An Application of Ecological Theory to Ethnic Identity Formation Among Biethnic Adolescents

A body of literature has increased our understanding of ethnic identity formation among ethnic minorities, but there remains a dearth of research focused on the ethnic identity formation of biethnic adolescents. Biethnic adolescents are likely to have unique experiences related to ethnicity that significantly alter the course of their ethnic identity formation. As such, a conceptual framework of biethnic identity is needed to guide future empirical work on biethnic identity and, ultimately, increase the field's understanding of this critical developmental process among biethnic adolescents. This article provides a review of theoretical and empirical work on ethnic identity among monoethnic adolescents, and, guided by the cultural ecological framework, an ecological framework of biethnic identity development is proposed.Key Words: adolescence, biethnic, cultural ecological theory, ethnic identity.Identity formation has been recognized as a central developmental task during adolescence (Erikson, 1968) and, more specifically, ethnic identity has been shown to be particularly salient for ethnic minority adolescents (Branch, 2001; Phinney & Alipuria, 1996). In fact, studies have demonstrated that ethnic identity is consistently associated with positive psychosocial outcomes such as higher self-esteem (Bracey, Bamaca, Se Umana-Taylor, 2004; Phinney, Cantu, & Kurtz, 1996) and lower depressive symptoms (Street, Harris-Britt, & Walker-Barnes, 2009; Umana-Taylor & Updegraff, 2007), and that ethnic identity can buffer the negative influence of cultural stressors on well-being (Iturbide, Raffaeli!, & Carlo, 2009; Umana-Taylor, Updegraff, & Gonzales-Backen, 201 1). A body of literature focused on ethnic identity has developed in recent years and has increased our understanding of ethnic identity formation among ethnic minorities (for a review, see Phinney & Ong, 2007), but researchers have neglected to examine ethnic identity formation beyond ethnic label preferences among adolescents who have parents from different ethnic backgrounds. Biethnic adolescents are likely to have unique experiences related to ethnicity that significantly alter the course of their ethnic identity formation as a result of their multiethnic, and thereby multicultural, family context and its interaction with individual-level characteristics and ecological contexts (e.g., socia! climate regarding ethnicity, peer influences, etc.). As such, a conceptual framework of biethnic identity is needed to guide future empirical work on biethnic identity and, ultimately, increase the field's understanding of this critical developmental process among biethnic adolescents. The following review will critically examine the existing theoretical and empirical work on ethnic identity among monoethnic adolescents within single-ethnic families as well as theory and research on biracial identity. Based on this literature and guided by the cultural ecological framework (Garcia Coll et al., 1996), recommendations for the study of biethnic identity are given.Before delving into a critical review of the ethnic identity literature and a presentation of a theoretical framework of biethnic identity formation, a few central concepts should be defined. First, I use the terms biethnic and monoethnic to refer to individuals having parents of different ethnic backgrounds and those with both parents of the same ethnic background, respectively. The current model is focused on the ethnic identity formation of biethnic adolescents who have a parent who is a member of the ethnic majority (e.g., Caucasian or White) and another parent who is of an ethnic minority background (e.g., Asian American, Latino, African American, etc.). The narrow focus on these biethnic individuals is warranted because of the unique ethnic experience of simultaneously being a member of the more powerful ethnic group (ethnic majority) and a member of a marginalized ethnic group (ethnic minority), both of which will contribute to adolescents* ethnic identity formation. …