The Racial Position Model as a Framework to Understand Friendship Formation between Latinx Americans and Other Racial Minorities

Author

Darren Agboh, The Graduate Center, City University of New YorkFollow

Date of Degree

9-2020

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Program

Psychology

Advisor

Daryl Wout

Committee Members

Catherine Good

Kristin Sommer

Erin Cooley

Subject Categories

Social Psychology

Keywords

intraminority relations, intergroup friendship, social identity theory, Hispanic/Latinx Americans

Abstract

Three experiments utilized the Racial Position Model (RPM, Zou & Cheryan, 2017) in intraminority relations context to examine how Latinx Americans form friendships with a Black or Asian American interaction partner based on their shared or separate axes of subordination on the RPM. Latinx Americans may have contrasting interaction expectations with Black Americans and Asian Americans, as they share inferiority with Black Americans and foreignness with Asian Americans but are inferior compared to Asian Americans and foreign compared to Black Americans (Zou & Cheryan, 2017). Results showed that Latinx Americans feel more similar in terms of inferiority to Black Americans compared to Asian Americans, but do not feel similar in terms of cultural foreignness to Asian Americans compared to Black Americans. Latinx Americans also anticipate that an Asian American would perceive them as inferior compared to a Black American, but did not expect a Black American to perceive them as culturally foreign compared to an Asian American. Finally, Latinx Americans who felt similar in terms of inferiority were more likely to want to befriend their interaction partner and believe their interaction partner was interested in befriending them. These findings suggest that the specific shared experiences with discrimination between racial minorities might influence the intergroup and interpersonal attitudes and expectations minorities have with one another, contributing to a more nuanced understanding of the stigma-based identities that minorities possess, and its influence on the identity-based group processes and intergroup relations across these minority groups.

Recommended Citation

Agboh, Darren, "The Racial Position Model as a Framework to Understand Friendship Formation between Latinx Americans and Other Racial Minorities" (2020). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/4014