Cultural Socialization and Identity Development Across Contexts: Family, Schools, and Interventions
Chair(s): Danila Tran-Thuy-Duong (Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany)
Discussant(s): Linda Juang (University of Potsdam, Germany)
Cultural identity development and socialization processes play a crucial role in shaping intergroup relations and intercultural competences of adolescents (Hughes et al., 2006). The extent to which families, schools, and interventions support these processes has significant implications for socialization messages, cultural attribution and cultural awareness. This symposium provides insights about possible precursors and outcomes of national and cultural identity development across diverse populations (i.e., parents, ethnic minority and majority students, and unaccompanied immigrant minors) in the German and Italian context.
First, Aral and Juang explore how discrimination experiences shape the meaning of being German among parents of immigrant descent and how their understanding of national identity relates to ethnic-racial socialization messages transmitted to their children. Their findings suggest that experiences of discrimination shape parents’ understanding of German identity, which in turn influences socialization practices.
Next, Tran-Thuy-Duong et al. compare the cross-sectional links of family socialization practices and school multicultural approaches with cultural attribution among ethnic minority and majority students, exploring cultural identity development as a potential mediator.
Finally, Ceccon et al. evaluate the effects of an adapted Identity Project intervention on unaccompanied immigrant minors in a non-formal educational setting in Italy. Qualitative findings reveal increased cultural awareness, intergroup understanding, and personal growth among participants.
Together, these studies employ diverse methodological approaches to offer new insights into the complex interplay of societal, familial and institutional influences on national and cultural identity. These findings can advance our understanding of how to support national and cultural identity formation in order to promote positive social and psychological outcomes.
Presentations of the Symposium
Different meanings of being German and their relations to ethnic-racial socialization among parents of immigrant descent
Tuğçe Aral, Linda Juang
University of Potsdam, Germany
Ditlmann, and Kopf-Beck (2019) explored different ways German citizens perceive being German, yet only 15% of their participants had an immigrant descent. The meaning of being German for people with immigration history might differ. Discrimination experiences weaken ethnic minority and immigrant descent individuals’ national identification across different country contexts (e.g., Fleischmann et al., 2019). Ethnic-racial socialization research suggests that parents who often experience discrimination are more likely to provide their children with messages on discrimination (Hughes, 2003). We do not know whether parents’ understanding of who is considered “German” is related to the ethnic-racial socialization messages they transmit to their children.
This study aims to 1) explore the meaning of being German among parents of immigrant descent and identify latent profiles of German identities, 2) examine the predictors of the latent profile membership, and 3) investigate relations between the identity profiles and parental ethnic-racial socialization. All hypotheses were pre-registered.
Participants were 531 parents of immigrant descent (60% female) with school-aged children who completed an online survey in 2022. We measured the meaning of being German using 12 items (adapted based on Ditlmann & Kopf-Beck, 2019) and parental socialization using three subscales (i.e., racism, color-evasive and egalitarian/pluralistic) of ethnic-racial socialization scale for parents of immigrant descent (Juang et al., 2025). Findings show that experiences of discrimination may be associated with parents of immigrant descent’s understanding of German identity, which, in turn, may be linked to ethnic-racial socialization messages. Further analyses will be conducted to test various predictors of German identity profile membership including religion, gender, self-ascribed cultural identification, and contextual diversity.
Family Cultural Socialization and Multicultural Socialization in Schools: Links with Cultural Identity and Cultural Attribution
Danila Tran-Thuy-Duong1, Savaş Karataş1, Maja K. Schachner1, Linda Juang2
1Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany, 2University of Potsdam, Germany
Socialization in family and school is crucial for adolescents as they establish their own identities and navigate the social world. Youth primarily learn about their cultural group(s) through cultural socialization practices in their families (Hughes et al., 2006). In school, adolescents may learn about diverse cultures and engage in cultural exchange through multicultural approaches (Bardach et al., 2024). The resulting cognitive growth and intercultural knowledge may increase cultural attribution, defined in this study as attributing behavior to one’s cultural identity. Thus, we first examine how (multi)cultural socialization in family and school is associated with cultural attribution.
Socialization in family and school is linked to cultural identity development. The resulting increase in cultural identity salience may heighten cultural attribution. Accordingly, the second goal is to explore whether cultural identity development mediates the relationship between (multi)cultural socialization and cultural attribution.
We collected cross-sectional survey data from 400 adolescents (Mage = 13.21, SDage = .95, 53% female, 22.6% ethnic minority) in Germany. Family cultural socialization was measured with the Family Ethnic Socialization Measure (Umaña-Taylor et al., 2004), while school multicultural socialization was measured with the Heritage and Intercultural learning subscale of the Classroom Cultural Diversity Climate Scale (Schachner et al., 2021). The Ethnic Stigma Consciousness subscale of the Social Identities and Attitudes Scale (Picho & Brown, 2011) captured cultural attribution. The Ethnic Identity Scale-Brief (Douglass & Umaña-Taylor, 2015) measured cultural identity exploration and resolution.
Confirmatory Factor Analyses will assess the Cultural Attribution Scale’s validity, followed by measurement invariance testing of each study variable across ethnic minority and majority groups. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) will examine main study aims, with indirect effects tested via Model Indirect command in Mplus. Multigroup analysis will assess SEM robustness across groups. Findings can provide insights into individual-level attribution processes and their multidirectional relation with broader systematic factors.
Evaluating the efficacy of the Identity Project intervention with unaccompanied immigrant minors: preliminary evidence from Italy
Chiara Ceccon1, Ughetta Moscardino1, Michela Forcella1, Marta Macaluso2, Massimiliano Pastore1, Adriana J. Umaña-Taylor3
1University of Padova, Italy, 2University of Bologna, Italy, 3Harvard Graduate School of Education, USA
Research shows that a strong cultural identity, i.e., how individuals define themselves in relation to their heritage culture, is linked to greater well-being and intercultural competence in adolescence. The Identity Project (IP) was developed in the United States as an 8-week school-based intervention fostering well-being and interethnic relationships through the stimulation of cultural identity processes (Umaña-Taylor & Douglass, 2017). Previous studies demonstrated its efficacy also in the Italian school context (Ceccon et al., 2023). The IP was then adapted and piloted with unaccompanied immigrant minors (UIMs), receiving positive feedback in terms of feasibility and salience. Nonetheless, further research is warranted to ascertain its efficacy in non-formal educational settings, such as residential care communities.
This study aimed to assess the efficacy of the IP among 71 male UIMs (Mage = 16, SD = 0.85, range = 14-18 yrs) from 14 origin countries (the main ones being Egypt, Albania, and Tunisia), who were assigned to intervention (n = 34) and control groups (n = 37). UIMs self-reported on their cultural identity exploration and resolution 1 week before intervention (T0, pretest), 9 weeks after baseline (T1, posttest), and 13 weeks after baseline (T2, follow-up). Focus group discussions were conducted after intervention end.
Bayesian analyses did not reveal an effect of the IP on cultural identity exploration at post-test, nor a cascading effect on resolution at follow-up. However, qualitative analyses indicated that participants perceived meaningful benefits from the program, including increased reflection and learning about their own and others’ cultures; development of strategies to face stereotypes and discrimination; and promotion of personal growth and values, such as listening, patience, and respect. The discrepancy between quantitative and qualitative findings is discussed in relation to methodological challenges and the unique characteristics of UIMs. Implications for research and future intervention implementations targeting underrepresented youth are considered.
