Relationship between internalization of negative cultural stereotypes and assimilation of cultural stereotypes about non-Hispanic cultural groups among Mexican-American college students

The purpose of this study was to expand the current literature on cultural stereotypes by exploring the relationship between internalization of negative stereotypes about Mexican-Americans and assimilation of stereotypes about non-Hispanic ethnic groups among Mexican-American college students. The study also explored the relationship between ethnic identity and internalization of negative and positive stereotypes about Mexican-Americans. The final sample included 82 participants from two community colleges in the Los Angeles County area. The age range of the participants was 18 to 28 years, with a mean age of 19.62 years. The participants completed a demographic questionnaire, an ethnic identity measure, and a survey of stereotypes about themselves and about four non-Hispanic ethnic groups: Asian-Americans, African-Americans, Anglo-Americans, and Mexican-Americans. There were six hypotheses explored in this study.; Hypothesis one stated that there would be a significant positive linear relationship between internalization of positive stereotypes about Mexican-Americans and ethnic identity. Hypothesis two stated that there would be a significant negative relationship between ethnic identity and internalization of negative cultural stereotypes about Mexican-Americans. Hypothesis three stated that there would be a significant positive linear relationship between internalization of negative cultural stereotypes about Mexican-Americans and assimilation of positive stereotypes about Anglo-Americans. Hypothesis four stated that there would be a significant negative linear relationship between internalization of negative cultural stereotypes about Mexican-Americans and assimilation of positive cultural stereotypes about African-Americans and Asian-Americans. Hypothesis five stated that there would be a significant negative linear relationship between internalization of negative cultural stereotypes about Mexican-Americans and assimilation of negative cultural stereotypes about Anglo-Americans. Hypothesis six stated that there would be a significant positive linear relationship between internalization of negative cultural stereotypes about Mexican-Americans and assimilation of negative cultural stereotypes about African-Americans and Asian-Americans. The only hypothesis that was supported by the data was hypothesis six. There was a significant relationship between internalization of negative stereotypes about Mexican-Americans and assimilation of negative stereotypes about African-Americans (r = .46, p = .00; and Asian-Americans r = .31, p = .00). It appears that participants were equally likely to endorse positive and negative stereotypes about other groups in an egalitarian manner. However, participants were more likely to endorse positive stereotypes about their group than about all the other groups, showing some in-group favoritism. They were also less likely to endorse negative stereotypes about their group than about Anglo-Americans and African-Americans but more likely compared to Asian-Americans. Future studies would increase the understanding of this relationship by refining the study instruments and exploring diverse variables such as education, generation level, and ethnic identity, which may be related to internalization of negative stereotypes.