This brief research report shows how different applications of the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM) can have implications for the interpretation of the role of ethnic identity in research. Throughout the MEIM's widespread use, notable inconsistencies lie in how the measure has been applied. This report uses empirical data to demonstrate differences in statistical inference due to these differences in usage.

The Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM) is a frequently used instrument to assess the level of ethnic identity in adolescents. The factor structure of the MEIM has extensively been studied in diverse nonclinical samples, while research with clinical samples of adolescents is lacking. The purpose of the current study is to identify the factor structure of the MEIM in a clinical sample of Latino adolescents (N = 106) with substance use disorders. A confirmatory factor analysis was used to test three competing factor structure models of the MEIM. Results indicated that a six-item two-factor model best fit the data for Latino adolescents in this study. Implications of these results and suggestions for further research are discussed.

This paper provides an historical analysis of the National Country Music Muster, a country music festival held in a forest outside of Gympie, a town in rural southeast Queensland, Australia, between the period 1982 and 2006 (the first twenty-five years of the event). This article analyses the origins of the Muster, demonstrating how local events are often developed as a result of regional traditions and assets, or 'countryside capital' (Garrod et al., 2006). While this countryside capital was used to develop the Muster, this paper will demonstrate the event created its own capital, which the Gympie community has then utilised. The Muster has enabled the development of community capacity in three key ways: community not-for-profit groups have received increased income through participation as volunteers at the Muster; collaborative efforts between groups have developed senses of community on site; and the Muster has fostered social capital development by encouraging volunteer groups to work on site, all of which, of course, ensures the Muster continues to operate. Additionally, the Muster has provided the impetus for the creation of two country music focused cultural institutions in Gympie, as well as several spin-off events, which seek to capitalise on the increased traffic through town during the Muster period. Each of these institutions and spin off events has helped embed country music within Gympie's cultural economy. Further, they provide a clear demonstration of a rural community actively and creatively deploying its cultural capital in order both to buttress itself against fluctuations in the town's fortunes and to assert a locally relevant country identity. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd.

Considering a historically diversified (and growing) population in the United States, one's ethnic identification is often an important psychological-as well as social and political-construct because it can serve as a hindrance to interpersonal interaction. Despite the importance of ethnic identity in psychological research, the most widely developed ethnic identity measurement tool, the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM; Phinney, 1992), lacks consensus regarding its psychometric properties. The purpose of this article is to identify the factor structure of this measure and identify whether it exhibits measurement equivalence/invariance (ME/I) across ethnicities. The current findings offer several contributions to the state of the literature. First, our data suggests a two-factor model, including affirmation/commitment and exploration factors, is the most appropriate structure when considering fit and parsimony indices via confirmatory factor analysis. Second, configural and metric measurement equivalence was found across Caucasian and non-Caucasian participants. Interestingly, partial scalar invariance was established when comparing Caucasians with the minority groups with the exception of the Hispanic subgroup, which exhibited no scalar invariance. Third, differences in ethnic identity factor means were found, especially across Caucasians and African Americans. In conclusion, the use of the two-factor model of the MEIM is recommended, and results suggest that the MEIM is an appropriate measure of ethnic identity in most ethnic groups. Limitations and future research are also discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

Abstract

This paper considers festivals as place-contingent cultural politics and examines them as political instruments and promotional products at the same time. Conflicts between globalization, tradition, and place identity are discussed by examining the Kangnung Dano festival in Korea. Findings suggest that the contested meaning of place leads to the reconstruction of regional identities and the reframing of symbolic identities. Kangnung Dano is read as a “cultural framework” reflecting simplistic and dualistic classifications of festivals into sacred and secular, public and private, and social conflicts and cohesion through place identification. The paper proposes that regional identity has been dynamically constructed and is re-constructing due to contested meanings of place.

Résumé

Politique culturelle et identité de lieu contestée. Cet article considère d’abord les festivals comme des événements de la politique culturelle qui dépendent d’un lieu, et ensuite il les examine simultanément en tant qu’instruments politiques et produits promotionnels. On discute des conflits entre la mondialisation, la tradition et l’identité de lieu en examinant le festival de Kangnung Dano en Corée. Les résultats suggèrent que la signification contestée du lieu mène à la reconstruction des identités régionales et recadre des identités symboliques. Kangnung Dano se lit comme un « cadre culturel » qui reflète des classifications simplistes et dualistes des festivals entre sacré et profane, publique et privé et conflit ou cohésion sociaux selon l’identification de lieu. L’article soutient que l’identité régionale a été construite de façon dynamique et qu’elle est en train de se reconstruire grâce aux significations de lieu contestées. Mots-clés: politique culturelle, festivals, identité de lieu, mondialisation.

The Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM; Phinney, 1992) is a widely used instrument to quantify the way people think, feel, and behave regarding their ethnic origin. This instrument is commonly used to compare groups of people from different ethnic and/or cultural backgrounds. However, in order for these comparisons to be accurate, measurement invariance between groups needs to be tested and this is what has been done in the current study. First, confirmatory factor analyses were conducted separately for data sets with Bulgarian, Dutch, and Greek adolescents. Second, configural and scalar invariance were tested. Finally, comparisons between Bulgarian, Dutch, and Greek adolescents were made on their scores on MEIM.

Ethnic identity is central to the psychological functioning of members of ethnic and racial minority groups, but research on the topic is fragmentary and inconclusive. This article is a review of 70 studies of ethnic identity published in refereed journals since 1972. The author discusses the ways in which ethnic identity has been defined and conceptualized, the components that have been measured, and empirical findings. The task of understanding ethnic identity is complicated because the uniqueness that distinguishes each group makes it difficult to draw general conclusions. A focus on the common elements that apply across groups could lead to a better understanding of ethnic identity.

This paper estimates the economic value of South Africa's longest running national arts festival, the Grahamstown National Arts Festival in the Eastern Cape Province. The Eastern Cape is a middle-income province (6.6% of national GDP), settles 9.6% of the South African population and has a high unemployment rate. A survey was conducted in July 2009, with 450 visitors completing a structured questionnaire at various sampling locations across the festival area. A social accounting matrix (SAM) for the province was used to estimate the economic value of the arts festival to the region's economy (adopting the classical SAMs multiplier approach) with visitor depending data. This research shows that the festival makes a significant contribution to revenue generation as well as to job creation, thereby confirming that investments made by government in arts and culture can address economic objectives.

In this article, we evaluate the factor structure of the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM; Phinney, 1992) and test whether the MEIM exhibits measurement invariance across ethnic groups taken from a diverse sample of students from 30 different colleges and universities across the United States (N = 9,625). Initial analyses suggested that a bifactor model was an adequate representation of the structure of the MEIM. This model was then used in subsequent invariance tests. Results suggested that the MEIM displayed configural and metric invariance across 5 diverse ethnic groups (i.e., White, Black, Hispanic, East Asian, and South Asian). There were indications that the MEIM displayed a similar factor structure with roughly equivalent factor loadings across diverse ethnic groups. However, there was little evidence of scalar invariance across these groups, suggesting that mean-level comparisons of MEIM scores across ethnic groups should be interpreted with caution. The implications of these findings for the interpretation and use of this popular measure of ethnic identity are discussed.

This study examined the newly developed ethnic identity measures of the Ethnic Identity Scale (EIS) and the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure-Revised (MEIM-R) from psychometric and theoretical perspectives. Survey data from 289 counseling students in California were analyzed. Confirmatory factor analyses supported three correlated factors of the EIS (exploration, resolution, and affirmation) and two correlated factors of the MEIM-R (exploration, commitment) for both European American and minority students. Consistent with the theories of Erikson's and Marcia's identity development, the EIS and the MEIM-R nicely depicted (a) Marcia's 4 (2 x 2) identity statuses of diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium, and achievement and (b) the hierarchy of identity statuses in relation to subjective well-being as an indicator of adjustment, especially for minority students. Additionally, European American and minority students revealed differences as to the salience and importance of ethnic identity. Recommendations for using the EIS and the MEIM-R are provided.

旅游对于族群文化和认同正在产生越来越重要的影响。基于对不同旅游社区的大量田野调查，作者发现在不同环境下、不同旅游开发强度的目的地社区，旅游对当地的族群认同具有不同程度的影响。基本可分为三种类型：一种如云南迪庆的雨崩村，在低强度、深接触的旅游作用下保持了自然景观社区的族群认同；第二种如西双版纳的傣族园，在高强度、浅接触的旅游作用下，人文景观社区的族群认同得到了强化；第三种以各类主题公园化的民俗村为典型，在该类型社区中，高强度、异接触的旅游作用分化了社区的族群认同。

边界是分割不同政治实体的界线,但国家对于边界的管治往往是有弹性的,因而孕育了丰富的“流动”,成为经济融合、社会交流与文化对话的重要场域。跨境民族是受其影响的典型群体,他们在原本生活区域被分隔的情况下,从未间断过跨境流动。总体来看,跨境流动过程中的文化认同及其形成机制是多元复杂的。本文以云南省河口县中越边境地区的苗族花山节为研究切入点,通过质性研究方法探讨节庆所折射的民族文化认同与国家认同的建构过程。研究发现：跨界的流动性加强了民族文化的交流与认同,共同促成了花山节的文化传承,维系了跨境民族的亲缘关系。这样的跨界流动亦强化了边界所形成的发展轨迹差异的感知,从而增强了中国籍苗族边民的国家认同与国家自豪感。