The Connections Between Latino Ethnic Identity and Adult Experiences

Literature Review

The literature review elaborates on the existing research that informs this study (Jones, Torres, & Arminio, 2006). Although the research on the development of identity, specifically ethnic identity, is plentiful (Cross, 1971, 1995, 2001; Helms, 1995; Phinney, 1993; Torres, 2003; Torres & Hernandez, 2007), there is little research that directly considers how this development continues beyond the late adolescent (college) years. As more nontraditional students access educational opportunities, it is imperative that development be considered beyond the traditional college years to understand the challenges adult students may be dealing with and how to support their further development.

The concept of revisiting previous identity task is not new to the literature. Some studies have considered these processes within the identity development literature and inform the conceptualization of this study (Cross, 1995; Helms, 1995; Marcia, 2002). Though these studies consider some aspects of development within adult life, none has specifically focused on the developmental process for Latinos adults or has taken an approach that includes this population as central to the study. The most influential work for the conceptualization of this study is Marcia’s (2002) work, which examined the developmental process beyond late adolescence. Marcia identified that in the later adult years there is an “identity reconstruction” process (p. 15). This process entails an experience that causes disequilibrium in ones’ life and prompts the individual to enter a re-formation period that promotes some reconstruction of his or her identity, but does not create a disintegration of the identity. This process of reconstruction could be interpreted as a revisiting of previous developmental tasks that occurs as a natural part of the developmental process for adults later in life.

Other identity development theories also consider this re-formation process of renegotiating and recreating one’s identity in later adult life. In the racial/ethnic identity literature, Cross (1971, 1995) has expanded his theory to consider different issues. At one point Cross (1995) clarified that though his stages ended with the internalization-commitment stage, describing a person who can translate his/her new identity into consistent behaviors to address concerns of the cultural group, he also clarified that there was no clearly delineated endpoint to development. He considered that an internalized racial Nigrescence identity was not an end to identity development because as life spans across the years, “new challenges, new encounters may bring about the need to re-cycle through some of the stages” (p. 113). Other studies also informed how the issue of change over time could be considered. For example, the influence of environment and events were found in Helms’s (1995) work, which considered that these factors could cause change in ethnic/racial identity but did not explore the type of change, the type of events, or the possibility of a reconstruction process within identity development.

Within the sociological literature, Stryker and Serpe (1994) explored the notions of identity commitment and identity salience. These researchers believed that identity salience allows an individual to organize and rank the important cognitive structures. This conceptualization of identity posits that through the ranking of identity structures, an individual chooses certain behaviors over others. Although their work asserts that general identity salience is influenced by the level of identity commitment, they found that time in role also influenced both of these areas. Yet the manner in which Stryker and Serpe (1994) defined the roles did not tackle broader identity issues such as ethnic identity. Though this research acknowledges the multiple dimensions of identity, it does not focus on the complexities involved when these dimensions intersect.

The growing body of research around the concept of holistic development, or self-authorship, does attempt to consider the complexities and intersections of the multiple dimensions that influence how one would author his or her own life (Baxter Magolda, Abes, & Torres, 2009). For example, the development of self-authorship emerged from Kegan’s (1994) writing that the mental demands required for adult life forces individuals to take responsibility for their own experiences and to shift from external definitions of self to more internalized foundations. This process is complex and involves the intersection of intrapersonal dimensions (who am I), epistemological dimension (how do I know?), and the interpersonal dimension (how do I relate to others?) (Baxter Magolda et al., 2009). In self-authorship research, this process of revising and redefining one’s sense of self emerged among participants in their 30s who experienced a nuanced self-authored system that recognized “contexts in which they needed to refine or develop some aspect of themselves” (Baxter Magolda, 2008, p. 281). The participants who had established an internal foundation for themselves were “open to being reconstructed because participants had an internal security to see reconstruction as positive and exciting” (p. 281). Though this study provides an in-depth view of longitudinal development, the study sample lacked the diversity and therefore investigating these concepts with Latino adults is still needed.

And finally an international study by Kroger and Green (1996) found eight conditions that were identified as possibly prompting “identity status change” (p. 481). Within the context of this study, we found these eight conditions could be restructured into three broader categories: changes in life circumstances, changes in environment, and internal changes. Changes in life circumstances included age-graded event, history-graded event, critical life event, direct significance of other, and stage of family life cycle. Changes in environment consisted of exposure of different cultural/social milieus/sources of knowledge and no opportunity for desired goal. The final condition was focused on internal changes that indicate elements of an internally defined identity. Because this study was conducted in New Zealand with a sample of 100 adults aged between 40 and 63 years, it does not reflect the social/cultural environment of the United States. The researchers’ use of retrospective interview accounts most closely resembles the type of approach that we considered in this study, and the phenomenon investigated by this study (the developmental process for adults beyond late adolescence) is also similar to that considered by Kroger and Green (1996).

