A preliminary investigation of longitudinal associations between ethnic–racial identity and critical consciousness among Black and Latinx youth.

Abstract

Objectives: In order for parents, educators, and communities to support racially/ethnically minoritized youth to resist and heal from White supremacy, it is important to examine how youths’ beliefs about their ethnic–racial identity (ERI) and critical consciousness (CC) around racism inform one another. Despite this need, limited empirical research examines whether these processes are related across adolescence. Method: The present two-wave longitudinal study investigates whether ERI content (i.e., centrality, private regard) and CC (i.e., critical social analysis, interpersonal antiracism actions) are associated with one another among Black and Latinx youth N = 233; young women (55.6%); young men (44.4%); M = 14.96 years old, SD = 1.46. Results: Autoregressive cross-lagged panel models suggested that youths’ centrality at W1 was positively and significantly associated with a critical social analysis at W2, and critical social analysis at W1 was positively and significantly associated with private regard at W2 for both groups. Involvement in interpersonal antiracism actions at W1 was positively and significantly associated with private regard at W2 for both groups. Group differences existed in the link between centrality at W1 and interpersonal antiracism actions at W2. Conclusion: Results indicate that ERI and CC may be viable entry points into stimulating youths’ capacity to challenge racism, although there is promise in activating antiracism action to further stimulate ERI development.