World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
Issue 72 (December 2012)
pages 807-810
Chua Bee Seok
Rosnah Ismail
Jasmine Adela Mutang
Shaziah Iqbal
Nur Farhana Ardillah Aftar
Alfred Chan Huan Zhi
Ferlis Bin Bahari
Lailawati Madlan
Hon Kai Yee
The present study aims to explore the role of parents’ ethnic socialization practices contributes to the ethnic identity development, self-esteem and psychological adjustment of multi ethnic children in Sabah, Malaysia. A total of 342 multi ethnic children (age range = 10 years old to 14 years old; mean age = 12.65 years, SD = 0.88) and their parents participated in the present study. The modified version of Multi group Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM), The Familial Ethnic Socialization Measure (FESM). The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE) and Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale Edition 2 (BERS-2) were used in this study. The results showed that: i) parents’ ethnic socialization practice was a strong predictor of ethnic identity development of multi ethnic children; ii) parents’ ethnic socialization practice also was a significant predictor of self-esteem of multi ethnic children; iii) parents’ ethnic socialization practice was not a significant predictor of psychological adjustment of multi ethnic children. The results of this study showed the implications parents’ ethnic socialization practices and ethnic identity development in successful multi ethnic families.
Read the entire article here.