Ethiopian-Israelis-June-2012.pdf Brown, R. (2000). Social identity theory: Past achievements, current problems, and future challenges. European Journal of Social Psychology, 30, 745 - 778. Casesnoves-Ferrer, R. & Sankoff, D. (2003). Identity as the primary determinant of language choice in Valencia. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 7, 50 - 64. CBS, (2004). Born In Ethiopia - Twelfth Grade Pupils, Matriculation Examinees And Examines Entitled To A Certificate Who Met University Entrance Requirements. Retrieved 28 August 2015, from http://www.cbs.gov.il/publications/education_ imig04/pdf/t16.pdf CBS, (2010). Social Survey 2009: Jewish Tradition Observance and Changes in Religiosity of the Jewish population in Israel. Retrieved 28 August 2015, from http:// cbs.gov.il/ reader/ newhodaot/ hodaa _template .html ? hodaa = 201019211

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Kaplan, S. & Salamon, H. (1998). Ethiopian Immigrants in Israel: Experience and Prospects. The Institute for Jewish Research, No. 1 Knight-Ridder, (1996). Ethiopian Israelis Protest Discarding Of Blood Donations Government Feared Supply Tainted By HIV Thousands Demonstrate. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 28 August 2015, from http:// articles.chicagotribune.com/1996-0129/news/9601290121_1_ethiopian-blood-ethiopian-immigrants-ethiopian-jews Kraemer, R. (1990). Social Psychological Factors Related to the Study of Arabic Among Israeli Jewish High School Students. Doctoral dissertation submitted to Tel Aviv University. Liebkind, K. (1993). Self - reported identity, depression and anxiety among young Vietnamese refugees and their parents. Journal of Refugee Studies, 6, 25 - 39. Liebkind, K. (2001). Acculturation. In R. Brown and S.L. Gaertner (eds.), Blackwell Handbook of Social Psychology: Intergroup Processes (386 - 406). Cambridge, MA: Blackwell. Liebkind, K., Kasinskaja- Lahiti, I. & Solheim, E. (2004). Cultural identity, perceived discrimination and parental support as determinants of immigrants’ school adjustment: Vietnamese youth in Finland. Journal of Adolescent Research, 19, 635 - 656. Liebkind, K. & McAlister, A. (1999). Extended contact through peer modeling to promote tolerance in Finland. European Journal of Social Psychology, 29, 765 - 780. Mengistu, G. & Avraham, E. (2015). Others among their own people: The social construction of Ethiopian immigrants in the Israeli national press. Communication, Culture and Critique, ISSN 1753-9129 Mizrachi, N. & Zawdu, A. (2012). Between global racial and bounded identity: Choice of destigmatization strategies among Ethiopian Jews in Israel. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 35, 3, 436-452, DOI: 10.1080/ 0141987 0.2011.589529 Nguyen, H. H., Messt, L. A. & Stollak, G. E. (1999). Towards a more complex understanding of acculturation and adjustment. Cultural involvement and psychological functioning in Vietnamese youth. Journal of Cross - Cultural Psychology, 30, 5 - 31. Offer, S. (2007). The Ethiopian community in Israel: Segregation and the creation of a racial cleavage. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 30, 461-480 Olshtain, E. & Horenczyk, G. (2000). Language, Identity and Immigration. Jerusalem: The Hebrew University Magnes Press. Phinney, J. (1992). The multi-group ethnic identity measure: A new scale for use with adolescents and youth from diverse groups. Journal of Adolescent Research, 7, 156 - 176. Phinney, J. S., Horenczyk, G., Liebkind, K. & Vedder, P. (2001). Ethnic identity, immigration and well - being: An interactional perspective. Journal of Social Issues, 57, 493 - 510. Roberts, R. E., Phinney, J. S., Masse, L. C., Chen, Y. R., Roberts, C. R. & Romero, A. (1999). The structure of ethnic identity in young adolescents from diverse ethno-cultural groups. Journal of Early Adolescence, 19, 301 - 322. Rosenthal, D. & Hrynevich, C. (1985). Ethnicity and ethnic identity: A comparative study of Greek, Italian and Anglo-Australian adolescents. International Journal of Psychology, 20, 723 - 742. Saguy, T., Tausch, N., Dovidio, J. F. & Pratto, F. (2009). Their irony of harmony: Intergroup contact can produce false expectations for equality. Psychological Science, 20, 114–121.

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Saguy, T. & Chernyak-Hai, L. (2012). Intergroup contact can undermine disadvantaged group members' attributions to discrimination. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48, 714 –720). Schwartz, S. J., Montgomery, M. J. & Briones, E. (2006). The role of identity in acculturation among immigrant people: Theoretical propositions, empirical questions, and applied recommendations. Human Development, 49, 1-30. Shabtay, M. (1995). The experience of Ethiopian Jewish soldiers in the Israeli army: The process of identity formation within the military context. Israel Social Science Research, 10, 69-80 Shabtay, M. (2000). Identity reformulation among Ethiopian immigrant soldiers in Israel. In E. Olshtain and G. Horenczyk (eds.), Language, Identity and Immigration (141- 154). Jerusalem: The Hebrew University Magnes Press. Shabtay, M. (2003). 'RaGap': Music and identity among young Ethiopians in Israel. Critical Arts, 17, 93-105. Shamai, S. & Ilatov, Z. (2005). Acculturation models of immigrant Soviet adolescents in Israel. Adolescence, 40, 632 - 644. Swirski, S. & Swirski, B. (2002). Ethiopian Israelis, Housing, Employment, Education. The Adva Center and the Israeli Association for Ethiopian Jews, Report no.11 (Hebrew). Tajfel, H. & Turner, J. C. (1986). The social identity theory of intergroup behavior. In S. Worchel and W.G. Austin (eds.), The Psychology of Intergroup Behavior (7 - 24). Chicago: Nelson Hall. Walsh, S. D. & Tuval-Mashiach, R. (2012). Ethiopian emerging adult immigrants in Israel coping with discrimination and racism. Youth & Society, 44(1), 49-75. Weil, S. (1995). It is Futile to Trust in Man: Methodological difficulties in studying nonmainstream populations with reference to Ethiopian Jews in Israel. Human Organization, 54, 1–9. Yair, G. (2011). The Israeli Compass. Jerusalem, Israel: Keter Books (Hebrew). Zagefka, H. & Brown, R. (2002). The relationship between acculturation strategies, relative fit, and intergroup relations: Immigrant-majority relations in Germany. European Journal of Social Psychology, 32, 171 - 188.

In: Ethnic and Cultural Identity Editor: Adrienne D. Warner

ISBN: 978-1-63483-871-9 © 2015 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 3

ETHNIC IDENTITY AS A PROTECTIVE RESOURCE FOR DISCRIMINATION AMONG NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS: A COMPARISON WITH MAINSTREAM ADULTS IN CANADA Barbara M. Gfellner, Ph.D. Department of Psychology, Brandon University, Brandon, Manitoba, Canada

ABSTRACT Ethnic/racial identity (ERI) is examined as a resource for perceived discrimination among North American Indian/First Nation (NAI/FN) and a comparison sample of Caucasian university students in Canada. The chapter provides a review of the background research and describes a study that investigated associations between various dimensions of ERI, perceived discrimination, measures of positive and negative adjustment; and the role of these ERI components as potential moderators in the linkages of perceived discrimination with the functional outcomes. As expected, NAI/FN students’ ratings of perceived discrimination, the distress associated with it, and the ERI measures (except public regard) exceeded those of Caucasian students. Similarities and differences were seen between the groups. Perceived discrimination was not supported consistently as a predictor of the ERI dimensions although exploration was prominent for both groups. Being older and female was associated with ERI on the process dimensions of ERI among NAI/FN students; centrality and private regard were protective resources. As expected, private regard buffered the negative effect of perceived discrimination on indices of distress; and low public regard exacerbated the adverse effect of perceived discrimination on distress among NAI/FN students. Differential effects were found for the Caucasian students. Implications are considered.

