Critical Action and Ethnic-Racial Identity: Tools of Racial Resistance at the College Transition.

Abstract

This study examines the reciprocal relationship between critical action and ethnic–racial identity (ERI) exploration in Black college students using a longitudinal cross‐lagged model. Participants were Black students (N = 237; M age = 18.2; 74% female) from a longitudinal study of college transition. Analyses examined the temporal ordering and directionality of associations between critical action and ERI exploration over four time points from college entry through four years of college. Critical action positively predicted ERI exploration over each year of college, and ERI exploration positively predicted critical action in a reciprocal fashion over the same years. These findings underscore theoretical assertions that critical action and ERI are intertwined in Black youths' development and provide insight into how critical action and ERI overlap beyond adolescence.