Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

School Context Protective Factors Against Peer Ethnic Discrimination Across the High School Years

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
American Journal of Community Psychology

    We’re sorry, something doesn't seem to be working properly.

    Please try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, please contact support so we can address the problem.

Abstract

Ethnically diverse high school contexts present unique social opportunities for youth to form interethnic relationships, but they may also subject students to certain social challenges such as peer ethnic discrimination. With a sample of 1,072 high school students (55% girls; 54% Latino, 20% African American, 14% Asian, 12% White) attending 84 high schools, school context factors that protect students’ exposure to peer ethnic discrimination across the high school years were investigated with a three-level hierarchical linear model. Each spring for four consecutive years (grades 9–12), self-reported peer ethnic discrimination, interracial climate at school, and perceived school ethnic composition were assessed. At the school level, objective high school ethnic composition data were collected. Peer ethnic discrimination was found to decline slightly across the high school years. Above and beyond this decline, more positive perceptions of the school interracial climate and both objective and perceived numerical ethnic majority status predicted lower levels of peer ethnic discrimination. Taken together, the results highlight the significance of both objective (e.g., ethnic composition) and subjective (e.g., interracial climate) aspects of the school ethnic context to students’ high school social experiences.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Altinyelken, H. (2009). Migration and self-esteem: A qualitative study among internal migrant girls in Turkey. Adolescence, 44, 149–163.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bellmore, A., Nishina, A., & Graham, S. (2011). Peer popularity in the context of ethnicity. In A. H. N. Cillessen, D. Schwartz, & L. Mayeux (Eds.), Popularity in the peer system (pp. 193–215). New York, NY: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bellmore, A. D., Witkow, M. R., Graham, S., & Juvonen, J. (2004). Beyond the individual: The impact of ethnic context and classroom behavioral norms on victims’ adjustment. Developmental Psychology, 40, 1159–1172.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Benner, A.D., & Graham, S. (in press). Latino adolescents’ experiences of discrimination across the first two years of high school: Correlates and influences on educational outcomes. Child Development

  • Brewer, C. A., & Suchan, T. A. (2001). Mapping Census 2000: The geography of U.S. diversity [Electronic version]. (U.S. Census Bureau, Census Special Reports, Series CENSR/01–1). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brody, G., Chen, Y., Murray, V., Ge, X., Simons, R., Gibbons, F., et al. (2006). Perceived discrimination and the adjustment of African American youths: A Five-Year longitudinal analysis with contextual moderation effects. Child Development, 77, 1170–1189. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2006.00927.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, B. (2004). Adolescents’ relationships with peers. Handbook of adolescent psychology (2nd ed., pp. 363–394). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, C. S., & Bigler, R. S. (2005). Children’s perceptions of discrimination: A developmental model. Child Development, 76, 533–553.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chavous, T. M., Rivas-Drake, D., Smalls, C., Griffin, T., & Cogburn, C. (2008). Gender matters, too: The influences of school racial discrimination and racial identity on academic engagement outcomes among African American adolescents. Developmental Psychology, 44, 637–654.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Costigan, C., Hua, J., & Su, T. (2010). Living up to expectations: The strengths and challenges experienced by Chinese Canadian Students. Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 25, 223–245. doi:10.1177/0829573510368941.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, C. B., Wallace, S. A., & Fenton, R. E. (2000). Discrimination distress during adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 29, 679–695.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goetz, J., & Breneman, E. (1988). Desegregation and Black students’ experiences in two rural southern elementary schools. The Elementary School Journal, 88, 489–502. doi:10.1086/461552.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Graham, S., Bellmore, A., Nishina, A., & Juvonen, J. (2009). “It must be me”: Ethnic diversity and attributions for peer victimization. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 38, 487–499.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Graham, S., & Juvonen, J. (2002). Ethnicity, peer harassment, and adjustment in middle school: An exploratory study. Journal of Early Adolescence, 22, 173–199.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Green, C., Adams, A., & Turner, C. (1988). Development and validation of the School Interracial Climate Scale. American Journal of Community Psychology, 16, 241–259. doi:10.1007/BF00912525.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greene, M. L., Way, N., & Pahl, K. (2006). Trajectories of perceived adult and peer discrimination among Black, Latino, and Asian American adolescents: Patterns and psychological correlates. Developmental Psychology, 42, 218–238.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grossman, J., & Liang, B. (2008). Discrimination distress among Chinese American adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 37(1), 1–11. doi:10.1007/s10964-007-9215-1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hallinan, M. T. (1982). Classroom racial composition and children’s friendships. Social Forces, 61, 56–72.

