ArticlePublisher preview available

Ethnic Identity Centrality Across the Adult Lifespan: Aging, Cohort, and Period Effects Among Majority and Minority Group Members

Authors:
Maykel Verkuyten at Utrecht University
Maykel Verkuyten
Kumar Yogeeswaran
Kumar Yogeeswaran
Kumar Yogeeswaran
  • This person is not on ResearchGate, or hasn't claimed this research yet.
Elena Zubielevitch at University of Auckland
Elena Zubielevitch
Kieren J. Lilly at University of Queensland
Kieren J. Lilly
Show all 7 authorsHide
Read publisher preview
Download citation
To read the full-text of this research, you can request a copy directly from the authors.

Abstract

Ethnic identity is a major area of study across many disciplines including psychology, sociology, anthropology, and political science. Yet, little is known about changes in ethnic identity across the adult lifespan, and whether such changes are driven by normal aging processes (aging effects), unique societal influences linked with one’s formative years (cohort effects), or social changes during a specific time frame (period effects). We address these key oversights by utilizing 13 annual waves of longitudinal panel data from a nationwide random sample of both ethnic majority (N = 49,660) and Indigenous ethnic minority (N = 8,325) group members in New Zealand to examine changes in ethnic identity centrality using cohort-sequential latent growth modeling. This approach helps to identify changes in mean levels of ethnic identity centrality over time and whether such changes are driven by aging, cohort, and/or period effects. Our data reveal that, among both ethnic majority and ethnic minority individuals, changes in ethnic identity centrality were informed by a combination of normative aging processes, societal circumstances that reflected the unique historical context in which people grew to maturity, and societal changes during the 13 annual assessments of our study. Collectively, these results demonstrate for the first time that ethnic identity centrality in adulthood is subject to lifelong changes.
A preview of this full-text is provided by American Psychological Association.
Learn more
Content available from Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
This content is subject to copyright. Terms and conditions apply.
Ethnic Identity Centrality Across the Adult Lifespan: Aging, Cohort, and
Period Effects Among Majority and Minority Group Members
Maykel Verkuyten
1
, Kumar Yogeeswaran
2
, Elena Zubielevitch
3
, Kieren J. Lilly
4
, Mark Vanderklei
2
,
Danny Osborne
4
, and Chris G. Sibley
4
1
Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, European Research Center on Migration and Ethnic Relations, Utrecht University
2
Department of Speech and Hearing, School of Psychology, University of Canterbury
3
Faculty of Business, Economics and Law, Business School, University of Queensland
4
School of Psychology, University of Auckland
Ethnic identity is a major area of study across many disciplines including psychology, sociology,
anthropology, and political science. Yet, little is known about changes in ethnic identity across the adult
lifespan, and whether such changes are driven by normal aging processes (aging effects), unique societal
influences linked with one’s formative years (cohort effects), or social changes during a specific time frame
(period effects). We address these key oversights by utilizing 13 annual waves of longitudinal panel data
from a nationwide random sample of both ethnic majority (N=49,660) and Indigenous ethnic minority
(N=8,325) group members in New Zealand to examine changes in ethnic identity centrality using cohort-
sequential latent growth modeling. This approach helps to identify changes in mean levels of ethnic identity
centrality over time and whether such changes are driven by aging, cohort, and/or period effects. Our data
reveal that, among both ethnic majority and ethnic minority individuals, changes in ethnic identity centrality
were informed by a combination of normative aging processes, societal circumstances that reflected the uniq ue
historical context in which people grew to maturity, and societal changes during the 13 annual assessments
of our study. Collectively, these results demonstrate for the first time that ethnic identity centrality in
adulthood is subject to lifelong changes.
Keywords: ethnic identity, racial identity, development, lifespan, adult
Supplemental materials: https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000513.supp
Although ethnic diversity is a historical feature of many societies,
globalization has led toa rapid increase in this diversity. Accordingly,
questions of ethnic and racial equality, equity, and inclusion have
become prominent in many societies around the world (Chaika & de
Haas, 2015;McKenzie, 2019). It is no surprise, then, that “ethnic
identity”is a focal topic of research in a wide range of disciplines,
including political science, anthropology, and sociology, as well
as developmental, clinical, educational, and social psychology.
