Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology
Volume 49, Issue 7, 2018, Pages 1009-1026

Ethnic and National Identity Development and School Adjustment: A Longitudinal Study With Turkish Immigrant-Origin Children (Article)

Spiegler O.* , Sonnenberg K. , Fassbender I. , Kohl K. , Leyendecker B.
  • a Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
  • b FernUniversität in Hagen, Germany
  • c Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
  • d Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
  • e Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany

Abstract

We examined developmental trajectories of ethnic and national identity during early adolescence and linked subgroups of identity change to ethnic minority children’s school adjustment. Our longitudinal data on Turkish immigrant-origin children in Germany (N = 146; MT 1 = 10.42 years, 46.6% male) covered three waves of annual measurement. A person-oriented approach using growth mixture modeling revealed two different classes (subgroups) of identity change: Class 1 comprised children with a high and stable Turkish identity, and Class 2 comprised children with a medium and increasing Turkish identity. German identity was medium and stable in both classes. Results further showed generally high levels of school adjustment in both classes but lower levels of school motivation and teacher support among children in Class 2. Our findings point toward heterogeneity in ethnic minority children’s identity development during early adolescence and support the “ethnic identity as a resource” hypothesis. © The Author(s) 2018.

Author Keywords

longitudinal early adolescence school adaptation change person-oriented approach growth mixture analysis Turkish immigrants Ethnic identity national identity cultural identity

Index Keywords

male ethnic group female teacher major clinical study Germany immigrant longitudinal study adolescence identity Article academic achievement motivation human Child
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85050002597&doi=10.1177%2f0022022118769773&partnerID=40&md5=8e731d64cd5eb0c3721f8c8230679565
DOI: 10.1177/0022022118769773
ISSN: 00220221
Cited by: 4
Original Language: English