Influence of the Presence of Others and Ethnic Identity on Male African American Adolescents' Responses to Racial Discrimination / William D. Wakefield and Cynthia Hudley.

The responses of male ethnic minority students to acts of racial discrimination were studied as a function of ethnic identity status, audience presence, and attributions of personal control. It was hypothesized that individuals with an unexamined ethnic identity would be more likely to have explored the meaning and significance of their ethnic group membership and that those with an achieved ethnic identity would be more likely to endorse active responses to acts of discrimination. It was also hypothesized that adolescents who were alone during an act of discrimination would respond differently from those who were accompanied. Two hundred male African American adolescents at an urban high school participated, completing a discrimination response index presenting scenarios of acts of discrimination and a measure of ethnic identity status. Both hypotheses were partially supported. Regardless of the audience present, adolescents who had explored the meaning and significance of their ethnic group membership were more likely to endorse hostile responses than adolescents who had not explored their ethnic group membership. (Contains 89 references.) (SLD)

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