However, little is known about how ethnic identity changes across
the lifespan and in relation to the social environment. This oversight
is surprising because personal and social identity development are
central features of adolescence (Erikson, 1968;Phinney, 1989) but
are also theorized to evolve throughout the lifespan due to social
role transitions and emotional and cognitive changes linked with
the aging process (Kroger & Green, 1996). Likewise, personal
and social identity development and changes are embedded in,
and shaped by, social contexts (Crocetti et al., 2022;Seaton et al.,
2017;Tajfel & Turner, 1979). For example, contemporary societal
circumstances and events can precipitate changes in identity across
the population (i.e., period effects), while shared historical conditions
during one’s younger, formative years can have a lasting impact on
identity and create stark generational differences (i.e., cohort effects;
Fadjukoff & Kroger, 2016;Kroger, 2007). Understanding the
age-related and societal factors that shape ethnic identity is critical
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
This article was published Online First July 18, 2024.
Joanne M. Chung served as action editor.
Maykel Verkuyten https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0137-1527
The New Zealand Attitudes and ValuesStudy (NZAVS) is fundedby a grant
from the Templeton Religion Trust (Grant TRT-2021-10418) awarded to
Chris G. Sibley. The data described in the article are part of the NZAVS. Full
copies of the NZAVS data files are held by all members of the NZAVS
management team and advisory board. A deidentified data set containing the
variables analyzed in this article is available upon request from Chris G. Sibley
or any member of the NZAVS advisory board for replication or checking of any
published study using NZAVS data. More information about the NZAVS can
be found at https://osf.io/75snb/wiki/home/. The study was not preregistered.
Maykel Verkuyten played a lead role in conceptualization and writing–original
draft and an equal role in writing–review and editing. Kumar Yogeeswaran
played a supporting role in conceptualization and investigation and an equal
role in writing–review and editing. Elena Zubielevitch played an equal
role in formal analysis, methodology, and visualization. Kieren J. Lilly
played an equal role in formal analysis, methodology, and visualization.
Mark Vanderklei played an equal role in writing–review and editing. Danny
Osborne played a supporting role in formal analysis and writing–original
draft. Chris G. Sibley played a lead role in data curation and funding
acquisition and an equal role in methodology and supervision.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Maykel
Verkuyten, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, European Research
Center on Migration and Ethnic Relations, Utrecht University, P.O. Box
80.140, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands. Email: m.verkuyten@uu.nl
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology:
Personality Processes and Individual Differences
© 2024 American Psychological Association 2024, Vol. 127, No. 3, 684–701
ISSN: 0022-3514 https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000513
684
... This is in line with inconsistent findings reported in the literature (e.g., Eltokhy, 2020). The incongruent picture regarding age across studies might be related to age -period -cohort effects (e.g., Maehler, 2022;Verkuyten et al., 2024), which cannot be distinguished from each other in cross-sectional designs. For instance, some assessments of cultural identity could be affected by societal circumstances (period effects, such as war, political crises, etc.) or include samples covering birth cohorts that have different socialization experiences, depending on their sociocultural environments. ...
View
Perceived discrimination, ethnic identity, and ethnic-racial socialization in Chinese immigrant families before and after the COVID-19 outbreak: An exploratory natural experiment
Article
Full-text available
  • Nov 2022
  • INT J INTERCULT REL
Emerging research from the United States indicates that people with an East Asian background experience COVID-19-related racial discrimination. There is some (although not consistent) evidence that these discrimination experiences can in turn have psychological and behavioral consequences, such as strengthening one’s ethnic identity and influencing parents’ ethnic-racial socialization practices. The current study presents a unique natural experiment examining self-reported perceived discrimination experiences, ethnic identity, and ethnic-racial socialization among 80 Chinese immigrant mothers in the Netherlands before and after the COVID-19 outbreak (39 mothers recruited before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and 41 during). The main findings from our exploratory analyses indicated an impact of the pandemic with higher (subtle) discrimination and stronger ethnic identity among Chinese immigrant mothers living in the Netherlands, highlighting how personal experiences related to intergroup processes have changed as a result of the COVID-19 crisis in the European context.
View
Identities: A developmental social-psychological perspective
Article
Full-text available
  • Aug 2022
In this contribution, we review research that uses a cross-fertilisation approach to integrate developmental and social-psychological perspectives on how identities are formed and changed over time and how identity processes are genuinely social, being embedded in social contexts and fed by social contents. First, we outline the three-factor identity model as a parsimonious approach to understanding the dynamics of identity development. Second, we review empirical studies with longitudinal approaches to shed light on how identity processes are embedded in key contexts such as family, friendships and society at large through behaviours such as civic engagement. Third, we discuss the interplay between personal and social identities. We conclude by highlighting how adopting a cross-fertilisation approach that combines social-psychological and developmental perspective can significantly advance the theoretical understanding of identity dynamics. Finally, we address similarities and differences between personal identity and social identity approaches, and we provide an agenda for future research.
