Passing on Identity: Exploring the Parental Role in Children's Ethnic Self-Identification

Parental influence plays a crucial role in shaping children's ethnic self-identification, especially within immigrant families. This study investigates how ethnic identity is transmitted from parents to children in the German context, focusing on the strength of this transmission across different generational groups and how it evolves over time. Particular attention is placed on the degree of ethnic self-identification among minority parents and how this influences their children's identity formation, as well as how parental impact diminishes as children age. Using descriptive analysis, the study examines differences in ethnic self-identification between parents and children and across first- and second-generation immigrant families. To assess the causal dynamics of parental influence on ethnic identity over time, multi-level structural equation modeling (ML-SEM) is applied to estimate the causal effects of parental influence on children's ethnic identity. The analysis draws on data from the Friendship and Identity in Schools (FIS) study and the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey in Four European Countries (CILS4EU-DE), providing a longitudinal framework to examine changes in ethnic self-identification over multiple waves of data. The findings provide new insights into the intergenerational transmission of ethnic identity and the complex interactions between parental influence, generational status, and children's identity development.