Black youths' ethnic and racial identity development from childhood to emerging adulthood.

ABSTRACT

This qualitative study employed a retrospective inquiry design to trace changes in the course of ethnic and racial identity (ERI) development of 20 African American college students (18-22 years old) attending a large, predominantly White university in the Midwestern United States. Through interviews, participants recalled life experiences that they considered crucial to their understanding of their own ERI in childhood, adolescence, and emerging adulthood. Using longitudinal qualitative analysis, three distinct pathways of ERI development were identified consolidating (no change to the understanding they developed earlier in life), cumulative (successive additions or expansions to their current understanding of their own ERI), and transformative (their ERI trajectory is qualitatively altered by a turning point event). Results revealed that the development of ERI components is influenced by the interplay of contextual, individual, and developmental factors, along with the ongoing meaning-making of identity-relevant experiences. Findings lend empirical support for adopting a lifespan approach to ERI development, demonstrating ERI development as a dynamically interactive and continuous process. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).