Discrimination, Ethnic Identity, and Purpose in Life in Ethnic Minority Adolescents

Background and Purpose: A sense of purpose in life is a potent developmental asset for adolescents, which can promote adaptive coping amid marginalization and adversity. Negative experiences related to ethnic background often lead to a stronger sense of ethnic identity as a coping mechanism, and a stronger ethnic identity may play a significant role in the development of a sense of purpose in life. However, few studies examined the interrelationships among discrimination, ethnic Identity, and the development of purpose in life in ethnic minority adolescents. Guided by the integrative model for developmental competencies in minority children, this study examined the relationship between discrimination and the development of purpose in life, and whether ethnic identity mediates the relationship.

Methods: The participants (N = 138, 40% male) were primarily Latinx (n = 70), Pacific Islanders (n = 35), and Asian American adolescents (n = 22), with mean (SD) age of 15.7 (1.34), from an urban area of the Mountain West US. Discrimination was assessed with Adolescent Discrimination Distress Index, a 15-item self-report to perceived instances of racially motivated discrimination in institutional, educational, and peer contexts (α = .86). Ethnic identity was assessed using the 14-item Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (α= .88). Purpose in life was assessed with Claremont Purpose Scale (CPS), a 12-item self-report with 3 subscales: meaning (α = .83), goal-directedness (α = .78), and beyond-the-self (α= .84). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was conducted in R version 4.1.0 using full information maximum likelihood estimation to examine the mediation between discrimination and the three subscales of the CPS, adjusting for adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and socio-demographic factors (race/ethnicity, age, socioeconomic status, and religious affiliation). The significance of indirect association was tested using Delta method.

Results: The SEM model produced a good model fit, χ² (52) = 62.2, p = .16, CFI = .974, TLI = .962, RMSEA = .038 (90% CI= .000 - .069), SRMR = .053. Greater discrimination was associated with a stronger sense of ethnic identity (β = .39, p < .001). A stronger sense of ethnic identity was related to higher beyond-the-self orientation (β = .25, p = .009) and marginally to higher goal orientation (β = .19, p = .07). Thus, greater discrimination was indirectly related to higher beyond-the-self via ethnic identity (indirect β = .11, p = .025), but not to goal orientation (indirect β = .07, p = .092). Greater discrimination was also directly related to beyond-the-self (β = .25, p = .007). While neither ethnic identity nor discrimination was related to meaning, greater ACEs were associated with the lower levels of meaning.

Conclusions and Implications: Experiences of ethnic discrimination were related to a stronger sense of ethnic identity, which led to increased intentions to contribute to the broader world. Although our study is a cross-sectional study, this seemingly paradoxical pathway from discrimination to beyond-the-self orientation could be explained by “growth through adversity.” Future studies elucidating conditions that stimulate growth-through-adversity may guide the development of targeted interventions aimed at promoting healthy development among ethnic minority adolescents.