Ethnic identity formation is a very complex process. It involves an interaction of contextual and developmental factors. For example, the family is a major force in this process. The family provides its children with their first experience as members of a particular ethnic group. In the same way parents who have difficulties with the process of acculturation and their own ethnic identity may facilitate adolescents' conflicts.
Ethnic identity is essential to the psychological functioning of the individual.
The issues of ethnic identity has been very important because of the changing demographics, including birth rates and increasing numbers of immigrants and refugees throughout the world. Barriers The individual's self-identity and ethnic identity have been demonstrated in the literature to be highly influential on one's behavior and thus to be directly related to the personality and state of mental health. Those people who are able to have a clear self-identity tend to act accordingly. Adolescents and adults must move from a singular sense of self to a mature identity of integration and inclusion. This prevents them from developing and growing.