Model and Measurement of Ethnic Identity Development in Early Childhood

Component	Definition	Age range at which component emerges	Gold-standard measurea	Early Childhood Ethnic Identity Interview
Self-Identification	A child’s ability to accurately label his/her social (gender, racial, ethnic) identity	Gender self-identification 2–3 years Ethnic self-identification 7–10 years †† 3–5 years	Gender self-identification Forced choice question: Are you a boy or a girl? Ethnic Self-Identification Sorting of photo into proper ethnic category	Forced choice question: Are you a (MA/DA) (boy/girl) or a Chinese (boy/girl)?
Constancy 1. Stability	The understanding that social (gender, racial, ethnic) identity is stable across time	Gender stability 3–5 years Ethnic stability 7–10 years †† 3–5 years	Gender Stability Forced choice questions: When you were a little baby, were you a little girl or a little boy?; When you grow up, will you be a mommy or a daddy?; When you grow up, will you be a man or a woman? Ethnic Stability Forced choice questions: Will you still be MA when you grow up? b	Forced choice questions: When you grow up, will you be a (MA/DA) (man/woman) or a Chinese (man/woman)? *Credit given if child responded this and the self-identification correctly.
2. Consistency	The understanding that social (gender, racial, ethnic) identity is consistent across situations.	Gender consistency 3–7 years Ethnic consistency 8–10 years †† 7 years	Gender Consistency Forced choice questions: If you went into the other room and put on clothes like these [show opposite-sex clothes], would you then really be a girl or really be a boy?; If you played [opposite sex of subject] games, would you be a girl or a boy?; When you grow up, if you do the work that [opposite-sex adults] do, would you then really be a man or really be a woman?; Could you be a [opposite sex of subject] if you wanted to be? Ethnic/racial consistency: Forced choice questions: If you went on holiday to a really hot place and got a suntan and your skin turned dark, which of these children would you really be like? [Sort photo into proper ethnic category (e.g., MA)]	Forced choice questions: If you put makeup on your eyes and wear a wig so you look like a Chinese person, would you really be Chinese or really be (MA/DA)?; If you spoke Chinese, would you really be Chinese or really be (MA/DA)?; If you really wanted to be Chinese, could you be? *Items dropped from scale due to low internal consistency.
Knowledge	Awareness that certain behaviors, values, customs, etc. are relevant to one’s social (gender, racial, ethnic) identity	Gender knowledge 2–3 years Ethnic knowledge 3–6 years	Gender knowledge Forced choice questions: Who usually wears nail polish, boys or girls?; Who usually wears barrettes, boys or girls?; Who usually plays with dolls/trucks, boys or girls? Ethnic knowledge Yes/no questions: Do MAs…eat frijoles or beans at home?; Go to Mexico to visit their family?; Have a piñata at their birthday party or at Christmas?; Talk with their elbows?; Pray to the Virgin of Guadalupe?	Open-ended question: What makes you (MA/DA)?; What does it mean to be (MA/DA)? *Credit given if open-ended response reflected culturally-driven behaviors
Preference	Feelings and preferences about being a member of one’s social (gender, racial, ethnic) identity group	Gender Preference 3–4 years Ethnic Preference Not measured in early childhood by Bernal et al. †† 3–4 years	Gender Preference Child asked to rate how much they like pictures of boys and girls. Ethnic Preference Forced choice questions: [After viewing drawings/pictures/dolls of a white, Hispanic, and black child] “Which one would you like to be?”	Open-ended questions: [After selecting a preferred playmate from a series of four (DA, MA, white and black) drawn images of children] Why did you pick that child? *Credit given if response reflected preference based on playmate’s ethnicity

^aBased on the work of Ruble et al (2004; 2007); Bernal et al., (1990); Knight, Bernal, et al., (1993).

^††Expected age suggested by the racial identity literature.

^bBernal et al., (1990) labeled this single-item question ethnic constancy in their study with children aged between 3–6 years.