Theoretical Perspectives on Chicano Personality Development

Abstract

The vast majority of the empirical research dealing with personality development in Mexican-Americans has focused on the measurement of specific variables like cognitive style, cooperation-competition, need for achievement, selfconcept, and locus of control. While the level of methodological sophistication in cross-cultural psychology has improved dramatically in recent years, few advances have-been made at the theoretical level. Traditional theories of personality development are critically examined with specific emphasis on their applications to Mexican-Americans. The need for a theoretical model that can incorporate the interactive effects of culture and personality within a multicultural context is stressed. A preliminary framework for an interactional model of multiculturalism and personality development which can synthesize and integrate the effects of Chicano culture on the development of personality is proposed and discussed.