    Google Scholar 

  • Juang, L. P., & Cookston, J. T. (2009). Acculturation, discrimination, and depressive symptoms among Chinese American adolescents: A longitudinal study. Journal of Primary Prevention, 30, 475–496.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Juvonen, J., Nishina, A., & Graham, S. (2006). Ethnic diversity and perceptions of safety in urban middle schools. Psychological Science, 17, 393–400.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • LaFontana, K., & Cillessen, A. (2010). Developmental changes in the priority of perceived status in childhood and adolescence. Social Development, 19, 130–147. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9507.2008.00522.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mattison, E., & Aber, M. (2007). Closing the achievement gap: The association of racial climate with achievement and behavioral outcomes. American Journal of Community Psychology, 40, 1–12. doi:10.1007/s10464-007-9128-x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Moody, J. (2001). Race, school integration, and friendship segregation in America. American Journal of Sociology, 107, 679–716.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (2007). Mplus user’s guide (5th ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Muthén & Muthén.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nishina, A., Bellmore, A., Witkow, M. R., & Nylund-Gibson, K. (2010). Longitudinal consistency of adolescent ethnic identification across varying school ethnic contexts. Developmental Psychology, 46, 1389–1401. doi:10.1037/a0020728.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Perreira, K., Fuligni, A., & Potochnick, S. (2010). Fitting in: The roles of social acceptance and discrimination in shaping the academic motivations of Latino youth in the U.S. Southeast. Journal of Social Issues, 66, 131–153. doi:10.1111/j.1540-4560.2009.01637.x.

  • Phinney, J. S. (1990). Ethnic identity in adolescents and adults: Review of research. Psychological Bulletin, 108, 499–514.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Qin, D., Way, N., & Mukherjee, P. (2008). The other side of the model minority story: The familial and peer challenges faced by Chinese American adolescents. Youth & Society, 39, 480–506. doi:10.1177/0044118X08314233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raudenbush, S. W., & Bryk, A. S. (2002). Hierarchical linear models: Applications and data analysis methods (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raudenbush, S. W., Bryk, A. S., & Congdon, R. (2000). HLM for Windows. Version 6. Lincolnwood, IL: Scientific Software International, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rivas-Drake, D., Hughes, D., & Way, N. (2009). A preliminary analysis of associations among ethnic racial socialization, ethnic discrimination, and ethnic identity among urban sixth graders. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 19, 558–584. doi:10.1111/j.1532-7795.2009.00607.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenbloom, S. R., & Way, N. (2004). Experiences of discrimination among African American, Asian American, and Latino adolescents in an urban high school. Youth & Society, 35, 420–451.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seaton, E., Caldwell, C., Sellers, R., & Jackson, J. (2008). The prevalence of perceived discrimination among African American and Caribbean Black youth. Developmental Psychology, 44, 1288–1297. doi:10.1037/a0012747.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Simpson, E. H. (1949). Measurement of diversity. Nature, 163, 688.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsai, J. (2006). Xenophobia, Ethnic community, and immigrant youths’ friendship network formation. Adolescence, 41, 285–298.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Verkuyten, M. (2003). Positive and negative self-esteem among ethnic minority early adolescents: Social and cultural sources and threats. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 32, 267–277. doi:10.1023/A:1023032910627.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Educational Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1025 W. Johnson St., Madison, WI, 53706, USA

    Amy Bellmore, Ji-in You & Ting-Lan Ma

  2. University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA

    Adrienne Nishina

Authors
  1. Amy Bellmore
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Adrienne Nishina
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ji-in You
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Ting-Lan Ma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Amy Bellmore.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bellmore, A., Nishina, A., You, Ji. et al. School Context Protective Factors Against Peer Ethnic Discrimination Across the High School Years. Am J Community Psychol 49, 98–111 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-011-9443-0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-011-9443-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation