Advantages And Disadvantages Of Ethnic Identity
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Stage 2 - Ethnic Identity Search (Moratorium) The main process of exploration occurs in the second stage and requires the most effort to advance from. Phinney & Appelbaum (1990) described this stage an “intense process of immersion in one 's own culture through activities such as reading, talking to people, going to ethnic museums, and participating actively in cultural events” (p. 503). A person going through ethnic identity search is expanding himself/herself through interactions with people or things from his/her ethnic background. Majority of the participants in a previously mentioned study revealed that they dedicated more time into learning about their ethnic group while they were in college. Towards the conclusion of the research
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This claim excludes the people who are assigned one culture but feel more comfortable and accepted in another. As a consequence, college students who identify with a culture outside of what they grew up in may purposely avoid the exploration of their preferred ethnic group due to fear of rejection. Awareness of racism against ethnic identity may also influence children to reject their ethnic identity and favor the dominant culture. In his analysis of various studies on children’s development of ethnic cognition, Quintana (1998) pointed out that “children seem to absorb the society 's racial bias and prejudice and seem immune to parent 's direct ethnic socialization when it runs counter to the attitudes prevalent within the society” (p. 30). This type of mindset not only inhibits any desire to explore ethnic identity, it may also cause identity confusion for a person who wants full acceptance of both their family and the …show more content…
Syed & Azmitia (2009) suggested that identity development continues during college years and ethnic identity may continue to develop post-college. There is also the possibility that people may not experience all of the phases, and/or fully achieve an ethnic identity. Many of the studies examined for this paper also considered various factors that may affect the speed of development, such as personal experiences, cultural backgrounds and access to resources. Readers should be mindful of the limitations of the studies and take into consideration that not every college student is going to fit Phinney’s three-stage model of ethnic identity
This claim excludes the people who are assigned one culture but feel more comfortable and accepted in another. As a consequence, college students who identify with a culture outside of what they grew up in may purposely avoid the exploration of their preferred ethnic group due to fear of rejection. Awareness of racism against ethnic identity may also influence children to reject their ethnic identity and favor the dominant culture. In his analysis of various studies on children’s development of ethnic cognition, Quintana (1998) pointed out that “children seem to absorb the society 's racial bias and prejudice and seem immune to parent 's direct ethnic socialization when it runs counter to the attitudes prevalent within the society” (p. 30). This type of mindset not only inhibits any desire to explore ethnic identity, it may also cause identity confusion for a person who wants full acceptance of both their family and the …show more content…
Syed & Azmitia (2009) suggested that identity development continues during college years and ethnic identity may continue to develop post-college. There is also the possibility that people may not experience all of the phases, and/or fully achieve an ethnic identity. Many of the studies examined for this paper also considered various factors that may affect the speed of development, such as personal experiences, cultural backgrounds and access to resources. Readers should be mindful of the limitations of the studies and take into consideration that not every college student is going to fit Phinney’s three-stage model of ethnic identity