The interacting effects of psychological empowerment and ethnic identity on indicators of well‐being among youth of color

Abstract

Decades of legislative actions and power imbalances have limited African American/Black and Hispanic/Latina(o) urban youth's perceptions of empowerment and ability to rely upon social and institutional resources. Youth who have access to supportive resources and are connected to their ethnic–racial group perceive themselves as empowered and score higher on indicators of well‐being. Among a sample of African American/Black and Hispanic/Latina(o) urban youth (N = 383) and using multivariate analysis of variance, the current study examined the relationship between psychological empowerment (PE) and ethnic identity among conceptually relevant outcome variables: community participation, neighborhood sense of community (SOC), school importance, and perceived substance use risk. Results indicated that PE and ethnic identity profile groups differed significantly on measures of community participation, neighborhood SOC, school importance, and perceived risk of using substances. Results provide preliminary support for the empirical and theoretical relationship between PE and ethnic identity on related empowerment measures, as well as indicators of well‐being. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Validation of an abbreviated Sociopolitical Control Scale for Youth among a sample of underresourced urban youth of color

“…Similarly, higher levels of leadership also appeared to have a unique connection with higher composite scores of ethnic identity, which is consistent with previous studies (e.g., Lardier, ; Lardier, Garcia‐Reid, et al., ), and may point toward the role collective engagement and connection with one's racial–ethnic group members has with leadership competence. Taken together, findings provide empirical support for the validity of the abbreviated version of the SPCS‐Y, the bidimensionality of sociopolitical control, and the empirical relationship sociopolitical control has with conceptually related mechanisms.…”

“…We then tested the difference between the abbreviated SPCS‐Y profile groups on a set of variables (e.g., cognitive empowerment, community participation, neighborhood SOC, and ethnic identity) that may be considerd conceptually related to the intrapersonal component of PE and relevant to youth development. Based upon the extant research, we expected that those groups with both higher scores on the two sociopolitical control dimensions would report higher mean scores on cognitive empowerment (Christens et al., ; Christens et al., ), neighborhood SOC, community participation, and ethnic identity (Lardier, ; Lardier, Garcia‐Reid, et al., ; Speer et al., ). We also expected, based on previous work by Peterson et al.…”

“…The intersecting relationships that complicate the association between cognitive empowerment and intrapersonal PE are critical to unpack: Racially and ethnically marginalized individuals in economically deprived spaces may have minimal access to community‐based resources and activities compared to their nonminority and more econmoically supported counterparts (Kirshner & Ginwright, ). Consequently, these community members may report lower levels of intrapersonal PE (Lardier, Garcia‐Reid, et al., ) and cognitive empowerment (Christens et al., ; Christens et al ), which may impact their overall perceived empowerment potential. For instance, Christens et al.…”

“…In addition to cognitive empowerment, intrapersonal PE has also been implicated in predicting neighborhood SOC, community participation, and ethnic identity. Numerous investigations show the relationship between intrapersonal PE and neighborhood SOC (i.e., collective efficacy and neighboring or sharing among neighbors and mutual assistance; Perkins & Long, ) intrapersonal (Lardier, ; Lardier, Garcia‐Reid, et al., ), community participation intrapersonal (Christens et al., ; Eisman et al., ; Lardier, ; Speer et al., ), and ethnic identity intrapersonal (Hipolito‐Delgado & Zion, ; Lardier, ; Lardier, Garcia‐Reid, et al., ). For instance, recent studies indicate that youth of color living in low socioeocomic status communites may have diffuclty cultivating empowerment because they have limited access to both organizations and resources (Kirshner & Ginwright, ; Speer et al., ); however, when provided access to empowering community activites, youth have been found to report higher rates of community belongingness and intrapersonal PE (Lardier, ; Lardier, Garcia‐Reid, et al., ), particularly in the presence of supportive youth–adult partnerships (Zeldin, Krauss, Kim, Collura, & Abdullah, ).…”

“…More recently, Lardier () drew attention to the empirical connection between community participation, neighborhood SOC, ethnic identity, and intrapersonal PE. These findings were particulary important: Although cultural group affiliation, community participation, the connection one has with their community, and ethnic identity have been theoretically associated (e.g., Gutiérrez, ; Tatum, ), there have only been a handful of investigations to empirically support the connection between ethnic identity and intrapersonal PE (Hipolito‐Delgado & Zion, ; Lardier, ; Lardier, Garcia‐Reid, et al., ). Taken together, these studies suggest an important association between the intrapersonal component of PE, neighborhood SOC, community participation, and ethnic identity.…”