Premium
Social Identity Complexity, Cross‐Ethnic Friendships, and Intergroup Attitudes in Urban Middle Schools
Author(s) -
Knifsend Casey A.,
Juvonen Jaana
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/cdev.12157
Subject(s) - ethnic group , psychology , social psychology , social identity theory , identity (music) , peer group , crowds , developmental psychology , social group , sociology , physics , anthropology , acoustics , computer security , computer science
This study investigated contextual antecedents (i.e., cross‐ethnic peers and friends) and correlates (i.e., intergroup attitudes) of social identity complexity in seventh grade. Social identity complexity refers to the perceived overlap among social groups with which youth identify. Identifying mostly with out‐of‐school sports, religious affiliations, and peer crowds, the ethnically diverse sample ( N = 622; M age in seventh grade = 12.56) showed moderately high complexity. Social identity complexity mediated the link between cross‐ethnic friendships and ethnic intergroup attitudes, but only when adolescents had a high proportion of cross‐ethnic peers at school. Results are discussed in terms of how school diversity can promote complex social identities and positive intergroup attitudes.