Publications
Young Adults in Turbulent Times: Findings from the Arizona Youth Identity Project
Nathan D. Martin
This special issue examines young adults’ beliefs, identities, and political priorities during a tumultuous political era. Each article uses different subsamples of the qualitative and quantitative data collected by the Arizona Youth Identity Project (AZYIP), an ongoing mixed-methods study since the 2020 presidential election. This introductory essay describes the broader goals of the project and AZYIP study design and highlights key themes that emerge across the studies in the special issue, including Arizona young adults’ critical awareness of social issues, commitment to active citizenship, and desire for systemic change.
Cautious Optimism: Latinx Young Adults’ Perspectives on the American Dream
Aurora M. Munoz Casarrubias, Karina Santellano, Nilda Flores-González, and Emir Estrada
The American Dream has long been crucial in maintaining the narrative of meritocracy that is part of American ideology and in giving immigrants hope for a brighter future in the United States. This article examines perceptions of the American Dream among U.S.-born Latinx young adults in Arizona. Drawing from 57 in-depth interviews, we found that participants approach the American Dream with cautious optimism—they believe in the American Dream, but are aware of its limits and redefine it to make it attainable. Latinas, in particular, link the American Dream with self-determination and defiance to traditional gender and cultural expectations. This research offers insights into the evolving meaning of the American Dream, revealing how race and gender inequality shape Latinx young adults’ aspirations amid contemporary challenges in Arizona.
Eileen Díaz McConnell and Daniela A. Carreon
The ethnoracial composition of the United States has been changing rapidly in recent decades, a trend expected to persist into the foreseeable future. While quantitative studies have investigated individual attitudes about these shifts, we know little about Americans’ more nuanced and complex views about the projected growth of Latinos, Blacks, Asians, and others in the United States and the decline of non-Hispanic Whites over the next 25 to 30 years. Drawing from research about ethnoracial demographic sentiments, the sociology of the future, and U.S. generations, we offer the first qualitative exploration of how Americans imagine the country’s ethnoracial demographic future. Our analyses of intensive interview data gathered from 91 U.S.-born Latinos aged 18 to 29 in Arizona in Winter 2021 focus on how Latino Gen Z and Millennials talk about this future. Latino young adults express optimism about a more heterogeneous nation in 2050 and imagine impacts on diversity, politics and political power, and racial discrimination. However, their optimism is tempered by skepticism about whether population growth among people of color will lead to lasting and meaningful changes, given U.S. history and existing structural inequalities. Latino Gen Z and Millennials also express concerns about current and future White responses to these population dynamics. Understanding how young adults in the United States envision the country’s ethnoracial demographic future has important social, political, and economic implications.
Symbolic Appropriation of the U.S. Flag: Findings from a Photovoice Study
Emir Estrada, Kristina Vera-Phillips, Nilda Flores-Gonzalez, Brittany Romanello, Michelle C. Pasco, and Anais Delilah Roque
Based on photovoice and interview data from 144 Arizona young adults collected as part of the Arizona Youth Identity Project, this article builds on the concept of collective effervescence and symbolic violence through an analysis of U.S. flag images submitted by our respondents during the 2020 presidential election. Drawing on the literature on identity, belonging, and national symbols, this article highlights three main themes. First, our data revealed the conflicted feelings of belonging and exclusion that the U.S. flag evoked in these young adults. According to some participants, the flag became a divisive symbol as it became associated with the Make America Great Again movement. Second, we highlight how the U.S. flag came to embody a form of symbolic violence, particularly after the attack on the Capitol on January 6. Finally, we show how the meaning attached to the U.S. flag is situational and fluid, and how its value as a unifying national symbol can be restored. This narrative was supported by young adults’ images of the flag with artistic modifications that reflected elements of their culture and history.
“Not My Circus, Not My Monkeys:” Views of Monogamy and Non-Monogamy Among Arizona Youth
Cassandra Cotton, Amina Melendez-Mayfield, Analicia Zamora Castro, and Nilda Flores-González
Norms and ideals of romantic relationships, from dating through to marriage, have undergone significant shifts in recent decades. Views of roles and expectations within relationships may have evolved toward less conventional forms of romantic unions, opening up the possibility of non-monogamous relationships. Despite these potential shifts, the U.S. context maintains a culture of mononormativity, where monogamy is considered the ideal, and for some the only, form of relationship. Drawing on 92 interviews with young Arizonans aged 21 to 32 from the Arizona Youth Identity Project, we explore views of and desire for monogamy in romantic relationships. We focus on two questions: (1) Do young adults uphold mononormative views? and (2) How are these views distinguished between personal preferences versus broader social expectations? We find that some young people uphold mononormativity for themselves and as a social institution, viewing non-monogamy as harmful or unnatural. Many others, however, see monogamy as their personal preference but accept non-monogamy for others, often without reservations. A small number of young adults express personal openness toward non-monogamy or explicit refusal of monogamy in their own lives. Collectively, these findings show that while there remains an enduring preference for monogamy in young people’s personal relationships, there is substantial acceptance and support for non-monogamy for others, suggesting that the hold of mononormativity may be loosened for young adults.