INTRODUCTION Ethnic/racial identity (ERI) is examined as a resource for perceived discrimination among North American Indians with a comparison sample of Caucasian young adults in Canada.

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This paper provides an overview of research on perceived discrimination, considered the most severe stressor for minority individuals given its pervasive impact on health and well-being (e.g., Carter 2007, Lee and Ahn 2013); and the prominence of ERI in self-development as a protective factor and resource for many minorities (e.g., Umana-Taylor 2011). The dimensions of ERI and its roles in the moderation of linkages between perceived discrimination with relevant outcomes for various minorities are reviewed and discrepancies noted. The current study focused on North American Indians, a neglected group in research on ERI; this is surprising as the indigenous population is a subjugated minority that is perhaps the most disadvantaged by discrimination and racism in North America and throughout the world (e.g., Bramley, Herbert, Tuzzio and Chassin 2005, Frohlich, Ross, and Richmond 2006, www.amnesty.org/en/ what-we-do/indigenous-peoples). In Canada North America Indians (NAI) are a prominent minority with more than 16% of the people in the prairie provinces self-identifying as Aboriginal that is, First Nation (FN) including Status and non-Status Indians, Metis, and Inuit peoples; 58% live on reserves; 61% are less than 30 years of age and comprise the most rapidly growing segment of the populattion in the country (Statistics Canada 2013). As with Indigenous people in the United States and other parts of the world, they are the most destitute in terms of mental and physical health as well as social and economic conditions in comparison with other minorities (Comeau and Santen 1995, Pavkov, Travis, Fox, King and Cross 2010, Townsend and Wernick 2008) including increased psychological distress (Bratter and Eschbach 2005, Campbell and Evans-Campbell 2011, Hartshorn, Whitbeck and Hoyt 2012, Walls and Whitbeck 2011), greater challenges with identity development (Arnett 2004, Trimble 2007) and lower ethnic identity scores (Martinez and Dukes 1997). These disparities have been linked with historical trauma due to a legacy of discrimination including colonization and assimilation practices (Kirmayer, Simpson and Cargo 2003) that have systematically undermined protective cultural factors, socialization, cultural values, ceremony, language, and tradition (Duran, Duran and Brave Heart 1998, Kirmayer et al.) with continuing intergenerational impacts (Bombay, Matheson and Anisman 2014, Tafoya and Del Vecchio 1996, Weaver and Brave Heart 1999). The objectives of the present study were to investigate associations between various dimensions of ERI, perceived discrimination and several indicators of functional well-being among North American Indian and a comparison group of Caucasian university students. In addition, the potential role of predicted ERI dimensions as moderators of perceived discrimination in linkages with these outcome variables (i.e., academic functioning and psychological well-being) was examined. The findings contribute to our understanding of ERI among NAI and offer directions for personal, community, and societal intercessions as well as for further research with Indigenous and other minorities.

RACIAL/ETHNIC PERCEIVED DISCRIMINATION Discrimination based on culture, race, or ethnicity is a well-documented source of distress among minorities; and has been viewed as the most critical of all stressful life experiences (Carter 2007, Kessler, Mickelson and Williams 1999, King 2003, Lee and Ahn 2013, Paradies 2006, Williams, Neighbors and Jackson 2003, Pascoe and Smart-Richman

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2009, Pieterse, Carter, Evans and Walter 2010). Perceived discrimination has been associated with post-traumatic stress symptoms after controlling for general stress (Flores, Tschann, Dimas, Pasch, and de Groat 2010, Wei, Wang, and Heppner and Du 2012); it is implicated as causes of physical and mental health problems including distress, depression, anxiety, hostility, internalizing, externalizing, and other maladaptive behaviors among minority groups (Brondolo, Brady, ver Halen, Pencille, Beatty and Contrada 2009, Brody, Chen, Murray, Ge, Simmons, Gibbons, Gerrard and Curtrona 2006, Lee and Ahn 2013, Martin et al. 2011, Pieterse, Todd, Neville and Carter 2012). Indeed, substantial research underscores the powerful impact of perceived discrimination on health and functional well-being among members of stigmatized and subjugated groups. A recent comprehensive meta-analytic review (Schmidt, Branscombe, Postmes and Garcia 2014) that included a host of stigmatized groups (based on race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, religious denomination, and gender) substantiated and extended prior work in terms of correlational data measuring both perceived discrimination and psychological wellbeing (e.g., self-esteem, depression, anxiety, psychological distress, life satisfaction). The authors reported that the negative effect size (r = -.24) was larger for disadvantaged groups compared to advantaged groups. Consistent with earlier meta-analyses (e.g., Lee and Ahn 2013, Paradies 2006, Schmitt, Branscombe and Postmes 2003) the negative relationship was significant across different conceptualizations of well-being but weaker for positive outcomes (e.g., self-esteem, positive affect) than for negative outcomes (e.g., depression, anxiety, negative affect). These findings were supported in longitudinal studies that controlled for prior levels of well-being and in experimental studies that manipulated general perceptions of discrimination. Perceived discrimination has been studied most extensively among African Americans (Cooper, McLoyd, Wood and Hardaway 2007, Pieterese et al. 2012, Sellers and Sheldon 2003). More recently, with increased focus on other prominent minorities in North America (e.g., Asian, Hispanic, Latino: Perez, Fortuna and Alegria 2008, Szalacha, Erkut, Garcia Coll, Fields, Alarcon and Ceder 2003, Wang, Siy and Cheryan 2011), other parts of the world (e.g., Europe: Verkuyten 2007, Australia: Bodkin-Andrews, Rourke, Grant, Denson and Craven 2010), as well as refugees and recent immigrants (e.g., Noh, Beiser, Kaspar and Rummens 1999). The pervasiveness of discrimination against Aboriginal peoples is commonly acknowledged (Brunnen 2003, EKOS Research Associates 2006a,b). It has been associated with a host of negative physical, mental health, and psychosocial outcomes (Galliher, Jones and Dahl 2011, LaFromboise, Hoyt, Oliver and Whitbeck 2006, Whitbeck, Chen, Hoyt and Adams 2004, Whitbeck, Hoyt, Chen and Stubben 2002, Yoder, Whitbeck, Hoyt and LaFromboise 2006); perhaps most extensively studied in relation to depressive symptoms (Bombay, Matheson and Anisman 2010, Whitbeck, McMorris, Hoyt, Stubben and LaFromboise 2002). Among African American youth perceived discrimination has been associated with both positive and negative outcomes. Adolescents cope with discrimination by either: disengaging from school and socially appropriate behavior (Steele 1998); or being motivated to achieve and function adaptively to combat discrimination and negative stereotypes (Saunders 1997). At the same time for many minorities racial/ethnic stress may have a double-pronged negative impact first by interfering with academic adjustment and achievement (Alfaro, UmanaTaylor, Gonzales-Bracken, Bamaca and Zeiders 2009, De-Garmo and Martinez 2006), and then by increasing the risk for severe distress (including PTSD symptoms) and maladaptive

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coping (in particular problem alcohol use). In longitudinal studies both alcohol use (Arria et al. 2013) and PTSD (Bachrach and Read 2012, Hsiu-Lan and Mallinckrodt 2015) predicted dropout, academic performance, and retention among college students. Despite inconsistencies in the literature with regard to some outcomes, ERI has received the most attention as a potentially healthy coping response and protective factor for perceived discrimination. An expanding body of research purports the role of ethnic and racial identity (ERI) as a resource to ameliorate the negative effects of perceived discrimination for some minorities (Sellers, Caldwell, Schmeelk-Cone and Zimmerman 2003, Sellers, Copeland-Linter, Martin and L’Heureux Lewis 2006, Smith and Silva 2011, Vera, Vacek, Coyle, Stinson, Mull, et al. 2011, Verkuyten 2007, Wei, Wang, Heppner and Du 2012). According to these authors, a robust ERI may be an asset that contributes to resilience and well-being for many disadvantaged and subjugated groups. Alternatively, some studies have found that a strong ERI may exacerbate susceptibility to distress and intensify negative outcomes associated with perceived discrimination (Yip, Gee and Takeuchi 2008, Yoo and Lee 2008). Such mixed findings warrant closer scrutiny of different domains of ERI, the minorities in question, and specific contextual factors that may be involved (Smith and Silva 2011).

