Ethnic diversity development in black African adolescents

English: This study explored ethnic identity development among black African adolescents in the Motheo district. The specific aim of this study was to investigate the degree to which black African adolescents‟ exploration and commitment to an ethnic identity, as well as ethnic identity strength manifest in black African adolescents of various gender, ethnic and age groups. The differences in ethnic identity exploration, commitment and strength between various gender, ethnic and age groups were also explored. Furthermore, the adolescents‟ response to the challenges of developing a black African identity was investigated. A mixed methods research design was used. In the quantitative section of the study, the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure – Revised (MEIM-R) and the Strength of Ethnic Identity Measure (SEIM) were used to measure exploration, commitment and strength of ethnic identity. The data were used primarily to report the descriptive qualities of the manifestation of ethnic identity exploration, commitment and strength in this population group. Multivariate analysis of variance was conducted to determine the differences between various gender, ethnic and age groups. It was found that the sample displayed high rates of exploration and commitment, as well as a strong ethnic identity. Female participants displayed statistically significantly higher rates of exploration/commitment and strength. With regard to ethnic group, significant differences were found in terms of some aspects of exploration/commitment (more relating to commitment than to exploration), as well as strength with the Setswana group obtaining consistently lower scores than the other two ethnic groups. No statistically significant differences were found between the different age groups. In the qualitative section of the study, focus groups were conducted to explore how adolescents respond to the challenges of developing a black African identity. Through thematic analysis, four main themes regarding the challenges in developing a black African identity were identified. These related to “Finding my place of belonging”, “My path to knowing where I belong”, “Aspects preventing me from being me” and “Finding myself within a changing environment”.