Diversity in Civic Engagement: Political Priorities and Protest Behavior of Arizona College Students
Lauren Kater and Nathan D. Martin
A core function of higher education is to prepare students to be active and informed citizens who are prepared to make sustained contributions to civic life and democratic society. However, past research on college student civic engagement has disproportionately focused on students at traditional 4-year universities and on a narrow range of political activities. In this study, we analyzed online survey data (N = 1,159) collected before the 2020 presidential election from young adults throughout Arizona who were attending 2-year and 4-year postsecondary institutions. Results show significant differences between community college, transfer and university students in terms of political identities, background characteristics, and participation in Black Lives Matter protests. Yet, across these postsecondary pathways, young adults expressed a strong commitment to active citizenship and ranked combating climate change and dismantling systemic racism as top political priorities. We call for more research on underserved students’ political identities, outlooks, and behaviors as part of a broader and more inclusive conceptualization of civic engagement.
Lynette Hrabik, Trudy Horsting, Matt Ignacio, Kyle Gresenz, and Angela A. Gonzales
During the 2020 election, Arizona voted Democratic for the first time in decades and contributed to Joe Biden’s presidential win. Native Americans, predominantly young adults, turned out in record numbers and were credited as one of the key demographic groups that “flipped” Arizona blue. What drove young Native voters to engage during this election cycle? Using data from the Arizona Youth Identity Project, a multi-wave mixed-methods study, we analyzed interviews with 38 self-identified Native American participants ages 18–29 to understand the factors motivating their political engagement in the 2020 Presidential election. Findings reveal that young Native adults in Arizona were motivated by (1) targeted political organizing, outreach, and advocacy efforts, (2) increased positive attitudes toward voting, and (3) a desire for political and social change. These findings enhance our collective understanding of the motivations behind Native American voter engagement.
Unpacking Young Adults’ Voting Preferences: The Role of Neighborhood Trust
Aaron A. B. Thompson and Nathan D. Martin
Compared to previous generations, young adults today report lower levels of trust in government, law enforcement, and their communities. This study investigates neighborhood factors influencing social trust among Arizona young adults during the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election. Through an analysis of online survey data for a sample of young adults (N = 1,376) who participated in the Arizona Youth Identity Project, we explore how neighborhood diversity, population density, racial identity, and political affiliation are associated with social trust and voting preferences. We find that Arizona young adults’ trust in police and their neighbors varies by neighborhood diversity and racial identity, with residents of mostly White neighborhoods reporting higher levels of trust. Additionally, support for Trump is highest among young adults who expressed high trust in local police. This study underscores and begins to unpack the interplay between race, space, and trust in shaping political identities and preferences.
Arizona Mormon Youths’ Religious Socialization and 2020 Voting Choices
Brittany Romanello, Paula Baker, Emir Estrada, and Michelle Pasco
In Arizona, Mormonism has a historical presence as a conservative and globalized faith. Though the Mormon Church officially maintains political neutrality, it also encourages civic engagement. Through an analysis of interview data collected from 38 Mormon youth as part of the Arizona Youth Identity Project, this paper explores the enactment of political agency in reaction to complex socialization processes. Mormon youths’ voting choices in the 2020 election season were shaped by religious socialization and Mormonism as an “ethnoreligious” identity. While religious upbringing was important in political decision-making, our study found that most youth were politically unaffiliated and voted across party lines instead. Further, we analyze how intersectional identities such as gender, race, and sexual orientation contributed to this generation’s political values and voting outcomes, even creating external tensions with peers and older Mormon leadership. As Arizona Mormon youth participated in a historic election season, this study highlights the nuances of religious socialization and voting choices.
The Impact of the 100-mile Border Enforcement Zone on Mexican Americans in Arizona
Nilda Flores-Gonzalez, Emir Estrada, Michelle Tellez, Daniela Carreon & Brittany Romanello
Based on qualitative interview data with Mexican American and White participants, this article examines the impact of immigration-related policies on the U.S.-born adult children of Mexican immigrants. Building on Dunn’s concept of a low-intensity conflict zone, we argue that the militarization of the border carries consequences for Mexican American border residents. Becoming collateral subjects to a system of racialized legal violence, they experience the suspension of constitutional rights through racially motivated arbitrary stops, interrogations, and searches. The frequency and intensity of these experiences lead to anxiety, frustration, and powerlessness, and chips away at their emotional well-being.
Photovoice: Methodological insights from a multi-site online design. Field Methods.
Michelle C. Pasco, Anais Roque, Brittany Romanello, Emir Estrada
Photovoice involves respondents taking photographs of their environment to promote critical discussions and reflect on their experiences. Photovoice empowers marginalized communities and serves to reach policymakers. The Arizona Youth Identity Project (AZYIP) used photovoice with an innovative approach in a multisite research design with a large sample size and completely online research implementation using video conferencing, mobile phones, and video messages. We outline our process for other researchers interested in utilizing this dynamic method. We also reflect on the challenges and opportunities of engaging in this research design for future projects.