ETHNIC AND RACIAL IDENTITY Historically, there are distinct differences between the concepts of race and ethnicity. Race has denotative meaning; it refers to a socially constructed characterization of people based on shared phenotypic characteristics such as skin color and facial features. Conversely, ethnicity has connotative meaning; it characterizes a group of people in terms of shared ancestry, history, and culture. Racial identity has been defined as identification with people who have been socialized as belonging to a racial group (Helms 1993); ethnic identity has been considered as identification and association with the same ethnic group in terms of shared cultural values and beliefs (Phinney 1996). Despite ongoing debates in the literature about how these terms may overlap as well as differ from one another (Cokley 2005, Helms 2007, Trimble 2007), advances in conceptualizing race and ethnicity acknowledge the dynamic nature of these constructs as ascribed statuses that reflect broader socio-historical and political influences. Hence any differences are related to perceived differences with racial, ethnic, or cultural heritage (Cokley 2007, Quintana 2007). According to Worrell (2015), an individual’s worldview – the lens through which information and events are processed – is determined to a large extent by one’s culture, race, and ethnicity; these represent attitudinal views of the world that describe heterogeneous groups (p. 249). As well, all three construct are defined by: (1) ascribed membership in a specific societal group; (2) a sense of affiliation or affinity with the group so that individuals acknowledge and accept they are members of a group with a shared historical past; and (3) shared values and beliefs based on their group membership, an assumption that is made both by group members and nonmembers of the group, in spite of intragroup differences (p. 254). From this perspective cultural, racial and ethnic identity are considered as overlapping in meaning and are used interchangeably in this paper.

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ERI is a component of personal identity that has greater significance for minorities than non-minority individuals (Branch, Tayal and Triplett 2000, Erikson 1968, Miville, Koonce, Darlington and Whitlock 2000, Phinney 1992, Syed and Azmitia 2009; 2010). At the same time ERI has been associated with personal identity development (achievement) among minorities as well as non-minority samples (e.g., Branch et al., Gonzales-Bracken et al. 2015, Phinney). It has been studied most frequently during adolescence (Erikson 1968, Rivas-Drake et al. 2014) although recent research has emphasized substantial identity growth over the post-secondary years as young people are evaluating and incorporating important aspects of their identities in terms of career, relationships, and values in the process of defining their place in the social world (e.g., Arnett 2007, 2015; Umana-Taylor et al. 2014). As well, during the middle and later years of adulthood identity issues percolate as new roles and changing circumstances require integration in terms of one’s sense of self (e.g., Kroger 2007, 2015). Indeed, as with personal identity ERI has important implications for adjustment and wellbeing across the lifespan for minority groups in various contexts. ERI is a component of one’s identity that develops as a function of one’s group membership. It is a multi-faceted construct that varies in complexity as well as salience or importance to an individual’s self-conceptualization. REI models focus on feelings of belongingness and attachment to one’s group and the meaning attributed to this association (Phinney 1992, Sellers, Rowley and Chevous 1997). From a developmental perspective, ethnic identity includes the processes of exploration and commitment (Phinney). Exploration involves actively seeking out and examining one’s ethnicity and it’s meaning while commitment refers to allegiance to one’s group and incorporating its value ideology. Sellers and colleagues considered racial identity to encompass both the significance and qualitative meaning of one’s background in terms of three components. Centrality is the extent to which race/ethnicity is central to one’s self-concept; private regard refers to the extent to which one feels positive or negative about one’s background; and public regard is how one feels that others view one’s group. These aspects of ERI become increasingly important during adolescence when individuals are undergoing dramatic physical, cognitive, and social changes (Phinney 1993); and subsequently over the post-secondary and early adult years (Arnett 2004, Arnett 2015). ERI is viewed as an important predictor of psychosocial functioning so that a strong ERI contributes to indicators of self-esteem and personal adjustment among ethnic minority group members (e.g., Phinney, Cantu and Kurtz 1997, Phinney and Kohatsu 1997). ERI has been supported as a resource and asset for optimal development among NAI adolescents (Gfellner and Armstrong 2012, 2013; Jones and Galliher 2007, Martinez and Dukes 1997, Whitesell, Mitchell, Kaufman and Spicer 2006, Whitesell, Mitchell, Spicer and the Voices of Indian Teens project Team 2009) and adults (Bombay et al. 2010) although often inconsistently depending on the measure of ethnic identity used (Markstrom, Whitesell and Galliher 2011). It is important to point out that the protective role of ERI is reflected in the Native revitalization movement that draws heavily on cultural content including traditional healing programs (e.g., Allen et al. 2011, Chandler, Lalonde, Sokol and Hallett 2003, Garrett et al. 2014, Goodkind, Ross-Toledo, John, Hall, Ross, Freeland … and Lee 2010, Iwasaki, Bartlett and O’Neill 2005, LaFromboise et al. 2006, Sparrow et al. 2011) in a variety of venues. Several recent reviews reflect the heightened interest of researchers in the study of ERI and adaptive outcomes for minority groups. In a summary of research across ethnic groups,

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Umana-Taylor (2011) reported the greatest consistency for protective effects of ERI among African Americans; with some variability in the direction of associations for Latinos; and the least consistent findings for Asian Americans. These variations were attributed to: (1) a focus on specific subgroups rather than pan cultural participants; (2) greater consistency with the use of global measures of ERI as opposed to specific components; (3) confounding of developmental effects (that is, early and later adolescents, college students, and adult samples); and (4) contextual factors in some studies. Similarly, Chao and Otsuki-Clutter (2011) emphasized the importance of different dimensions of ERI, specific developmental periods, and varying contexts. In their reviews, Rivas-Drake and colleagues (2014) provided a narrative review and meta-analysis of the most frequently used measures of ERI among children and adolescents: the Multi-group Measure of Ethnic Identity (MEIM; Phinney 1992) and the Multidimensional Measure of Racial Identity (MMRI; Sellers et al. 1998). Yoon, Chang, Kim, Clawson, Cleary, Hansen … and Gomes (2013) conducted a meta-analysis of acculturation/enculturation and mental health. With regard to ERI (enculturation), these authors reported associations only with positive mental health and anxiety. They noted that ERI was a more important predictor for African Americans than Asian Americans; and suggested careful attention to potential differences among various subjugated groups (such as African Americans, American Indians, other indigenous people, and refugees in other parts of the world). As well, they noted differential effects of age and indicated a focus on lifespan developmental needs and social roles in relation to ERI and contextual factors. Similar concerns were echoed in a review of ethnic identity and mental health of American Indian/ Alaskan Natives by Markstrom, Whitesell, and Galliher (2011). Although considerably less research is available for Indigenous groups in comparison with other minorities, a lack of consistent findings was attributed to variations in the ethnic identity measures used, including a greater reliance on acculturation (identification with mainstream society) rather than enculturation (ERI) in some studies. These authors called for careful attention by investigators to the operationalization of ethnic identity and what may be appropriate for Indigenous samples. In contrast to recent research with other minorities there has been little focus on the multidimensionality of ERI among NAI individuals. Taken together, these reviews along with other scholars (e.g., Casey-Cannon, Coleman, Knudson and Valezquez 2011, Cokley 2007, Ong, Fuller-Rowell and Phinney 2010, Quintana 2007) caution against the use of aggregate measures of ERI as potential confounds that obfuscate findings. They emphasize the need to focus on discrete components of ERI and how these may align differentially in relation to relevant outcome variables as well as across different minority groups. For example, Rogers-Sirin and Gupa (2012) reported that cultural identity was associated with somatic symptoms among Asian but not Latino Americans. In another study French, Coleman, and Di Lorenzo (2013) found a differential alignment of various dimensions of ERI (centrality, private regard, public regard, achievement, belonging, and ethnic behaviors) with cultural socialization across African American, Latino American, and Asian American youth. Most associations differed between these groups; this was especially notable in comparison with African Americans. In another study (Brittain and colleagues 2013) ERI affirmation was positively associated with mental health (less anxiety and depression) among Latino, Asian American, and African American university students but ERI centrality moderated the linkage between affirmation and mental health only for Latino and Asian American students. For these students ERI affirmation was negatively related to anxiety and depressive symptomology, and the association was significantly greater

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for those who reported higher centrality compared with those who reported low centrality. Anxiety and depressive symptoms were highest among students who reported high centrality and the lowest affirmation. Indeed, collectively these authors contend that ERI does not adhere to a “one size fits all” model.

