| This study investigates the factors that play a role in the development of ethnic identity. Ethnic identity development is generally understood as the concept of ethnic achievement as espoused by Phinney (1992) and as minority identity development in a model proposed by Atkinson, Morten, and Sue (1995). With a growing literature that focuses on ethnic identity development, very little attention has been paid to the underlying factors that influence development. This study represents an initial step in the investigation of an area in ethnic identity that has previously been understudied. Specifically, the influence of ethnically salient experience (ESE) and cognitive style on ethnic identity achievement and minority identity attitudes were assessed for 202 ethnic minority students at an urban university. Ethnically salient experience was measured in three ways: by participants' reported exposure to ethnic others, and frequency and affective intensity associated with ethnically relevant events. Cognitive style was operationalized by integrative complexity, a form of cognitive style defined as the characteristic way with which an individual differentiates and integrates information.;The main hypothesis tested in this study was that ethnically salient experience is positively associated with ethnic achievement and minority identity development. Concurrently, cognitive complexity was predicted to influence ethnic achievement and minority identity development positively when ethnically salient experience level reaches a threshold. With respect to specific stages of minority identity development, integrative complexity was hypothesized to have significant but different directions of relationship with each stage.;Supporting the hypothesis, significant relationships were found between various aspects of ethnically salient experience (ESE) and ethnic identity development. Namely, ESE variables were consistent in predicting ethnic achievement in the positive direction. Integrative complexity was consistent in accounting significantly for minority attitudes characterized by ethnocentric viewpoints, and affective intensity was found to be positively related to minority attitudes marked by greater compassion and circumspection. Significant interactions between ESE and cognitive complexity in their relationship with ethnic identity development were also found for males and Asian Americans within the sample. Specifically, the interaction effects were most prominent in the ways ESE affects the relationship between integrative complexity and ethnic identity development. The overall results point to modest contributions of ethnically salient experience and cognitive complexity to ethnic identity development, as well as some variability in findings based on ethnicity/race and gender. Several conceptual and methodological issues were raised, suggesting considerations for future research. |
