title: Dimensions of belonging as an aspect of racial-ethnic-cultural identity: an exploration of indigenous Australians.
abstract: Sense of belonging is a key aspect of racial and ethnic identity. Interestingly, there is little exploration of the multiple characteristics of belongingness within the racial and ethnic identity literature. Through individual interviews and a focus group, we explored the sense of racial-ethnic-cultural (REC) belonging among 19 self-identified Black Indigenous Australians (Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders). Using dimensional analysis, we uncovered 5 core interrelated dimensions of REC belonging: History/Memory, Place, and Peoplehood; Sense of Community; Acceptance and Pride; Shared Language and Culture; and Interconnections. We also uncovered 3 main barriers undermining participants' sense of REC belonging: phenotype, social identity, and history of colonization.
authors.affiliation: Department of Educational Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
authors.forename: Helen A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Neville
authors.affiliation: Department of Educational Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
authors.forename: Kathleen E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Oyama
authors.affiliation: Department of Educational Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
authors.forename: Latifat O
authors.initials: LO
authors.lastname: Odunewu
authors.affiliation: School of Social Work, University of Queensland.
authors.forename: Jackie G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Huggins
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001315:Australia; D003469:Culture; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012933:Social Identification; D055815:Young Adult