ERI and Discrimination A substantial body of research considers ERI as an asset and protective factor to offset the adverse effects of perceived discrimination for many minority groups (Bourguignon, Seron, Yzerbyt and Herman 2006, Cheryan and Tsai 2007, Lee and Ahn 2013, Phinney 2003, Ponterotto and Park-Taylor 2007, Sellers and Sheldon 2003). According to social identity theory (Tajfel and Turner 1986), individuals maintain positive self-esteem through identification with their ingroup. In this way a strong ERI for members of a stigmatized group may serve to buffer the negative effects of ongoing discrimination on personal well-being by focusing on positive aspects of their group (Branscombe, Schmitt and Harvey 1999, Schmitt and Branscombe 2002). Alternatively, those with low ERI may not have the psychological resources to deal with discrimination so that low ERI would be associated inversely with well-being. Accordingly, Branscombe and colleagues’ rejection-identification model contends that perceived discrimination has a negative effect on self-esteem so that identification with one’s group counteracts the adverse effects of perceived discrimination. Considerable evidence supports this position with a variety of stigmatized groups including racial/ethnic minorities. Mossakowski (2003) found that ERI (global MEIM) reduced depressive symptoms associated with discrimination among Filipino American adults. In a longitudinal study of mixed-ethnic high school students Greene, Way and Parke (2006) reported that the affective components of REI (belonging) ameliorated the negative effects of peer discrimination on self-esteem. Similarly, Bombay et al. (2010) found that ingroup affect (positive regard) buffered the impact of perceived discrimination on depressive symptoms among NAI/FN adults; and ingroup ties (connection; belonging) also buffered perceived discrimination for depressive symptoms for males. Other studies reported that high centrality, high private regard, and low public regard were protective in the context of perceived discrimination among African American students (Bynum, Best, Barnes and Burton 2008, Nesbett, Sheldon and Sellers 2004, Sellers, Caldwell, Schmeelk-Cone and Zimmerman 2003). Sellers et al. (2003) found that the association was weaker between perceived discrimination and stress for individuals for whom race was more central to their identity (high centrality). Bynum and colleagues found that among Black males who experienced racism, those who reported that they feel more positively about being Black (high private regard) were less likely to report anxiety-related symptoms than those who reported that they feel less positively about being Black (low private regard). According to Sellers et al. individuals who believe that others hold more negative attitudes toward their group (low public regard) were at a greater risk for experiencing racial discrimination but were protected from the impact of perceived discrimination on psychological functioning. Another study (Vera et al. 2011) with urban ethnically-diverse minority adolescents indicated that ERI (global MEIM-R) buffered perceived discrimination for life satisfaction and positive affect but not negative affect. Also, Wei, Wang, Heppner, and Du (2012) found

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that high ethnic social connectedness weakened the association between perceived discrimination and post-traumatic stress symptoms among Chinese international students. Apart from the stress-buffering effect of ERI, some researchers have found that a strong ERI may exacerbate or worsen the psychological effects of perceived discrimination (e.g., Alamilla, Kim and Lam 2010, Berkel, Knight, Zeiders, Tein, Roosa, Ganzales and Saenz 2010, Burrow and Ong 2010, Sellers, Caldwell, Schmeelk-Cone and Zimmerman 2003, Yip, Gee and Takeuchi 2008, Yoo and Lee 2008). According to self-categorization theory (Turner, Hogg, Oakes, Reicher and Wetherell 1987), individuals attune to environmental cues relevant to their own identity so that those with a strong REI attend to interethnic dynamics (Syed and Azmita 2008, 2010) and are more likely to perceive instances of discrimination and experience distress from it (McCoy and Major 2003, Wong, Eccles and Sameroff 2003). In other words, threat to the group with which one identifies may be experienced as threat to the self. In this way, rejection sensitivity theory (Downey and Feldman 1996, Downey, Khouri and Feldman 1997) postulates that rejections experienced by individuals can lead them to become more anxious about and anticipate future rejections that negatively impacts upon well-being. With regard to perceived discrimination those high in ERI may be more rejectionsensitive than those low in ERI and thus more vulnerable to adverse outcomes. This position has received support from a number of studies. Noh et al. (1999) found that high ERI (salience) worsened depression associated with perceived discrimination among adult South East Asian refugees in Canada. Yoo and Lee (2005) reported that affective ERI (clarity about pride in one’s ethnic group) in conjunction with perceived discrimination negatively affected problem solving among Korean college students. Similarly, Lee (2005) found that pride in one’s ethnic group exacerbated the association between perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms among Korean American college students. According to Greene et al. (2006), the cognitive component (sense of meaning) of ERI aggravated the associations between peer discrimination and self-esteem in their longitudinal study of diverse ethnic-group adolescents. Bombay et al. (2010) found that centrality (salience of group membership) intensified the association between perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms among NAI/FN adults; similar results were reported for African American doctoral students who reported high racial centrality but public regard did not predict the frequency of perceived discrimination or moderate the daily relationship between perceived discrimination and distress (Burrow and Ong 2010). Another study by Torres and Ong (2010) indicated that ERI exploration exacerbated depression associated with daily diary accounts of perceived discrimination among Latino adults whereas ERI commitment buffered the effect. Further mixed results were reported by Neblett, Sheldon, and Sellers (2004). According to these authors, discrimination was not related to well-being among African American adolescents who felt ethnicity was central to their life; conversely those who did not feel ethnicity was central to their life and experienced discrimination reported more anxiety, distress, and depression. Hoggard, Byrd, and Sellers (2015) found that African American college students high in centrality, high in private regard, and low in public regard experienced greater levels of depressive symptoms the day before rather than after they had experienced racial discrimination. Taken together, these findings underscore the importance of ERI in relation to the impact of perceived discrimination on personal adjustment and well-being. Given the multidimensionality of ERI, the affective and emotional aspects that reflect self-esteem and supportive resources (e.g., a sense of belonging, cohesiveness, private regard, public regard,

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commitment, involvement in cultural activities) may function as a buffer against the negative effect of perceived discrimination (e.g., Kiang, Yip, Gonzales-Backen, Witkow and Fuligni 2006, Neblett et al. 2004, Wong et al. 2003). At the same time as noted above, cognitive aspects of ERI that make race/ ethnicity more salient or distinctive and accentuate group differences (e.g., centrality, awareness of stereotypes, exploration), may exacerbate the negative effects of perceived discrimination. As an additional caveat to the complexity of these research findings, some studies have not supported moderation of ERI in relation to perceived discrimination. For example, Huynh and Fuligni (2010) examined daily diary accounts of peer and adult discrimination among Latino, Asian, and European grade 12 students; perceived discrimination correlated with depressive symptoms, distress, physical complaints, lower GPA, and self-esteem but there was no moderation for ERI (centrality or private regard). In other words, these ERI components had no effect on the association between experiencing discrimination and the adjustment variables. Similarly, several studies (Lee 2003, Park, Schwartz, Lee, Kira and Rodriques 2013, Yoo and Lee 2005) found that ERI did not moderate perceived discrimination on the psychological well-being or negative affect link among Asian college students. Such disparities in research findings underscore the complexity of ERI and its complicated role in relation to perceived discrimination. As indicated previously, specific components of ERI rather than aggregate measures may differentially relate to outcome variables (e.g., Casey-Cannon et al. 2011). ERI aspects that make perceived discrimination more salient (i.e., centrality, exploration) may be associated with intensification of negative outcomes; whereas features reflecting greater self-esteem or social resources (i.e., pride, belonging, attachment, commitment, public regard) appear to buffer against negative mental health. As well, mixed results may be associated with the specific ethnic group under investigation. ERI has not consistently buffered the negative effects of perceived discrimination for Asian American in comparison with African American samples (e.g., Yoo and Lee 2008). It may be that ERI is tied more closely to a history and expectation of discrimination, racism, and oppression for African American than Asian American and Latino populations. The same may be expected for Indigenous people given their legacy of historical trauma through colonialism, social stigmatization, suppression, and institutionalized racism.

