Immigrant adolescents’ roots and dreams: Perceived mismatches between ethnic identities and aspirational selves predict engagement

Régine Debrosse; Mesmin Destin; Maya Rossignac-Milon; Donald Taylor; Leoandra Onnie Rogers

doi:10.1080/15298868.2018.1523223

Immigrant adolescents’ roots and dreams: Perceived mismatches between ethnic identities and aspirational selves predict engagement

Régine Debrosse^*, Mesmin Destin, Maya Rossignac-Milon, Donald Taylor, Leoandra Onnie Rogers

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

Immigrant adolescents are generally more ambitious but not as likely to achieve their career/occupational aspirations as their peers. The present study draws on self-discrepancy and social identity literatures to define and explore the role of mismatches between ethnic and aspiration-related ideal selves. In two samples recruited in Canada, 73% of immigrant adolescents aspired to a university-bound career (e.g., physician, engineer). As expected, adolescents reporting larger ethnic/ideal self-discrepancies were less engaged towards their aspiration (Sample 1, n = 73) and viewed school less favorably (Sample 2, n = 125). The present analyses suggest that actual/ideal self-discrepancies mediate these associations, thus extending prior findings and highlighting the role of self-discrepancies in immigrant adolescents’ experiences.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1-15
Number of pages	15
Journal	Self and Identity
Volume	19
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/15298868.2018.1523223
State	Published - Jan 2 2020

Funding

This work was supported by a Fonds de recherche du Québec Société et Culture master’s fellowship (131913), as well as by a Vanier doctoral fellowship and a postdoctoral fellowship awarded to the first author by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (number 770-2011-0018 and 756-2016-0572);Fonds de Recherche du Québec-Société et Culture [131913];Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada [756-2016-0572,770-2011-0018]; The authors are deeply indebted to the team from the Table de Concertation Jeunesse de Côte-des-Neiges: Vincent-Thomas Hamelin, Mélissa Racine LeBreton, Odile Laforest, and especially Patrice S. César, without whom the community partnership that made this research possible could have never been built. The authors also wish to acknowledge that the present work was supported by the Fonds de recherche du Québec Société et Culture and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Finally, the authors wish to express their gratitude towards the participants, who deeply engaged with the research.

Keywords

Self-discrepancies
adolescence
aspiration
ethnic identity
immigration

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Psychology

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10.1080/15298868.2018.1523223

Cite this

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abstract = "Immigrant adolescents are generally more ambitious but not as likely to achieve their career/occupational aspirations as their peers. The present study draws on self-discrepancy and social identity literatures to define and explore the role of mismatches between ethnic and aspiration-related ideal selves. In two samples recruited in Canada, 73% of immigrant adolescents aspired to a university-bound career (e.g., physician, engineer). As expected, adolescents reporting larger ethnic/ideal self-discrepancies were less engaged towards their aspiration (Sample 1, n = 73) and viewed school less favorably (Sample 2, n = 125). The present analyses suggest that actual/ideal self-discrepancies mediate these associations, thus extending prior findings and highlighting the role of self-discrepancies in immigrant adolescents{\textquoteright} experiences.",

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AU - Taylor, Donald

AU - Rogers, Leoandra Onnie

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Immigrant adolescents’ roots and dreams: Perceived mismatches between ethnic identities and aspirational selves predict engagement

Abstract

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Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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