Bridging identities and disciplines: advances and challenges in understanding multiple identities.

The chapters in this volume address the need for a better understanding of the development of intersecting identities over age and context. The chapters provide valuable insights into the development of identities, particularly group identities. They highlight common processes across identities, such as the role of contrast and comparison and the need for individual effort in identity formation.

Competence under challenge: exploring the protective influence of parental support and ethnic identity in Latino college students.

This longitudinal study examined the protective influence of psychological and family factors on academic achievement in 123 Latino college (101 Mexican American, 14 Central American, 8 mixed Mexican/Central American) students. Three cultural resources--ethnic identity, family interdependence, and parental support--were hypothesized as protective factors that modify the effects of socioeconomic disadvantage in a positive direction. The pattern of findings suggests that Latino students with greater psychological and family resources evidence greater academic achievement.

Reasons to attend college among ethnically diverse college students.

A survey of 713 ethnically diverse university freshmen (463 Latino, 167 Asian American, 54 African American, 29 European American) assessed reasons for attending college, ethnic identity, family interdependence, and college adjustment. Results revealed three reasons for attending college not reported in previous research: to help one's family, to prove one's self-worth, and because of encouragement. Attending college to help the family was stronger among students from lower socioeconomic status backgrounds.

The process of coping among ethnic minority first-generation college freshmen: a narrative approach.

Using a narrative approach, the authors explored the process of coping among ethnic minority college students. Participants were 30 freshmen, predominantly the 1st members of their families to attend college, who wrote journals once a week for 3 weeks on their ways of coping with stress. They also completed a survey of background information.

Personal goals and depression among Vietnamese American and European American young adults: a mediational analysis.

The authors report preliminary findings supporting the utility of the self-concordance model (K. M. Sheldon & A.

Intergroup Attitudes among Ethnic Minority Adolescents: A Causal Model.

To examine the influence of ethnic idenilty and intergroup contact on adolescents' attitudes toward other ethnic groups, we studied eighth and eleventh graders from 2 predominantly non-white school districts. Surveys completed by 547 adolescents from 3 ethnic groups (133 African Americans, 219 Latinos, and 195 Asian Americans) assessed in-group and out-group attitudes, out-group interaction, out-group contact, and ethnic identity. A causal model suggested 2 pathways leading to positive out-group attitudes.