Prosocial Development Among Mexican American Youth

ABSTRACT— Scholars have documented the need for under-standing the positive developmental pathways of ethnicminority youth. Research on prosocial behaviors —actionsintendedtobeneﬁtothers—is one area of developmentalpsychology that has begun to address this gap. This articlepresents a brief review of theories and research on theprosocial development of Mexican American youth. Inaddition, it describes some of the most signiﬁcant limita-tions of the existing empirical research and provides sug-gestions for the direction of future research. KEYWORDS— prosocial development; Mexican Americanculture; cultural socializationMuch of the research on ethnic m inority youth has emphasizedthe negative effects of inadequate economic and socialresources, the elevated rate of problem behaviors and mentalillness, decreased social competence, and limited academic suc-cess (Garci´a-Coll et al., 1996; McLoyd, 1990; Quintana et al.,2006). Although some research has emphasized the protectivequalities of ethnic cultures that may mitigate these risk factors(Franklin, 2009; McLoyd, 2006), relatively little empiricalresearch has focused on the direct positive developmental out-comes associated with being a member of an ethnic minoritygroup. One area that has focused on positive developmental out-comes is the study of the prosocial behaviors —actions intendedto beneﬁt others—of Latino populations, especially MexicanAmericans (Knight, Bernal & Carlo, 1995; McClintock, Bayard& McClintock, 1983; for a recent review, see Carlo & deGuzman, 2009). These researchers have borrowed notions fromcultural psychological (Rogoff, 2003; Whiting & Whiting, 1975)and social cognitive theories (Bandura, 1986; Eisenberg, Fabes& Spinard, 2006; Staub, 1978). Because the bulk of thisresearch has focused on Mexican American youth, the purposeof this article is to review the empirical literature on the proso-cial development of Mexican American youth and to highlightthe necessary future directions for research.AlthoughtherearemanycommonalitiesamongLatinogroups—people of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Central or SouthAmerican descent—individuals from these groups experiencedifferences, such as socioeconomic status (SES) and nature of thecultureoforigin,thatmayaffectbehavioraloutcomes.Andthereissubstantial variability even within the Mexican Americanpopulation, owing to demographic variables such as generation offamily immigration, acculturative status, language dialects, thecustoms and traditions of the region of Mexico where theyoriginated,andSES.ThereisconsiderablevariabilityintheethnicsocializationpracticesofMexicanAmericanparents(e.g.,Uman˜a-Taylor & Fine, 2004), which may result in differences in ethnicidentity and the endorsement of culturally related values amongMexicanAmericanyouth(Caldero´n-Tena,Knight,CUman˜a-Taylor & Fine, 2004). Hence, even within a sample ofMexicanAmericanyouthandfamilies,therewillbeagreatdealofdifference in the adoption of culturally related behavior patterns,attitudes, values, and ethnic identity, depending on the degree ofexposure to the ethnic and mainstream cultures. Although wereview the research on prosocial behaviors conducted withMexican American youth, the implications of the research maygeneralize to other ethnic minority populations, particularly otherLatinogroups.