The body of research cited provides support for the concept that identity development is not a process with an endpoint; rather, it continues evolving even after an internally defined or achievement status/phase is achieved. Instead this evidence points to identity as continuously evolving as a result of life circumstances and environmental changes. Although the identity development process particular to racial/ethnic identity has been considered in Cross’s (1995) and Helms’s (1995) research, this phenomenon has not been fully explored among Latinos.

Conceptual Framework and Methodological Considerations

Because access to adult Latinos was desired for the sample population, consideration of electronic means to reach a broad spectrum of participants was necessary, the epistemological approach needed to consider these research challenges. As a result of using an online survey, the ability to interact with participants was lost and therefore made a pragmatist epistemological approach appropriate, because this approach considered the outcomes of the research more critical than other aspects of the research process (Crotty, 1998). Within a pragmatist approach, “the meaning of experience becomes an exploration of culture” (Crotty, 1998, p. 74) thus allowing for the understanding of ideas or concepts to be interchangeable between experience and culture. This conceptual framework influenced the methodology by informing the study’s research procedures and choices (Jones, Torres, & Arminio, 2006). Pragmatic approaches allow for the research questions of interest to be “more important than either the method or the philosophical worldview that underlies the method” (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2007, p. 26). Additionally, pragmatism allows researchers to “judge the quality of a study by its intended purposes, available resources, procedures followed and results obtained, all within a particular context and for a specific audience” (Patton, 2002, -p. 71-72).

The desire to address adult identity issues among Latinos called for creative sampling strategies. Because previous research has concentrated on college students, there was also an attempt to reach participants beyond the college years. To reach a potential pool of adult Latino/a participants in a variety of contexts and with varying characteristics in age, level of education, and regions of the United States; the best available resource was the use of the Internet to distribute a survey.

Once the survey was created, it was uploaded into a web format. An internet link to the survey was created to facilitate the electronic submission of responses. This method of data collection allowed for greater exposure to the desired sample, greater possibility of exploring various life experiences, and the consideration of multiple contexts. Though not ideal for the exploration of identity, this method of data collection was determined to provide sufficient benefit for this exploration.

Initially, a purposeful sampling technique (Patton, 2002) was used to distribute the electronic survey using various listservs with a Latino/a audience. The primary criterion for selecting a listserv focused on whether members were likely to be non-undergraduate college students. As a result the audience of the listservs used focused on professionals working with Latino students and Latino alumni groups from various known universities. The listservs selected were known by the researchers and allowed for access to post the request to participate. A snowball technique was used to increase the sample, by asking participants to pass the survey on to others who may be interested in participating.

The electronic survey used asked a series of open-ended questions to guide the participants toward explaining how he/she saw himself/herself in regards to his/her Latino identity. Other items asked if the participants’ perceptions changed over time. The construction of the survey was influenced by the ideas within narrative inquiry that promote understanding of individual meaning making by soliciting the stories of the participants (Clandinin & Rosiek, 2007). Attention was paid to create items that would ask for processes about how understanding of identity occurred. For example, prompts, such as how or why, were specifically added to ask for explanations about certain responses.

The research team met to create the questions based on the theoretical sensitivity gained from the literature previously presented. Consistent with the ideas within narrative inquiry the items promoted understanding of individual meaning making by soliciting the stories of the participants (Clandinin & Rosiek, 2007). Consistent with open-ended survey protocol, the questions also asked that examples or situations be explained within the response. It was hoped that this would promote more telling of their story by the participants. The questions were pilot tested using a convenient sample of adult Latinos who would respond online and provide feedback on the items. After the pilot testing, the items were tweaked prior to sending the survey out on the listservs. The goal of the open-ended questions was to provide participants with an opportunity to write out narratives of personal life experiences relating to their ethnic identity. For the purpose of this study, the primary survey item of interest was the following: “As an adult, have you experienced a life change that caused you to re-evaluate the meaning of your identity?” To compare if a revisiting of identity issues occurred, the study also used information from an additional item focused on when they first questioned their identity as Latino. The consideration of this item provides information about initial definitions of identity.

