Ethnicity

Ethnicity forms the basis for understanding values, beliefs, and perspectives from a given cultural group based on ties to the culture in a particular nation. An individual’s ethnicity can be informed by living in a particular culture, growing up in the culture, or having family influences from the culture (e.g., social influences, parents, siblings). Ethnicity often carries a sense of personal belonging with a community. There are also larger categories to define specific ethnic identities, such as European American, Asian American, and Latina/o American. However, some of these categories are too broad to distinguish the ethnic values associated with specific nationalities and heritages, such as Mexican American, Cambodian American, Filipino American, German American, and Irish American. This entry adopts a broad definition of ethnicity with ...