Implicit Identification with Academic Achievement among Latino College Students: The Role of Ethnic Identity and Significant Others

Abstract

Two studies were conducted to test the hypothesis that identification with academic achievement among Latino college students was related to the extent to which their ethnic group and significant others were linked to academic achievement. Participants completed a series of implicit association tests measuring the interrelations among academic achievement, self, and ethnic groups (Study 1) or significant others (Study 2). Study 1 revealed that the more college students identified with Latinos (relative to Caucasians) and stereotyped Latinos as low academic achievers (relative to Caucasians), the less they identified with academic achievement. Study 2 showed that the more Latino college students identified with significant others and viewed these significant others as high academic achievers, the more they identified with academic achievement. These findings are consistent with principles of cognitive consistency and stress the socio-relational facets of the academic self-concept.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This research was supported in part by the Minority Access to Research Careers Program (MARC/NIH – No 5T34GM08303) and the McNair Scholars Program (U.S. Department of Education, TRIO Programs - No P217A030016) at San Diego State University. Portions of this research were presented at the 5th Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Austin, Texas, January 2004. We thank Jeff Bryson and Roger Dunn for their helpful comments on a previous draft.

Notes

¹Seven Latino participants and one Caucasian participant had a last name included in the list of stimuli. We were unable to determine whether it had an impact on their responses because the procedure ensured that participants' identity could not be matched with their data (confidentiality of responses).