SciELO Mexico - www.scielo.org.mx

SciELO Mexico - www.scielo.org.mx

Links

In a portion of our study with echoes of Keefe and Padilla's (1987) and Oboler's (1995) studies of how U.S. Latinos ethnically identified, we asked our transnational student subsample how they identified in terms of nationality. A little more than half identified themselves as "mexicanos"; 37% self-identified as "mexico-americanos"; and only 6% identified themselves as "americanos." Country of birth, number of years living in the United States, and the associated preference for English or Spanish were all correlated in expectable ways with the nationalities with which transnational students identified. As one can observe in Graphic 5, the identity "mexico-americano" was more likely to be preferred by those who had spent more years in the United States. Self-identification as "americano" was not correlated with time in the United States, rather it was directly associated with place of birth. Practically all who identified themselves as "americano" had been born in the United States; legally, they were American citizens. But, we also encountered a few who identified themselves as "americanos" who had been born in Mexico and some who had been born in the United States but who did not identify as "americano." Why the correlations are partial rather than complete is a topic that deserves more thorough investigation on a case-by-case basis to understand why children and adolescents self-identify with one country, the other, or both. It would also be worthwhile to investigate how this self-ascribed identity aligns with future orientation (in terms of desire to stay in Mexico or return to the United States, in terms of educational and career aspirations, and so on).

Try link to:Similars in: