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Developing Cultural Competence for Latinx Cultural Engagement

Immigration of Latinx people into the United States has grown in recent decades, with immigrants from Mexico making up about a quarter of the immigrant population. Similar trends are observed in Texas higher education institutions. This expansion of racial-ethnic diversity calls attention to the importance of understanding how social dynamics and personal beliefs may play a salient role in intercultural encounters within academia. Guided by contact theory and anxiety/uncertainty management theory, the current study adopted a multidimensional approach to understand pre-existing attitudes, perceptions, and beliefs that may influence an individual's willingness to interact with an outgroup member. Undergraduate participants (N = 302) from an Hispanic serving institution (HSI) completed a survey that included measures of culture and interaction that may precede intercultural contact. Findings suggest that (a) willingness to interact interculturally was inversely associated with ethnocentrism and negative attitudes toward immigrants, (b) negative attitudes were positively impacted by ethnocentrism, and (c) intergroup anxiety was an important predictor in the study of willingness to interact interculturally. Discussion includes applied and future research implications.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc2332532
Date05 1900
CreatorsCajas, Jonathan
ContributorsNiemann, Yolanda F., Guillot, Casey, Wang, Chiachih D.
PublisherUniversity of North Texas
Source SetsUniversity of North Texas
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis or Dissertation
FormatText
RightsPublic, Cajas, Jonathan, Copyright, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights Reserved.

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