The survey was completed by 93 respondents, 13 had incomplete responses and were deemed unusable, and 1 participant was in her 20s and mentioned experiences as a college student in the present tense, thus making the researchers question if she fit the criteria for the sample. Of the remaining 80 participants, the majority were women (79%) and most were born in the United States of foreign-born parents (49%). Only 21% indicated they were born outside of the United States. The range of educational background included high school equivalency to doctoral degrees, of which the majority of respondents had a master’s degree (44%), with the next largest educational attainment group being bachelor’s degree (30%). The age range of the group was 20 to 58 years, with a mean age of 32.4 years. In the demographic section of the survey, participants were also asked to self-report the representation of Latinos in their communities. Thirty-five percent of the participants claimed to live in communities that do not have a critical mass of Latinos (less than 24% of the total population within their communities being Latino), whereas 34% of the participants reported living in communities with large Latino populations that comprise 50% or more of the total population. The remaining lived in communities with Latinos representing between 25% but less than 50% Latinos in the population. This distribution of community characteristics provided a diverse contextual sample for consideration. The final demographic question asked participants to choose from four descriptions that pertain to self-identified cultural orientation (Torres, 1999). The majority of participants self-identified as having a Bicultural Orientation (61%), indicating a high comfort level with both Anglo and Latino cultures; 29% selected Latino Orientation, indicating higher comfort and preference to associate with Latino culture rather than Anglo culture; 9% self-selected Anglo Orientation, indicating their preference and higher comfort level to associate with Anglo culture as opposed to Latino culture. There was one individual who self-identified as Marginal, indicating that the individual was not comfortable in either culture—this was an unexpected result and the responses provided by the individual did not provide much insight into this choice.

The analysis of the data was done using open and axial coding (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). The techniques used allowed for the voices of the participants to drive the findings of the study. The researchers began with a subsample of total responses and completed a first round of open coding to identify the initial ideas that emerged from this subsample. From this initial list of open codes, the research team regrouped these codes into broader concepts consistent with the axial coding process. This grouping (axial coding) resulted in eight codes, such as Changes in Environment or Definition of Identity, that described the processes experienced by the participants that may have contributed to how they constructed, reconstructed, and made meaning of their Latino identity. The remaining survey responses were coded with these eight codes using ATLAS.ti. For the purpose on this study, we concentrated on four codes: Changes in Environment and/or Composition of Community, Change in Life Circumstances, Initial Questioning of Identity, and Reevaluation of Identity. The results shared within the context of this study were found through in-depth analysis of the first two codes: changes in environment and definition of identity.

Although the sample provided rich descriptions of the phenomenon of interest, the lack of contact with the participants and ability to follow-up is a major limitation of this study. The technique used to reach participants did not allow for managing a balance of male/female respondents and therefore the sample is overrepresentative of females. The use of listservs to distribute the survey also presented a limitation with this sample—the use of electronic communication that may not be readily available to the entire Latino/a adult population. One limitation of the use of listservs was a well-educated sample. Issues regarding the digital divide need to be considered as part of the limitation and may explain the reason why the sample is more educated than the overall Latino population in the United States. For these reasons, the findings pertain to this group of participants and should be applied to other populations with caution.

Results

The focus of this study was to explore the identity development process for Latinos after the college years and to examine the possibility of an identity reconstruction process as suggested by the work of Marcia (2002) and Helms (1995). Because the changes in identity that were of interest focused on the developmental task of reevaluation after an initial definition of ethnic identity, the results presented will concentrate on those findings.

The results indicate that approximately 35% (N = 28) of the participants stated that they revisited issues of Latino identity as adults. The process seems to be one where the individual loops back to a previous point in his/her development and reevaluates how his/her socially constructed identity has changed as a result of being in a different environment or different life event. We began to see this reevaluation as a looping process that brought individuals to question aspects of their identity that they had previously configured. Yet this looping process seemed to indicate a more complex understanding of self and therefore the looping did not entail a complete questioning of identity, but rather a refinement of how their Latino identity was considered within the context of their lives. The term looping was selected to illustrate how this process of reevaluating Latino identity can be cyclical in nature and likely to happen repeatedly throughout adult life as changes occur. This study’s findings illustrate the socially constructed nature of identity.

Among the usable results, two themes emerged that described the prompting of reevaluation of identity (looping process) among the participants. The first was the influence of the environment on identity. This influence tended to be focused on managing the environmental changes and the context of identity within different environments.

The second theme revolved around life circumstances that caused major changes in an individual identity, such as job relocation, marriage, or major life event that prompted an assessment of one’s sense of self. Among those that looped back to reconstruct their Latino identity, this theme was found to be the most common cause for the looping and therefore will be presented first. The results presented for each theme will focus on few participants that best illustrate the types of events that prompted the looping process.

