ECOLOGICAL CONGRUENCE AND ADAPTATION OF MINORITY YOUTH DURING THE TRANSITION TO COLLEGE

To explore the notions of ecological congruence and person-environment fit, the present work examined the relationships among personal and f amily background characteristics and adjustment following the transiti on to college. Of particular concern were the ways in which a student' s race, prior interracial experience, and the predominant racial chara cteristics of the college setting being entered relate to adaptive out comes. The sample consisted of 188 college freshmen attending two univ ersities: one, a traditionally and predominantly White university and the other, a traditionally and predominantly African-American universi ty. Assessments were conducted of students' family background characte ristics, prior interracial experience, and adjustment to college. No r elationship was found between prior interracial experience and adjustm ent for White students, For African-American students attending the pr edominantly Black university, less prior exposure to Whites and greate r enmeshment in the African-American community was associated with bet ter adjustment to college. By contrast, for those African-American stu dents attending the predominantly White university, greater amounts of prior interracial experience were associated with better adjustment t o college. The findings support the hypothesized importance of person- environment fit and experiential congruence for freshmen entering the college environment.