Cultural socialization, interdependent self-construal, and ethnic identity in Latinx and Asian American emerging adults: a mediation analysis

Research on cultural socialization, the process in which individuals learn messages regarding the traditions and values of their culture (Hughes et al., 2006), has dedicated little attention to Latinx and Asian American groups. This study examined whether an interdependent self-construal (i.e., viewing oneself as connected to others and endorsing behaviors that depend on others; Singelis, 1994) was a mediator between cultural socialization and ethnic identity for these two groups. The current study utilized mediation analyses to explore the associations between cultural socialization via different agents (i.e., parents, teachers, romantic partners, peers), interdependent self-construal, and ethnic identity exploration and commitment for Latinx (N = 258, 68.6% female, Mage = 20.54) and Asian (N = 281, 66.5% female, Mage = 20.34) American college-attending emerging adults. Results revealed that for the Latinx sample, interdependent self-construal mediated the relation between cultural socialization and ethnic identity exploration or commitment in regards to parents and peers, but not teachers. In addition, interdependent self-construal mediated the association between cultural socialization from romantic partners and ethnic identity commitment, but not exploration. For the Asian American sample, interdependent self-construal mediated the association between cultural socialization and ethnic identity exploration or commitment in regards to romantic partners and peers, but not parents and teachers. These results highlight the important role of different cultural socialization agents in ethnic identity formation for these two groups and suggest that the endorsement of cultural values can be a mechanism through which ethnic identity is strengthened.