Adjustment and Psychological Well-Being This study utilized several standard mental health and well-being measures typical of ERI research with different minorities. A plethora of research underscores the importance of selfesteem as a global indicator of well-being given its association with indices of adjustment such as depression, aggression, antisocial behavior, academic achievement, psychosocial development (e.g., Smith, Levine, Smith, Dumas and Prinz 2009). A positive sense of self may promote functional adaptation and thereby protect youth from engaging in problem behaviors (Donnellan, Trzesneiwski, Robins, Moffit and Caspi 2005). Self-esteem has been associated consistently with ERI among minority group members (e.g., Michaels, Barr, Roosa and Knight 2007, Phinney et al. 1997, Phinney and Kohatsu 1997, Twenge and Crocker 2002, Umana-Taylor, Diversi and Fine 2002, Umana-Taylor, Gonzales-Backen and Guimond 2009).

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Similarly, Mastery and Coping, Superior Adjustment, and Emotional Tone are dimensions of self-image and general well-being that have been studied by Offer and colleagues with diverse and international populations of young people (Offer, Ostrov and Howard 1982, Offer, Howard and Atkins 1988). Academic self-competence (Harter 2012) is a dimension of self-concept that reflects academic functioning; self-reported grades provide an index of academic achievement. Academic, social, and personal-emotional adjustment to college reflect on students’ abilities to function effectively within the university environment (Baker and Syrik 1999). In terms of mental health, the Identity Distress Scale (Berman, Montgomery and Kurtines 2004) assesses clinical maladjustment of severe difficulties that some students experience with personal identity issues (identity problems); and global identity distress (GID), refers to the stress related to the experience of these identity problems. Perceived discrimination due to race, ethnicity, or culture developed for use with NAI/FN individuals was modified for use with Caucasian students. An index of the distress associated with perceived discrimination was used as an indicator of the subjective appraisal associated with perceived discrimination. The present study examined perceived discrimination and associations with two conceptually different measures of ERI (the MEIM-R, MMRI) modified for use among NAI/FN. In addition, ERI was indexed by cultural identification, the extent to which one identifies with her cultural (enculturation) and an index of acculturation, the extent to which one identifies with the mainstream culture (mainstream identification). These measures have been used with research on NAI/FN adolescents and adults (e.g., LaFromboise et al. 2010, Jones and Galliher, Galliher et al. 2011, Gfellner and Armstrong 2012, Moran et al. 1999) with some mixed results. As well, mainstream identity was expected to be less relevant to NAI/FN than Caucasian students. Given the multidimensionality of ERI, these ERI dimensions were investigated as protective resources in relation to the adjustment and well-being measures. The ERI components were then examined in relation to perceived discrimination and as potential moderators in the linkages between perceived discrimination and the indicators of adjustment and well-being. The predictions were as follows. 1. Greater perceived discrimination and discrimination distress were expected among NAI/FN than Caucasian students. 2. Greater ERI was predicted among NAI/FN than Caucasian students. 3. Perceived discrimination and ERI associations were predicted to be greater for NAI/FN than Caucasian students. 4. Perceived discrimination was expected to relate negatively with academic functioning and the personal affective components of well-being (self-esteem, superior adjustment, mastery and coping, emotional tone) and positively with identity problems, global identity distress (GID), and discrimination distress/stress; greater magnitude of these associations were predicted among NAI/FN than majority students. 5. ERI dimensions were predicted to associate positively with academic functioning, personal affective components of well-being (self-esteem, superior adjustment, mastery and coping, emotional tone); and negatively with identity distress, global identity distress (GID), and discrimination distress/stress.

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6. ERI components were predicted to moderator in the perceived discrimination-wellbeing linkages with the academic and well-being variables including identity distress, GID, and distress associated with perceived discrimination. In particular, the affective components of ERI (commitment, MEIM-R, private regard, public regard, cultural identity, mainstream identity) were expected to buffer the negative effect of perceived discrimination on the outcome variables for NAI/FN students; conversely the cognitive dimensions of ERI (exploration, centrality) were expected to exacerbate the negative effect of perceived discrimination on the outcome variables. These effects were examined but predictions were not made for the Caucasian students.

METHOD Participants The sample included 172 students attending a small university in the central mid-west of Canada: 70 self-identified as North American Indian/First Nation (M = 29.1, SD = 9.6, range: 18 – 61 years of age; 89% female); and 102 as Caucasian (M = 21.2, SD = 5.2, range: 18 – 48 years of age; 78% female). The older age of NAI/FN students reflected that the half (50%) of these students were enrolled in a special Education program and they resided in Northern FN communities/reserves when not attending classes.

Measures The Multi-group Ethnic Identity Measure-Revised (MEIM-R, Phinney and Ong 2007) has been the most extensively used measure of ERI; it is a global index that has been found to be valid and reliable with a number of ethnic groups. The MEIM-R includes two scales: exploration refers to the extent to which one has examined one’s ethnicity; and commitment, measures the extent to which one has affirmed one’s ethnicity. Each scale includes 3-items that are rated on a 4-point response scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 4 (strongly agree). In this study scale scores as well as the global composite index were used. The psychometric properties of the MEIM and MEIM-R are well-established with middle school, high school, college, and adult populations from numerous ethnic and cultural groups in North America and other parts of the world (c.f. Brown, Unger Hu, Mevi, Hedderson, Shan, Quesenberry and Ferara 2014, Casey-Cannon et al. 2011, Low, Akande and Hill 2015, Yoon 2011). The Multidimensional Measure of Racial Identity (MMRI, Sellers et al. 1998) originally developed for use with African Americans, adapted for use with other minorities, was modified for use with NAI/FN and mainstream/majority students. Three scales were used. Centrality (8 items) refers to the extent to which one’s ethnic identity is focal to one’s life, how one defines the self in terms of race and ethnicity. Private Regard (6 items) measures the extent to which one feels positively or negatively toward one’s group and how one feel about being a member of that group. Public Regard (5 items) measures how one feels that others view one’s group and how this group is viewed or valued by mainstream society. Items are rated on a 7-point scale from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree.” Mean scores were