View
Social Dominance Orientation and Right-Wing Authoritarianism Across the Adult Lifespan: An Examination of Aging and Cohort Effects
Article
Full-text available
  • Jun 2022
Social dominance orientation (SDO) and right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) are foundational constructs in intergroup relations, yet their development across the lifespan is poorly understood. The few studies on the topic demonstrate that age positively correlates with both SDO and RWA. However, it is unclear whether this association is due to (a) normative aging, (b) generational differences associated with the period in which one was born and raised, or (c) a combination of these processes. This study estimates a series of cohort-sequential latent growth models to examine change due to both aging and cohort effects using 11 annual waves of longitudinal panel data collected from a nationwide random sample of adults (Ns = 61,858-61,862). Mean levels of SDO and RWA both trended upward across the adult lifespan, although this pattern was more marked for RWA. Cohort effects also emerged for both constructs and were again more pronounced for RWA. Contextual factors thus appear to influence authoritarianism more than they impact the preference for intergroup hierarchy. Similar trends emerged when differentiating birth cohorts by gender and ethnic majority status. Age and cohort effects for generalized prejudice among an ethnic majority group were also assessed (N = 47,955), revealing that prejudice declined in early adulthood but began to stabilize in middle age. This is the first large-scale study to document how SDO, RWA, and generalized prejudice change over the adult lifespan while also examining trends associated with the period in which a person was born and socialized. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
View
Black Lives Matter protests shift public discourse
Article
Full-text available
  • Mar 2022
Significance This study uses large-scale news media and social media data to show that nationwide Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests occur concurrently with sharp increases in public attention to components of the BLM agenda. We also show that attention to BLM and related concepts is not limited to these brief periods of protest but is sustained after protest has ceased. This suggests that protest events incited a change in public awareness of BLM’s vision of social change and the dissemination of antiracist ideas into popular discourse.
View
Born Again French: Explaining Inconsistency in Citizenship Declarations in French Longitudinal Data
Article
  • Nov 2023
Citizenship is a fundamental boundary in contemporary societies that entails rights, a sense of belonging, and social status. Drawing on longitudinal census data, this article tracks individual changes in self-reported citizenship over 30 years in France. Respondents choose one of three categories: “French by birth,” “became French,” or “foreigner.” The first category should be stable over the life course: one is born, but cannot become, “French by birth.” Yet, our findings indicate that about 19 percent of foreign-origin respondents in a given census switch to “French by birth” declarations at the next census, in a process we call reclassification. Immigrant assimilation variables, such as nativity and length of stay, and events such as intermarriage, naturalization, and residential mobility, trigger reclassification. Yet reclassification is also higher among individuals with lower socioeconomic status and respondents of African and Southeast Asian origin, as well as those with origins in former French colonies. These findings suggest reclassification is a byproduct of immigrant assimilation, which triggers feelings of national identity, as well as status upgrading, whereby disadvantaged and discriminated groups change their citizenship declaration to compensate for low social status. Empirically novel, reclassification offers original theoretical insights into the meanings of citizenship, civic stratification, and boundary-crossing.
View
Message received: Asian Americans’ racial, ethnic, and national identity centrality before and after the 2016 election
Article
  • Jun 2022
Many different external factors shape Asian American identity. However, the effect of political elections on racial, ethnic, and national identities has been understudied. This research explores whether political elections represent moments of exogenous shock that can shape the importance of three different dimensions of identities for Asian Americans. This study uses data from the 2016 National Asian American Survey (n = 3,643) to test for a relationship between the racialized rhetoric surrounding the 2016 U.S. presidential election and the aforementioned aspects of Asian American identity. Regression analyses suggest that the election shaped patterns of centrality of racial, national and ethnic identity among Asian Americans, albeit differently across ethnic groups. Specifically, American identity centrality increased for Chinese respondents post-election relative to pre-election, but did not shift significantly for any other group. On the other hand, racial identity centrality significantly decreased for Filipino and Vietnamese respondents post-election, while other groups did not experience a significant change in their racial identity centrality. Finally, ethnic identity centrality only decreased significantly among Korean respondents post-election. This research suggests that these identities among Asian Americans are sensitive to external events, such as political elections, and that the effects of racialized political rhetoric vary across ethnicity.
