The debate surrounding immigration reform to address undocumented Latino immigrants in the United States has been emotionally charged and polarizing. This study's goal was to better understand some of the psychological predictors of attitudes toward undocumented Latino immigrants in the United States, namely, collective identity as an…

Language is an important marker of identity. Guided by social identity theory and using a grounded theory approach, this study examined how languages are chosen and shape experiences in the workplace. Results suggest that language use is influenced by both external (norms, business needs) and internal (identity, language comfort) processes.…

The past few elections have witnessed an increased contestation of votes across racial and ethnic identities, especially with regard to Latinos. As such, this article explores and reports on the important relationship between Latino identity and political party identification. Using the 2002 National Survey of Latinos (with its representative…

A study of the cultural orientation of 203 Mexican American adolescents who were first-, second-, or third-generation Americans found that Hispanic cultural orientation decreased and American cultural orientation increased in linear trends across the three generations. However, Hispanic culture did not disappear completely, and most adolescents…

Interviews were conducted with 100 intergenerational Puerto Rican families in New York City, each consisting of mother, father, child, and child's spouse. Over 90% of parent generation and half of child generation had been born in Puerto Rico. Education had the strongest influence on familistic beliefs in both generations; age at migration was…

The Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans was revised to measure cultural orientation toward Mexican and Anglo cultures independently. The revised scale is multifactorial, demonstrated strong construct validity with a sample of 379 college students representing five generational levels, and is capable of generating multidimensional…

A survey of 88 Mexican American workers in Phoenix found that respondents generally perceived English and the Anglo group as more vital than Spanish and the Mexican American group. Perceived in-group vitality was positively related to ethnic identity but not to first language. (SV)

Ethnic loyalty in 140 Mexican women who immigrated to the United States at age 14 or older, and have lived there for an average of 7.5 years, was examined. Those remaining strongly attached to their traditional culture have a higher risk of psychological conflicts than those with lower ethnic loyalty scores. (JMM)

Proposes the construct of drug use identity and presents a four-stage model featuring this construct. The four stages are (1) identity as a casual user; (2) identity as a drug addict; (3) identity as a recovering addict during late treatment; and (4) ethnic pride, self-esteem, social role responsibility, and health motivation. (KS)

A study of attitudes toward bilingualism among a national sample of persons of Mexican descent indicated that politically framed ethnic identity fosters positive views of bilingualism. Traditional self-conceptions as Mexican and Spanish-speaking directly encourage support of bilingualism but at the same time engage conservative political attitudes…

Therapeutic techniques using Puerto Rican folktales to promote identification with culturally familiar characters and themes were used with 208 children in grades K-3. Cuento therapies significantly increased WISC-R comprehension scores uniformly across grades K-3 and significantly reduced trait anxiety of first graders. (DC)

Uses data from 991 Mexican-Americans in six states to develop a nine-item acculturation measure based on respondent's language and self-definition as insider or outsider. Describes factor structure and construct validity. Contains 28 references. (SV)

Use of the Orthogonal Cultural Identification Scale with 2,048 Mexican American and American Indian adolescents found that, as predicted, identification with one culture was independent of identification with another; cultural identification was strongly rooted in the family; and the scale was factor invariant across gender, grade level, and…

Structured interviews with 555 Puerto Rican youth aged 16-24 found that the impact of risk factors on drug use was offset by cultural knowledge, being culturally active, group attachment, and identification with Puerto Ricans. Ethnicity variables also enhanced the protective effect of other protective factors. Contains 36 references. (Author/SV)

Summarizes empirical literature on the prediction and correlates of school dropout relative to Mexican Americans. Presents theoretical views on factors believed to cause school failure for Mexican-American youths. Discusses a social identity theoretical framework that relates ethnic identity and minority status to the adaptation of…