The Familial Socialization of Culturally Related Values in Mexican American Families

Abstract

Research has documented a relation between parents' ethnic socialization and youth's ethnic identity, yet there has been little research examining the transmission of cultural values from parents to their children through ethnic socialization and ethnic identity. This study examines a prospective model in which mothers' and fathers' Mexican American values and ethnic socialization efforts are linked to their children's ethnic identity and Mexican American values, in a sample of 750 families (including 467 two-parent families) from an ongoing longitudinal study of Mexican American families (Roosa, Liu, Torres, Gonzales, Knight, & Saenz, 2008). Findings indicated that the socialization of Mexican American values was primarily a function of mothers' Mexican American values and ethnic socialization, and that mothers' Mexican American values were longitudinally related to children's Mexican American values. Finally, these associations were consistent across gender and nativity groups.