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computed for each scale. These scales have been found to be valid with adolescents and adults from diverse ethnic and mainstream groups including NAI/FNs (e.g., Casey-Cannon, et al. 2011, Fuligini, Witkow and Garcia 2005, Kiang, Yip, Gonzales-Backen, Wikow and Fuligini 2005, Yoon 2011). The Bicultural Identity Measure (BCIM; Moran et al., 1999) indexes the degree to which respondents identify with both their own culture (enculturation) and with mainstream culture (acculturation). Eight items address one’s own cultural identity including involvement in traditions, language, spiritual practices, adoption of the cultural of life, participating in community activities; similar items (n = 6) were used to assess White or mainstream identity except for the language and spirituality items. Items were rated on a 5-point scale with higher values indicating identification with the culture. Mean scores were calculated for these scales and they were used as continuous variables in this study. The measure was developed and has been used in research with Native American Indians and Alaskan Natives (e.g., Gfellner and Armstrong 2012, Galliher e al. 2010, Jones and Galliher 2007, LaFromboise et al. 2010). Perceived Discrimination was indexed using 7 items from Whitbeck, Hoyt, McMorris, Chen, and Stubben (2001), developed for use with Aboriginal adolescents and adults. Examples include: “How often have other people said something bad or insulting to you because of your ethnic background?” and “How often has someone yelled an ethnic or racial slur or insult at you?” Statements were rated on a 4-point scale: “never,” “occasionally,” “often,” “frequently.” Item scores were summed to provide a global measure of perceived discrimination. The measure has been used extensively with Aboriginal adolescents and adults in Canada and the U.S. (cf. Whitbeck, Hartshorn and Walls 2014). Self-esteem was indexed by Rosenberg’s (RSE, 1979) 10-item global self-image measure. Statements are rated on a 4-point scale from “does not describe me at all” to “describes me very well.” The RSE is the most frequently used index of self-image by researchers; psychometric properties are well-established; and the measure has been used in recent studies with Indigenous adolescents (e.g., Jones and Galliher 2007, Whitesell, et al. 2006, Whitesell et al. 2009, Whitbeck, Chen, Hoyt and Adams 2004, Whitbeck et al. 2002) and adults (Bombay, Matheson and Anisman 2010) as well as with other race and ethnic groups (e.g., Bachman et al. 2011, Michaels, Barr, Roosa and Knight 2007, Twenge and Crocker 2002, Elion, Wang, Slaney and French 2012). Academic self-concept was assessed using the academic competence scale from Harter’s (2012) Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents. It consists of 6-items rated on a 4-point scale from 1 (“strongly disagree”) to 4 (“strongly agree”) to indicate the respondent’s perceived ability to engage in academic tasks, such as “I have the skills to do well at university,” “I feel I am as smart as other students.” The psychometric properties are well established and the measure has been used with international samples (e.g., see Wichstram 2012). Self-reported academic achievement was indexed by a single item, “Overall, how would you rate your academic progress?” rated on a 5-point scale with “1 = excellent, 2 = good, 3 = satisfactory, 4 = less than satisfactory, 5 = poor.” A low rating reflects a high score for academic accomplishment. The Student Adjustment to College Questionnaire (SACQ, Baker and Siryk 1999) was used to assess academic, social, and personal-emotional functioning at university. A 28-item version measured students’ adaptation to university on three scales: academic scale (10items), social adjustment (10-items), and personal-emotional adjustment (8-items). Statements are Items are rated on a 9-point scale from “does not apply to me” to “applies very

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closely to me.” Items are summed for the scale scores. The SACQ has been used extensively in research, clinical evaluation and counseling (see Baker and Siryk for a review). Three scales from the Self-image Questionnaire for Young Adolescents (SIQYA, Offer, Ostrov and Howard 1982, Petersen, Schulenberg, Abramowitz, Offer and Jarcho 1984) adapted for use with young adults provided measures of adjustment in terms of specific aspects of self-concept. Statements about the self are rated on a 6-point scale from “describes me very well” to “does not describe me at all.” Half of the items are reversed; scale scores are summed to reflect a positive value. Emotional Tone includes 11 items that refers to the psychological self. Examples are: “My feelings are easily hurt,” “I am often nervous,” ”I frequently feel bad.” The other two scales are measures of the coping self. Superior Adjustment consists of 10 items such as: “I enjoy life,” “New situations are often difficult for me to cope with.” Mastery and Coping is measured by 10 items for example, “When I decide to do something I do it,” “I am not afraid of competing to succeed.” The SIQYA has wellestablished reliability and validity for normal, delinquent, and emotionally disturbed youth (Offer, Marohn and Ostrow 1979) and a major international study that compared the selfimage of young people in ten countries (Offer at al. 1988). The Identity Distress Scale (IDS, Berman, Montgomery and Kurtines 2004) was used to measure interference or severe disruption with identity development. The IDS provides continuous measures for seven areas of difficulty (long term goals, career choice, friendships, sexual orientation, religion, values and beliefs, group loyalties); items are rated on a 5-point scale from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very severely) to indicate the extent to which respondents have been recently upset, distressed or worried over each of these identity-related issues. Two additional items asked respondents to rate the overall level of discomfort these issues caused upset or distress and how much uncertainty as a whole these issues interfered with their life. A final item asked respondents to indicate how long, if at all they felt upset, distressed, or worried over these issues as a whole. This study defined identity distress/identity problems as the item-sum for identity problems in the seven identity domains; the term identity problems and identity distress are used interchangeably. Global identity distress (2-items) was defined as the sum score for the respondent’s overall level of discomfort, upset, or distress caused by the situation; and their rating for the extent to which this distress had caused uncertainty. These scales have been used as predictors of adjustment and mental health among adolescents, college students, and adults in North America and other countries (cf. Berman and Montgomery 2014). Perceived discrimination distress was measured by a single item, “Please rate your overall level of discomfort (feeling badly, upset, or distressed) about the way you have been treated because of your ethnic or cultural background?” rated on a 5-point scale from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very severely). Table 1 provides the alpha coefficients for the measures in the study by ethnic group.

Procedure Data was collected with an on-line survey using standardized instruments and openended questions from students enrolled in regular Native Studies and Introduction to Psychology classes, and those in summer session courses on campus for students who were completing education degrees but resided on reserves and employed as teacher’s aides.

50

Barbara M. Gfellner

Table 1. Means (standard deviations), ranges, alphas, and t-test comparisons for the study variables by ethnicity

White/Caucasian Variable Exploration Commitment MEIM-R Centrality Private Regard Public Regard Cultural Identity Mainstream Identity Perceived Discrimination PD Distress Self-esteem Academic Self-concept Self-reported grades Academic Adjustment Social Adjustment Personal-Emotional Adjustment Emotional Tone Mastery and Coping Superior Adjustment Identity Distress GID

North American Indian / FN

M (SD)

Range

alpha

M (SD)

Range

alpha

8.6 (1.5) 9.6 (3.3) 18.2 (4.1) 5.5 (1.3) 5.3 (1.1) 5.1 (1.1)* 2.2 (.80) 3.1 (.76) 7.8 (1.3) 1.1 (0.3) 33.6 (4.8) 17.9 (3.0) 2.3 (0.71) 6.4 (1.1) 5.9 (1.3) 5.6 (1.6) 4.4 (.77) 4.8 (.74) 4.4 (.63) 13.3 (4.4) 4.2 (1.8)

5 -12 3 – 15 10 – 26 1.75–8.75 2–7 2.2 – 7.0 1–4 1–4 7 – 13 1-2 16 - 40 10 – 24 1–4 3.9 – 8.9 3 – 8.4 1.8 – 8.9 2.1 – 5.7 2.7 – 6.0 2.7 – 6.8 0 – 26 2 – 10

.88 .88 .91 .78 .82 .83 .92 .92 .76 .88 .96 .75 .80 .83 .83 .84 .69 .72 .79

10.1 (1.4)* 12.6 (2.6)* 22.7 (3.5)* 7.3 (1.2)* 6.0 (.92)* 4.1 (1.3) 2.8 (.70)* 3.0 (.72) 12.9 (4.3)* 2.1 (0.93)* 32.8 (6.1) 17.7 (3.3) 2.4 (0.90) 6.6 (1.2) 6.0 (1.6) 5.5 (1.9) 4.2 (.95) 4.7 (.89) 4.3 (.86) 13.6 (5.5) 4.5 (2.3)

6 – 12 3 – 15 19 – 27 4.2 – 9.0 3.5 – 7 1–7 1–4 1–4 7 – 24 1-5 11 - 40 8 -24 1–5 4–9 2.2 – 9 1.6 – 9 1.2 -5.9 1.7 – 6.0) 2.5 – 6.0) 0 – 29 2 – 10

.86 .88 .93 .79 .80 .79 .89 .93 .87 .91 .85 .78 .85 .87 .88 .86 .81 .76 .88

Note: PD Distress = Perceived discrimination distress; GID = Global Identity Distress; the 10-item alpha for IDS was .81 for Caucasian and .83 NAI/FN students; * significance level of p < .0001.

The first page of the survey included instructions for informed consent; completion of the survey indicated acceptance. Students were awarded a bonus credit toward their final grade in the respective course for participation in the study.

