Ethnic Differences in Adolescent Achievement: An Ecological Perspective

Using data collected from a large sample of high school students, the authors challenge three widely held explanations for the superior school performance of Asian-American adolescents, and the inferior performance of African- and Hispanic-American adolescents: group differences in (a) parenting pra...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American psychologist 1992-06, Vol.47 (6), p.723-729
Main Authors: Steinberg, Laurence, Dornbusch, Sanford M, Brown, B. Bradford
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic Achievement
Achievement
Adolescent
Adolescents
Asian Americans
Asians
Black People
Childrearing Practices
Children & youth
Cross-Cultural Comparison
Ethnic differences
Family - psychology
High School Students
Hispanic Americans
Human
Humans
Latinos/Latinas
Peer Group
Psychology, Adolescent
Racial and Ethnic Differences
Racial differentiation
Social Environment
Social research
Socialization
Student Attitudes
United States
Values
White People
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Summary:Using data collected from a large sample of high school students, the authors challenge three widely held explanations for the superior school performance of Asian-American adolescents, and the inferior performance of African- and Hispanic-American adolescents: group differences in (a) parenting practices, (b) familial values about education, and (c) youngsters' beliefs about the occupational rewards of academic success. They found that White youngsters benefit from the combination of authoritative parenting and peer support for achievement, whereas Hispanic youngesters suffer from a combination of parental authoritarianism and low peer support. Among Asian-American students, peer support for academic excellence offsets the negative consequences of authoritarian parenting. Among African-American youngesters, the absence of peer support for achievement undermines the positive influence of authoritative parenting.
ISSN:0003-066X
1935-990X
DOI:10.1037/0003-066X.47.6.723