Racial-ethnic identity in mid-adolescence: Content and change as predictors of academic achievement

Three aspects of racial-ethnic identity (REI)Ffeeling connected to one’s racial-ethnic group (Connectedness), being aware that others may not value the in-group (Awareness of Racism), and feeling that one’s in-group is charac-terized by academic attainment (Embedded Achievement)Fwere hypothesized to promote academic achievement. Youth randomly selected from 3 low-income, urban schools (n5 98 African American, n5 41 Latino) reported on their REI 4 times over 2 school years. Hierarchical linear modeling shows a small increase in REI and the predicted REI – grades relationship. Youth high in both REI Connectedness and Embedded Achievement attained better grade point average (GPA) at each point in time; youth high in REI Connectedness and Awareness of Racism at the beginning of 8th grade attained better GPA through 9th grade. Effects are not moderated by race-ethnicity. Erikson (1968, p. 91) describes ‘‘the psychological aspect of adolescing’ ’ as an identity ‘‘crisis’ ’ in which one is to re-examine and reinterpret one’s childhood self and begin to craft the adult one will become. This re-examination is to occur within a moratorium pe-riod in which various possible adult selves are tried on and discarded. This exploration can involve ac