Drawing from Nigrescence Theory (Cross, 1991); Social Identity Theory (Tajfel, 1982); and the Ethnic Identity framework (Umaña-Taylor, Yazedjia, & Bámaca-Gómez, 2004), this mixed method dissertation examined three questions: (1) Are there age-group differences in Oaxaqueño/a-heritage adolescents’ and young adults’ ethnic-racial attitudes and Identity-Salient Experiences (ISE)?; (2) Are there age-group differences in the interrelations among ethnic-racial attitudes, reported discrimination from Mexican peers, self-esteem, and Indigenous self-identification?; and (3) Does ethnic identity buffer the predicted negative relationship between discrimination from Mexican peers and self-esteem? Result indicate small overall age-group differences in ethnic-racial attitudes and ISE, but, compared to young adults, adolescents endorsed higher ethnic-racial Self-Hatred attitudes and lower Multiculturalist Inclusive attitudes. While 72% of participants reported experiencing discrimination from their Mexican peers, only 25% of participants recalled an ISE involving discrimination as formative to their identity. Rather, 63% of adolescents and young adults recalled an ISE involving the cultural practices of the Oaxaqueño community as formative. Adolescents and young adults cited ISEs as helping them identify and explore the cultural and racial markers that define the distinctiveness of the Oaxaqueño and Indigenous culture within the Mexican community. Second, adolescents’, but not young adults’, reported discrimination from their Mexican peers was positively correlated with their Miseducation and Self-Hatred attitudes. Only ethnic-racial Self-Hatred attitudes were negatively related to adolescents’ and young adults’ self-esteem. Among Oaxaqueño/a-Indigenous youth, those who self-identified as Indigenous reported more discrimination from Mexican peers than those who did not self-identify as Indigenous. Third, there was no evidence that ethnic identity buffered the negative effect of discrimination. Findings lend support for adolescence as a time when Oaxaqueño/a-heritage youth are particularly attuned to discrimination from their Mexican peers. The findings indicate that while discrimination may not be formative to adolescents’ identity as Oaxaqueño/a, they were related to their learned and internalized stereotypes about the Oaxaqueño community. Findings also reveal how ethnicity and race together shape Oaxaqueño/a-heritage youths’ sense of belonging as Mexican, Oaxaqueño/a, and Indigenous in adolescence and young adulthood. Finally, implications for the three theoretical models framing the study are discussed.

Although ethnic-racial typicality is often considered as either phenotypic (e.g., facial features, skin tone) or behavioral (e.g., “acting Black” or “acting White”), little research has investigated the interaction of these two dimensions. The present study built on social identity theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979), phenotypic bias models (Maddox, 2004), and related empirical research to examine how phenotypic and behavioral ethnic-racial typicality relate to in-group belonging and stereotyping among African American adolescents and young adults. Eighty-two participants, 40 African American adolescents (Mage = 15.38, SD = .81) and 42 college students (Mage = 19.55, SD = 1.35), watched animated clips of African American male characters varying in phenotypic and behavioral typicality. Participants rated the character’s stereotypical traits, academic potential, and likelihood of intra-ethnic/racial group belonging. They then completed a survey measuring multiple dimensions of ethnic- racial identity (self-perceived ethnic-racial phenotypicality, felt ethnic-racial behavioral typicality, centrality, private regard, nationalism, humanism, and assimilation) and experiences with intra-ethnic/racial discrimination. Participants rated characters who were typical in behavior as having higher average stereotypical traits, fewer counter-stereotypical traits, and lower academic potential than were characters with less typical behaviors; these characters were also rated as more likely to belong than those showing less typical behavior, regardless of their phenotype. Participants’ endorsement of nationalist ideology was positively related to their attributing positive traits to the target character, whereas endorsement of assimilation was negatively related to such attributions. Finally, participants’ felt behavioral typicality and perceived skin tone were positively related to their ethnic-racial centrality. This study advances both theoretical and practical understanding of the role of ethnic-racial typicality in stereotyping and in-group belonging among African American youth.

The goal of this report is to show how low-income Mexican-American and European-American children's and adolescents' everyday learning activities in the home and parents' aspirations for their children's future are key elements in home-school linkages. After reviewing two models of home-school linkages, we apply the ecocultural approach to analyzing third-,fifth-, and seventh-grade students' participation in chore and homework activities and their parents' aspirations for their personal/moral, educational, and vocational future. Drawing on interviews with these students' parents, we illustrate personnel (parents, siblings, relatives, friends) available to guide children's and adolescents' mastery of homework and chores, parents' direct and indirect instructional scripts, and how parents' future goals and aspirations might shape their present goals and guidance. In reporting our findings, we pay special attention to 1) similarities and differences between the ecology of learning, resources, and vulnerabilities of Mexican-American and European-American families, 2) within-cultural-group variation in families' resources and vulnerabilities, and 3) how families' resources and vulnerabilities, guidance scripts, and aspirations change as children enter adolescence. We conclude with suggestions for how to apply our findings to the design of parent-school partnerships.