School Belonging, Ethnic Identity, and Psychological Adjustment Among Ethnic Minority College Students
This study considers how the psychological adjustment of ethnic minority college students may be linked to a sense of school belonging and ethnic identity, two constructs related to individuals feeling like they belong to a larger group. Using self reports from 311 undergraduates from ethnic minority backgrounds, school belonging was found to be negatively associated with depressive symptoms, and positively associated with perceived self worth, scholastic competence, and social acceptance, while ethnic identity was only found to be positively associated with self worth. Furthermore, the interaction between ethnic identity and school belonging was significantly associated with self worth, suggesting that in the absence of a sense of belonging at school, stronger ethnic identity was linked to higher self worth. College students reported the lowest levels of self worth when they were neither connected to their college nor connected to their ethnic group.