Daily agreeableness and acculturation processes in ethnic/racial minority freshmen: The role of inter‐ethnic contact and perceived discrimination

Abstract

AbstractObjectivesHaving higher levels of mainstream cultural orientation (MCO), an important component of acculturation attitudes and behaviors, is beneficial for ethnic/racial minority students during the transitions into university. Scant research has investigated MCO at a micro daily timescale. This study examined how personality (agreeableness) functions in conjunction with interpersonal processes (inter‐ethnic contact and perceived discrimination) to influence MCO as daily within‐person processes.MethodsMulti‐level structural equation modeling were used to analyze month‐long daily diary data from 209 ethnic/racial minority freshmen (69% female).ResultsThere was a positive indirect association between agreeableness and MCO through inter‐ethnic contact at both within‐ and between‐person levels. At the within‐person level, on days with lower (vs. higher) levels of ethnic/racial discrimination, higher levels of agreeableness were associated with higher levels of MCO.ConclusionsThese findings highlight the contributions of intensive longitudinal data in elucidating ethnic/racial minority students' personality and acculturation processes in daily life involving protective and risk factors on micro timescales.