Authors
Background
Adolescence represents a pivotal time for the development of identity, particularly concerning ethnic-racial or heritage cultural identity. These identities involve the attitudes and beliefs individuals hold about their membership in cultural groups and are closely tied to critical psychosocial outcomes, such as mental health, academic achievement, and social belonging. As the effectiveness of interventions designed to promote ethnic-racial and heritage cultural identity depends not only on the quality of the intervention itself, but also on the broader context in which it occurs, understanding the factors that optimize the success of such school-based interventions is essential. This study focuses on how satisfying adolescents’ psychological needs for autonomy and relatedness in the school environment can provide the support and motivation necessary for identity development. By examining these factors, the research aims to explore how basic need satisfaction in schools influences trajectories of heritage cultural identity development during participation in a school-based intervention, the Identity Project.
Method
This study utilized a randomized controlled trial design, involving 198 adolescents from German schools (Mage = 12.86, 52% female, 41% immigrant descent). Nine classrooms were assigned to receive the Identity Project intervention, while ten classrooms served as the control group. Data were gathered at three intervals: before the intervention (pretest), immediately following the intervention (posttest), and at follow-up. Key measures included teacher-perceived autonomy and relatedness support, students’ intrinsic motivation, sense of peer belonging, and the dimensions of heritage cultural identity: exploration, resolution, and affirmation. Latent profile analysis was used to identify distinct identity trajectories, and multinomial logistic regression examined predictors and moderators of these developmental pathways.
Results
Between two and four distinct trajectories of heritage cultural identity development emerged for exploration, resolution, and affirmation across the three measurement points. These pathways varied for adolescents of immigrant and non-immigrant descent. Adolescents from immigrant backgrounds displayed higher salience of heritage cultural identity before the intervention, while adolescents from non-immigrant backgrounds showed greater change in their heritage cultural identity after the Identity Project intervention. Satisfaction of the need for autonomy was associated with higher exploration trajectories, while relatedness satisfaction predicted stronger affirmation trajectories. Importantly, teacher-relatedness support amplified the effects of the intervention, boosting resolution and affirmation outcomes among participants. However, autonomy support unexpectedly correlated with lower exploration in the intervention group, possibly reflecting inconsistent or competing messages within the broader educational environment.
Conclusion
The findings underscore the complex interplay between adolescents’ psychological needs and their heritage cultural identity development. While autonomy and relatedness are critical, their impact varies in the absence of targeted interventions like the Identity Project. Teacher-student relationships emerged as a particularly important factor in ensuring the intervention’s effectiveness. These insights highlight the importance of combining well-designed interventions with supportive educational environments to foster adolescents’ identity development. Strengthening teacher-student connections and addressing the broader contextual factors are essential for promoting heritage cultural identity development in diverse school settings.
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