Biological Factors Of Ethnic Identity

For years psychologist have studied the concept of ethnic identity and the effects it has on a person’s psychological wellbeing. The term ethnic identity means the extent to which an individual identifies with a particular ethnic group(s). It is essentially ones sense of belongingness to an ethnic group and part of one’s thinking, perceptions, feelings, and behavior that is due to ethnic group membership. While someone can be Caucasian (race) that says nothing about his or her ethnicity. Ethnicity is about traditions, learned behavior, and customs. It is about learning where you come from, and celebrating the traditions and ideas that are part of that region. In turn, race is more of the biological factors of one’s cultural heritage. Ethnicity is cultural and race is biological for the purposes of the research discussed in this paper ("Difference between race," 2011).

The researchers look at awareness, self-identification, attitudes, and behaviors. Awareness of ethnicity starts in early childhood with a vague understanding of differences between one’s own (in-group) and others (out-group). Self-identification develops next with a clear and accurate evaluation of one’s own belongingness to an ethnic group. Attitudes examines ones liking, belief, and perceptions of other groups which can be biased in young children as seen in Clark and Clark’s Doll Study. Behavior is usually observed in the interaction between in and out groups. Ethnic identity is something people are socialized into, but also taught by parents and family members. As we grow our attitudes develop and change over time. In this paper we look at the development of ethnic identity in early childhood through late adolescences and touching briefly on young adulthood. We are also going to examine its buffering effects for self-esteem, and