PEER NETWORK COMPOSITION OF ACCULTURATED AND ETHNOCULTURALLY-AFFILIATED ADOLESCENTS IN A MULTICULTURAL SETTING

This study investigated the ethnocultural composition of the peer netw orks of acculturated (i.e., multigeneration North American) and ethnoc ulturally-affiliated (i.e., immigrant/first generation) adolescents li ving within a multicultural context. Participants were 896 students at tending a large suburban high school. This study addressed three issue s. First, to elucidate patterns of intergroup social interaction in a multicultural setting, the extent to which acculuturated and ethnocult urally-affiliated youth demonstrate own-group preferences and segregat ion in peer group selections was examined. Results indicated that alth ough all groups exhibited own-group preferences, they did not report s egregated patterns of interaction. Second, the influence of demographi c variables on the ethnocultural mix of peer networks of acculturated and ethnoculturally-affiliated adolescents was investigated. Results d emonstrated that gender, age, socio-economic status, and academic leve l differentially predicted homophily in accordance with the ethnocultu ral group affiliation of the adolescent. Third, to advance our underst anding of the influence of ethnocultural mix on developmentally salien t aspects of adolescents' peer relations, structural characteristics o f peer networks varying in levels of ethnocultural mix were examined. Results demonstrated that gender mix, setting mix, and frequency of co ntact significantly differed across homogeneous, integrated, and heter ogeneous peer structures. Results are discussed in terms of the import ance of recognizing the mitigating impact of environmental factors on the interplay between ethnocultural affiliation and peer relations.