About this poster

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Panel information
Panel 5. Identity

Abstract

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Dismantling oppressive social structures, including racism, necessitates building coalitions and motivating individuals to participate in sociopolitical action (e.g., civic agency). Civic agency can be developed through one’s knowledge of how social systems contribute to inequities and shared experiences among groups (critical reflection; Diemer et al., 2014). People of color may be differentially motivated to dismantle oppressive systems to the extent that they experience the psychological clash (i.e., identity conflict; Westberg et al., 2023) that results from occupying multiple marginalized social positions (e.g., sexism, classism). Relatedly, people of color who are afforded privilege by class (e.g., middle, upper) and/or gender (e.g., men) may not readily recognize the role of structures in their lived experience and view these aspects of their identity as separate (i.e., identity distance; Westberg et al., 2023). Differences in conflict and distance are theoretically associated with critical reflection and civic agency based on unique identity intersections (Velez & Spencer, 2018), but the empirical links are not entirely clear.

This presentation will address the following: 1) Are intersecting identity distance and conflict associated with critical reflection and civic agency?; 2) Are there differences in levels of these constructs across ethnicity/race, gender, or class?; and 3) Do distance and conflict account for variation in critical reflection and civic agency across identity intersections? Participants (n = 273) were recruited from a large public university in Southern California. The majority self-identified as Asian (51%), Latine (49%), and women (71%, Mage = 19.13, SD =1.27). Participants completed an online survey about their life experiences in relation to their identity, culture, and science aspirations. Measures for the current study included a subscale of the Intersecting Identities Inventory, measuring perceived distance and conflict regarding one’s ethnicity/race, gender, and social class (Westberg et al., 2023), and adapted measures of Civic Agency and Critical Reflection (Diemer et al., 2017; Hershberg et al., 2019). There were 12 unique identity intersections in this sample (2 race/ethnicity: Asian, Latine x 2 gender: Man, Woman x 3 SES: Low, Middle, High).

Preliminary analysis revealed mostly negative relationships between identity distance and conflict, and critical reflection and civic agency (r = -.14 to -.37, p < .05). Identity conflict was positively associated with critical reflection (r = .18, p =.003). Tests revealed differences between men and women on distance (t(271) = -4.65, p < .001), conflict (t(271) = 3.56, p < .001), and civic agency (t(268) = 2.72, p = .007). Also, differences were found between race/ethnicity for distance (t(271) = 2.28, p =.02) and civic agency (t(271) = -2.32, p =.02), and a main effect of class for critical reflection (F(270) = 4.38, p = .01). The intra-class correlations for unconditional models indicated that 2.3% of the variance in critical reflection, and 3.1% variance in civic agency, was between-groups (i.e., identity intersections). In mixed-effects models with random intercepts, distance (𝛽 = -0.24, p < .001) uniquely predicted differences in critical reflection (𝛥𝜒2 = 20.54, p < .001), but not civic agency (𝛥𝜒2 = 4.44, p = .11). Further, distance and conflict explained 54% of the variance in critical reflection between identity intersections and 7% of the variance between individuals.

Findings underscore the importance of exploring the meanings emerging adults make of their intersecting social positions as it relates to critical reflection and civic agency. Our discussion will focus on how scholars and community advocates should consider how interesting identities play a role in the messaging offered to mobilize marginalized groups into collective action. In this way, the field will move toward advancement in informing structural- and system-level change.

Author information

Author	Role
Tate LeBlanc, University of California Riverside	Presenting author
Chelsea McElwee, University of California Riverside, United States	Non-presenting author
Aerika B. Loyd, University of California Riverside, United States	Non-presenting author
Elan C. Hope, Policy Research Associates, Inc., United States	Non-presenting author

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