Discussion, Implications, and Future Research

Within higher education research there is an assumption that adults have completed or mastered developmental issues, yet this research study indicates that additional developmental tasks can arise and should be considered when we work with this population. The results of this study indicate that adults continue to experience developmental tasks associated with their ethnic identity. This is consistent with Cross’s (1995) notion that recycling occurs among adults even when they have an internalized identity as well as Baxter Magolda’s (2008) notion of reconstruction in adults. It also concurs with Marcia (2002), who found that identity may undergo cyclical reformulation following adolescence and is most likely to happen when an individual confronts identity “disequilibrating circumstances” (p. 15), which include changes in life circumstances or environments. These findings also have congruence with Kroger and Green (1996), who found that adults experienced identity status change as a result of a series of eight possible conditions. It should be noted that the looping process (reevaluation) seemed to be initiated when individuals created new understandings of ethnic identity without necessarily abandoning their previous identity. “Although the re-formulated identity is to some extent a new one, it is continuous with, and has similar qualities to, the identity that preceded it” (Marcia, 2002, p. 16).

Among our participants, the conditions that prompted looping were most associated with change in life circumstances, change in environment, and advocacy for Latinos or some combination of these conditions. This is also consistent with the New Zealand study that found that identity status changes can occur from a combination of conditions (Kroger & Green, 1996). The finding that individuals who engaged in looping in their adult life were mostly Bicultural Oriented (22 individuals), with some Latino Oriented (6 individuals), indicated the active interaction between both the Latino and Anglo cultures was typically found among individuals who were confronted with situations that challenged their understanding. It is conceivable to consider that these individuals were willing to confront the challenges that come with living in two cultures because their identity commitment was strong (Stryker & Serpe, 1994). One plausible explanation could be that Bicultural Orientation individuals may have more agency that highlights a sense of “confidence that one will be able to overcome obstacles that impede one’s progress along one’s chosen life course” (Schwartz, Côté, & Arnett, 2005, p. 207).

The findings of this study also have implications for practice in multiple educational environments. The phenomenon illustrated in this study will create situations where administrators, educators, and faculty may encounter adult students during a stage of identity reformulation. Issues concerning changes in environment and changes in life circumstances can ignite an identity looping process. These changes may revolve around common adult events such as marriage, moving for a job or school, and being placed in a situation where their ethnicity is questioned. The environmental changes illustrated by the participants are common among many adults within multiple educational settings. Adult education research captures a lifespan perspective that emphasizes adaptation to the environments (Blanchard-Fields & Kalinauskas, 2009). This adaptation can be enhanced by adult education specialists who can help guide the learning process needed to adapt to these changes. The contextual influences on identity require that adult educators understand the context as well as the individual’s response to that context. Environmental stressors, such as change in environment or life circumstances (marriage or birth of a child) can be mitigated by learning environments that acknowledge and are sensitive to the potential looping processes. Sensitivity to these changes within individuals allows adult educators to approach situations from an informed perspective and provides insight about the topics of conversation that may assist the Latino/a adult. These topics would include acknowledging the changing demographics that come with different environments or the decisions that may need to be negotiated with changes in life circumstances.

This reformulation of identity, or looping, not only occurs among nontraditional students but also with those involved in all aspects of education. Administrators may have to be aware of this developmental process with new Latino professionals or even seasoned colleagues who are starting a new position at an institution or even a different department within an institution that represents different environmental conditions. The dissonance created by changes in environment and life circumstance can produce both positive and negative consequences. To reduce the potential negative aspects in adult development, educational settings must promote positive resolutions to the adaptive outcomes that come with life changes. New employee orientations/training should consider the possible dissonance that can occur in new environments and structure activities to help adults adjust to these contextual differences. Understanding how these life events can influence ethnic identity can help institutional and organizational administrators promote a more open environment where these issues are not considered odd.

There is also much research that can be done in the area of Latino/a ethnic identity development. As a result of data in this research project and the limitations of this study, further research is needed to achieve a deeper understanding of the identity looping process in Latino/a adults. Since this study did not include one-on-one interviews with participants, a greater understanding of this process can be achieved with face-to-face interaction, where the researcher can probe for further understanding. In-depth consideration of identity looping and gender should also be considered for closer examination. This study opens the door for considering the influence of looping among minority populations within the United States. Research could be done with other diverse populations and occupations to investigate if, and how, looping may develop among other groups.

With this study, we wanted to encourage further investigation into the process of identity formation among adult Latinos in the United States. The findings of this study inform our understanding of how individuals interact with different populations and the influence these interactions can have on ones’ sense of self. As educational settings continue to diversify, it is critical that the experiences of nonmajority students and adults be considered when creating policies and programs to help with student success.