Data Analyses The descriptive statistics included between-group t-tests for the study variables. Correlations were computed between predictor and outcome variables; Fisher r to z transformations were conducted to determine the magnitude of effect where correlations achieved significance for both groups in tandem. A series of multiple regression equations were generated for perceived discrimination and each ERI dimension (n = 8) as predictors of the adjustment outcomes (n = 12) by ethnic group; in the final set of models the perceived

Ethnic Identity As a Protective Resource for Discrimination …

51

discrimination by relevant ERI interaction terms were entered for the respective outcome measures to test for moderation.

RESULTS Preliminary Analyses Descriptive statistics (means, standard deviations, ranges, alpha coefficients, t-tests) for the study variables by ethnicity are given in Table 1. As expected, NAI/FN students’ ratings of perceived discrimination and discrimination distress significantly exceeded those reported by Caucasian students. Similarly, NAI/FN students demonstrated elevated scores for each of the ERI measures with the exception of public regard where Caucasian students had higher scores; there were no between-group differences for students’ ratings of mainstream identity or for any of the academic or personal well-being measures.

Correlations The bivariate correlations between the perceived discrimination, the ERI, and the outcome variables are shown in Table 3 for the NAI/FN students and Table 4 for the Caucasian students. For both groups significant correlations were found between perceived discrimination and exploration. Similarly, as predicted correlations attained significance between centrality with mastery and coping, superior adjustment, and identity problems; private regard with personal-emotional adjustment, mastery and coping, superior adjustment, identity problems, and GID; public regard with self-esteem, academic self-concept, and academic adjustment; and mainstream identity with academic adjustment. Exploration was the only ERI component that correlated with perceived discrimination among NAI/FN students although the correlations with MEIM-R and centrality approached significance. Alternatively, significant correlations were found between perceived discrimination with all of the MEIM-R aspects (exploration, commitment, and the composite score) among Caucasian students. As expected, among NAI/FN students’ perceived discrimination correlated negatively with self-esteem, social adjustment, and academic selfconcept approached significance; conversely among Caucasian students positive associations were found between perceived discrimination and academic self-concept, mastery and coping, and inversely with GID. The groups differed in terms of correlations between the ERI dimensions and outcome variables as follows. Exploration correlated positively with identity problems and GID for NAI/FN and with superior adjustment for Caucasian students; Commitment and MEIM-R correlated positively with self-esteem, academic self-concept, personal-emotional adjustment, emotional tone, mastery and coping, superior adjustment, and negatively with identity problems and GID among Caucasian students. Alternatively, among NAI/FN students correlations were significant between centrality with mastery and coping, superior adjustment, and identity problems. Private regard correlated with personal-emotional adjustment, mastery and coping, superior adjustment, identity problems, and GID for NAI/FN

52

Barbara M. Gfellner

students; and emotional tone for Caucasian students. Public regard correlated with social adjustment for NAI/FN students; with self-perceived grades/academic achievement, personalemotional adjustment, mastery and coping, superior adjustment, problem behaviors, and GID among Caucasian students. Cultural identity correlated with social adjustment among NAI/FN students; and with academic self-concept, emotional-tone, mastery and coping, identity problems, and GID among Caucasian students. Mainstream identity correlated with academic self-concept among NAI/FN students; and with academic adjustment, mastery and coping, superior adjustment, and inversely with GID among Caucasian students. In contrast with perceived discrimination, NAI/FN students’ ratings for distress associated with discrimination correlated inversely with private regard and public regard, and positively with exploration. The association with exploration was consistent among Caucasian students but discrimination distress positively correlated with private regard. As expected discrimination distress was negatively related with the personal well-being variables (and positively with identity problems and GID) among NAI/FN students; null associations were found for the academic and well-being measures among Caucasian students. Fisher r to z transformations were calculated to assess potential differences in the magnitude of effect for correlations that achieved significance for both groups. As indicated previously, this included 19 significant correlations; for the NAI/FN students correlations that approached significance (r’s of .20 to .23) that were considered meaningful and included in these comparative analyses. Two z scores achieved significance: perceived discrimination and academic self-concept, z = -2.75, p < .0006, and private regard with discrimination distress, z = 2.95, p < .003. In both cases the magnitude of effect was greater among NAI/FN students although the direction of association was negative for NAI/FN students and positive for Caucasian students. Apart from the strength of association, private regard was protective of discrimination distress for NAI/FN but exacerbated this distress among Caucasians; perceived discrimination was associated with reduced academic self-concept among NAI/FN and elevated academic self-concept among Caucasian students.

Regression Analyses: Predictors of Adjustment The regression analyses for the predictors of adjustment by group are summarized in Tables 4 and 6 for NAI/FN students and Tables 5 and 7 for the Caucasian students. Overall results for the NAI/FN students were consistent with the bivariate correlations; perceived discrimination as a predictor of academic self-concept achieved significance; but exploration was not significant in the regression analyses. With a few exceptions, findings for centrality, private regard, public regard, cultural identity, and mainstream identity were in harmony with results for the adjustment variables in the bivariate correlations. As seen in Tables 5 and 7 for the Caucasian students, in contrast with the bivariate correlations, perceived discrimination was the sole predictor of discrimination distress. Alternatively, the results for the ERI components as predictors of the well-being variables mostly were aligned with the bivariate correlations.

Table 2. Correlations between moderator, predictor, and outcome variables for North American Indian/FN self-identified students

Exploration Commitment MEIM-R Centrality Private Regard Public Regard Cultural Identity Mainstream Identity Perceived Discrimination Discrimination Distress

PD

Disc Distress

Selfesteem

Academic SelfEsteem

Selfreported Grades

Acad AD

Social AD

PersEmot AD

Emotional Tone

Mastery/ Coping

Superior AD

Identity Problems

GID

.28c .13 .21 .21 -.06 -.19 .10 -.01 .55

.23d -.07 .04 .11 -.24d -.26d -.07 -.01 .55 -

-.16 -.06 -.11 .18 .18 .27d .18 .07 -.28d -.31c

-.10 -.01 -.05 .33c .18 .32c .20 .34c -.23 -.16

.03 .00 .01 -.23 -.03 -.06 -.00 -.16 -.15 .00

-.10 .05 .00 .31c .25d .31c .14 .31c -.02 -.15

-.13 .11 .03 .34c .35c .27d .26d .24d -.27d -.36c

-.16 .01 -.06 .23 .24d .13 .09 .22 -.05 -.25d

-.13 .05 -.02 .25d .19 .17 .11 .19 -.02 -.26d

-.06 .06 .02 .25d .24d .10 .13 .12 -.04 -.24d

.04 .08 .08 .32c .29c .14 .28d .17 -.02 -.31c

.25d -.02 .08 -.26d -.36c -.07 -.09 .03 .11 .18

.25d -.03 .08 -.20 -.28d -.10 -.11 -.23 .09 .31c

Note: PD = Perceived Discrimination; Disc Distress = distress caused by discrimination; Acad AD = academic adjustment; Social AD = social adjustment; PersEmot AD = personal-emotional adjustment; Superior AD = superior adjustment; Identity problems = distress associated with personal identity issues; GID = global personal identity distress; Self-reported grades/academic achievement: (reverse coded) low value = high score; a = p < .0001; b = p < .001; c = p < .01; d = p < .05.

