"No, where are you really from?"

Linda Juang*, Miriam Schwarzenthal, Ursula Moffitt, Jana Vietze

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)
15 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Being perceived as a foreigner regardless of ones generational status, citizenship, or self-identification is called foreigner objectification. This is a form of identity denial and is linked to psychological distress. To test how foreigner objectification could be measured in Europe, we assessed whether the Foreigner Objectification Scale demonstrated reliability and validity with German adolescents. The sample included 806 9th graders from 17 high schools. The results showed that the scale demonstrates good reliability, scalar measurement invariance across gender and citizenship status, and partial scalar measurement invariance across family heritage, generational status, and cultural self-identification. Adolescents who scored higher on the scale also reported greater school behavioral disengagement, lower life satisfaction, and stronger ethnic identity. Our findings suggest that the scale is psychometrically sound and is linked in theoretically consistent ways to adjustment and ethnic identity. We conclude that this scale offers another way to capture subtle discrimination experiences that add to a more comprehensive understanding of discrimination and the related implications in Europe.

Original languageGerman
Pages (from-to)82-93
Number of pages12
JournalZeitschrift fur Entwicklungspsychologie und Padagogische Psychologie
Volume53
Issue number3-4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2021

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