Latinx and Black Young Adults' Pathways to Civic/Political Engagement

Objectives: Latinx and Black young adults' experiences with the U.S. political system have been contentious. Despite this, they utilize psychological strengths, such as their critical consciousness (CC), to participate in the political process. This research explored relations between CC (e.g., critical reflection of social inequality and voting likelihood) and forms of civic/political engagement (e.g., sociopolitical action and social media engagement) among Latinx and Black young adults. Method: Measurement invariance (MI) tests and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used with Latinx (N = 354, M-age = 26.08, SD = 5.03) young adults who were slightly predominately male (55.1%) and Black American young adults (N = 160, M-age = 25.84, SD = 4.98) who were slightly predominately female (52.5%). Results: MI results indicated measures were not invariant (i.e., they were measured differently) across groups. Therefore, the hypothesized model was examined separately for groups. SEM analyses suggested both groups' critical reflection positively predicted voting likelihood and sociopolitical action. For Latinx young adults, voting likelihood mediated the relation between critical reflection and social media engagement. Black young adults' voting likelihood was unrelated to sociopolitical action and social media engagement. Alternative models examined bidirectional relations between CC and civic/political engagement. Conclusions: Findings suggest civic/political engagement pathways differ for Latinx and Black young adults. However, fostering critical reflection has the potential to stimulate both groups' intent to vote and sociopolitical action.