View
Becoming whānau: Māori and Pākehā working together on the Indigenous-led campaign, #ProtectIhumātao
Article
  • Feb 2022
  • ETHNICITIES
This paper explores how the Indigenous-led, community-supported campaign # ProtectIhumātao became a site for decolonisation work that nourished productive bicultural relations. For six years, we worked together, alongside others, to stop a transnational corporation building houses on culturally significant, but contested, whenua (land) at Ihumātao, Auckland. Pania draws strength from her Indigenous Māori whakapapa (ancestral relations), and Frances from being a New Zealander of Irish descent. Committing ourselves to the campaign kaupapa (values, principles and plans), we embraced different roles: Pania as a kaitiaki or land protector and Frances as a hoa tū tata or close friend, standing by, ready to assist. Along the way, we became our own whānau (extended family); a kaupapa-based whānau (people mobilised for a shared purpose). Here, we share knowledge from our campaign experiences to explore what becoming whānau means to us in relation to Ihumātao. Thinking and writing at the interface of Māori and Pākehā ways of knowing, we interact with ideas from Māori philosophy and Indigenous–Settler relations. Through telling our stories, we illuminate relational qualities that made our different roles and evolving relationship possible, and glean insights to inform ongoing Indigenous-led, decolonising practices at Ihumātao, and elsewhere.
View
A Systematic and Meta-Analytic Review of Identity Centrality Among LGBTQ Groups: An Assessment of Psychosocial Correlates
Article
  • Aug 2021
The degree to which an identity is an important aspect of one’s self-concept (i.e., identity centrality) relates to both health and prejudice experiences of minority groups. Individuals with greater levels of identity centrality view their world through the lens of that identity. This allows them to engage in more positive identity-relevant experiences. However, it could also heighten their perceptions of in-group threat. Among LGBTQ groups, the relationship between identity centrality and psychosocial outcomes is yet to be established. In this paper, we investigated the relationship between LGBTQ identity centrality and psychosocial outcomes via a comprehensive systematic (k = 89, N = 35,950) and meta-analytic (k = 57, N = 26,704) literature review. Results indicated that greater levels of LGBTQ centrality relates to more positive identity-relevant affirmations (.155 ≤ r’s ≤ .419), but also greater prejudice/discrimination perceptions and experiences (−.271 ≤ r’s ≤ −.128). We found no evidence of a relationship between LGBTQ centrality and health outcomes (−.052 ≤ r’s ≤ .040). Importantly, we found that these relationships are more beneficial for some LGBTQ groups (gay men), than for others (bisexual/transgender individuals). Findings from this review provide important and necessary insights on the role of LGBTQ identity centrality and identify crucial gaps in the literature that should be addressed.
View
When White Americans see “non-Whites” as a group: Belief in minority collusion and support for White identity politics
Article
  • Aug 2021
White Americans may find diversity threatening in part because they construe non-White Americans as a coherent social and political force. We argue that this perception manifests in a belief that minority groups collude against White people and that White people should act as a political bloc to defend ingroup interests. In a 3-year longitudinal study, the belief in minority collusion and support for White identity politics increased significantly among a nationally representative sample of 2,635 White Americans. Compared to White Democrats, White Republicans more strongly endorsed minority collusion beliefs and White identity politics, and increased more in these beliefs over time. Essentialist perceptions of the White ingroup were associated with longitudinal increases in minority collusion beliefs, but not in support for White identity politics. Endorsement of minority collusion and support for White identity politics both predicted lower support for Black Lives Matter and greater support for the Alt-Right movement. Implications for race relations, stigma-based solidarity, and the psychology of partisanship and ideology are discussed.
View
Small Effects: The Indispensable Foundation for a Cumulative Psychological Science
Article
  • Jul 2021
  • PERSPECT PSYCHOL SCI
We draw on genetics research to argue that complex psychological phenomena are most likely determined by a multitude of causes and that any individual cause is likely to have only a small effect. Building on this, we highlight the dangers of a publication culture that continues to demand large effects. First, it rewards inflated effects that are unlikely to be real and encourages practices likely to yield such effects. Second, it overlooks the small effects that are most likely to be real, hindering attempts to identify and understand the actual determinants of complex psychological phenomena. We then explain the theoretical and practical relevance of small effects, which can have substantial consequences, especially when considered at scale and over time. Finally, we suggest ways in which scholars can harness these insights to advance research and practices in psychology (i.e., leveraging the power of big data, machine learning, and crowdsourcing science; promoting rigorous preregistration, including prespecifying the smallest effect size of interest; contextualizing effects; changing cultural norms to reward accurate and meaningful effects rather than exaggerated and unreliable effects). Only once small effects are accepted as the norm, rather than the exception, can a reliable and reproducible cumulative psychological science be built.
View