Table 3. Correlations between moderator, predictor, and outcome variables for the Caucasian / White self-identified students

Exploration Commitment MEIM-R Centrality Private Regard Public Regard Cultural Identity Mainstream Identity Perceived Discrimination Discrimination Distress

PD

Disc Distress

Selfesteem

Academic Selfesteem

Selfreported Grades

Acad AD

Social AD

PersEmot AD

Emotional Tone

Mastery/ Coping

Superior AD

Identity Problems

.29c .23d .29c .15 .14 .07 .10 -.00 -

.23d -.07 .04 .11 .23d .03 -.02 -.01 .61

-.17 .28c .29b .14 .24c .27c .15 .15 .17

.20d .27b .29b .11 .24d .30c .25c .10 .20d

-.07 -.15 -.15 -.14 -.14 -.33b -.14 -.23 -.01

.09 -.15 .15 .17 .15 .22d .09 .20d .17

-.04 .10 .07 .19 -.01 .06 .03 -.01 -.05

.10 .25c .24c .10 .21d .26c .11 .10 .05

.08 .35b .31c .14 .24c .18 .20d .09 .16

.17 .34b .34c .25c .32b .30b .26c .29c .23d

.24d .28c .31c .27c .41a .40a .28c .29c .18

-.07 -.34b -.30c -.32b -.27c -.27c -.28c -.29c -.08

-.31c -.27c -.17 -.27c -.27c -.27 -.12 -.23d

.61

-

.07

.18

-.02

.01

.08

-.03

.01

.11

.02

.04

-.08

GID -.06

Note: PD = Perceived Discrimination; Disc Distress = distress caused by discrimination; Acad AD = academic adjustment; Social AD = social adjustment; PersEmot AD = personal-emotional adjustment; Superior AD = superior adjustment; Identity problems = distress associated with personal identity issues; GID = global personal identity distress; Self-reported grades/academic achievement: (reverse coded) low value = high score; a = p < .0001; b = p < .001; c = p < .01; d = p < .05.

Table 4. Beta coefficients from the multiple regression analyses for the predictors of well-being for North American Indians/ First Nation Canadians

Variable

Self-esteem

B

Academic Adjustment

R2

B

Academic Achievement

R2

B

Academic Selfesteem

R2

B

.127

-.151 .000 -.027

Social Adjustment

R2

B

.018

.311 .010 -.21d

PersonalEmotional Adjustment

R2

B

R2

.08

-.172 .016 -.11c

.087

.544 .023 -.033

.021

SEX AGE Perceived Discrimination

.453 .039 -.44d

.09

-.473 .045c -.03

Exploration

-.43

.10

-.092

.137

.054

.024

-.109

.079

-.077

.091

-.225

.044

Commitment

-.16

.097

-.022

.128

.099

.019

-.010

.077

.074

.098

-.003

.021

MEIM-R

-.162

.101

-.028

.132

.015

.021

-.025

.078

.026

.089

-.042

.025

Centrality

.151d

.148

.038b

.2082

-.020

.062

.129a

.2194

.066b

.237

.053d

.083

Private Regard

.195

.123

.061d

.198

-.069

.021

.105

.108

-.097b

.195

.095d

.088

Public Regard Cultural Identity

.194 .235

.132 .129

.054d .016

.2004 .131

-.010 .006

.023 .019

.129d .131

.139 .117

.054 .089d

.130 .160

.037 .035

.034 .029

Mainstream Identity

.099

.098

.073d

.019

-.036

.047

.265c

.212

.086d

.142

.090

.060

Notes: Academic achievement: low score = high value; a = p < .001; b = p < .001; c = p < .01; d = p < .05.

Table 5. Beta coefficients from the multiple regression analyses for the predictors of well-being for Caucasian/ mainstream Canadians

Variable

Self-esteem

B

Academic Adjustment

R2

B

Academic Achievement

R2

B

Academic Selfesteem

R2

B

.01

-.041 -.015 .02

Social Adjustment

R2

B

.01

1.4d .073 .34

PersonalEmotional Adjustment

R2

B

R2

.09

.44 .017 -.07

.025

-.102 -.029 .11

.0103

SEX AGE Perceived Discrimination

-.615 .03 .56

.03

-.449 .036 .07

Exploration

-.351

.066

.025

.078

-.036

.015

.348

.115

-.022

.026

.106

.012

Commitment

.38c

.04

.049

.097

-.038

.039

.218c

.144

-.055

.044

.121d

.07

MEIM-R

.312c

.098

.036

.093

-.03

.037

.191c

.152

.034

.036

-.005

.3744

Centrality

.058

.049

.02

.098

-.011

.036

.030

.099

.032c

.088

.016

.0202

Private Regard

.166d

.085

.022

.0833

-.015

.031

.089d

.127

-.002

.029

.051d

.0543

Public Regard

.244c

.113

.041d

.108

-.041b

.112

.137b

.153

.012

.032

.08c

.087

Cultural Identity

.113

.056

.019

.078

-.017

.033

.10d

.133

.005

.03

.025

.021

Mainstream Identity

.154

.054

.041

.094

-.035d

.058

.073

.096

-.004

.028

.043

.025

Notes: Academic achievement: low score = high value; a = p < .001; b = p < .001; c = p < .01; d = p < .05.

Table 6. Beta coefficients from the multiple regression analyses for the predictors of well-being for North American Indians/ First Nation Canadians

Variable

Emotional Tone

B

Mastery and Coping

R2

B

Superior Adjustment

R2

B

Identity Problems

R2

B

.023

.028 .011 -.01

Global Identity Distress

R2

B

.02

.639 .028 .142

.021

-.145 .030 .051

SEX AGE Perceived Discrimination

-.04 .00 -.01

.003

.09 .01 -.02

Exploration

-.094

.02

-.04

.027

.028

.02

.882

.074

Commitment

.013

.004

.005

.024

.014

.02

-.078

MEIM-R

-.010

.004

-.005

.024

.012

.020

Centrality

.026d

.069

.024d

.086

.028c

Private Regard

.033

.038

.041d

.084

Public Regard

.025

.029

.008

Cultural Identity

.020

.013

Mainstream Identity

.042

.038

R2

Perceived Discrimination Distress B R2

.017

.320 .003 .117a

.306

.425

.076

.061

.314

.022

-.06

.027

-.57

.3263

.115

.026

.040

.02

-.57

.3106

.113

-.157d

.104

-.056

.071

.000

.3062

.042d

.101

-.344c

.153

-.125d

.106

-.033

.3437

.027

.014

.029

-.038

.023

-.026

.022

-.026

.3361

.016

.031

.044d

.080

-.10

.029

-.067

.038

-.024

.3227

.021

.034

.032

.043

.019

.021

-.136d

.077

-.004

.3065

Notes: a = p < .001; b = p < .001; c = p < .01; d = p < .05.

Table 7. Beta coefficients from the multiple regression analyses for the predictors of well-being for Caucasian/ mainstream Canadians Emotional Tone Variable B

Mastery and Coping

R2

B

Superior Adjustment

R2

B

Identity Problems

R2

B

.075

-.93 .03d .04

Global Identity Distress

R2

B

.085

.855 -.11 .039

.031

-.65 -.04 -.261

SEX AGE Discrimination

.05 .01 .085

.029

.033 .032 .088

Exploration

.020

.03

.06

.086

.085d

.118

-.125

.033

Commitment

.079c

.138

.071b

.171

.054c

.158

-.459b

MEIM-R

.056c

.109

.055c

.160

.047c

.168

Centrality

.01

.045

.017d

.127

.018c

Private Regard

.025d

.075

.032c

.154

Public Regard

.023

.056

.036c

Cultural Identity

.023

.065

Mainstream Identity

.015

.035

R2

Perceived Discrimination Distress B R2

.091

.028 .002 .133a

.3719

.028

.091

.02

.3825

.153

-.156c

.173

.005

.374

-.325c

.122

-.104d

.142

-.000

.3719

.156

-.139c

.137

-.031

.12

.003

.3768

.037a

.228

-.165b

.097

-.61d

.1395

.006

.3889

.147

.043a

.219

-.197c

.10

-.064d

.129

-.002

.372

.029c

.137

.029c

.164

-.201c

.120

-070c

.1503

.007

.3896

.045c

.147

.036c

.145

-.241c

.103

-.046

.10

-.001

.3708

Notes: a = p < .001; b = p < .001; c = p < .01; d = p < .05.

Ethnic Identity As a Protective Resource for Discrimination …

59

Perceived Discrimination and ERI Regression analyses were run with age, sex, and perceived discrimination as predictors for each of the ERI dimensions for NAI/FN and Caucasian students separately. With regard to the MEIM-R dimensions, among NAI/FN students commitment, F (3, 67) = 5.79, p < .002, R2 = .21, was significant with major contributions by age, beta = .094, SE = .031, t = 3.04, p