Daley Diggs
Research Mentor(s): Lorraine Gutierrez
Mentor Department: Psychology and Social Work
Authors: Daley Diggs, Lorraine Gutierrez
Session: Session 3 (11:00am – 11:50am)
Presentation Type: Oral
Abstract
Each year that passes represents more than twelve months of time; there are countless large-scale events and individual experiences that will affect people to varying degrees. This lab has sought out answers of how these events can impact Latinx students at the University of Michigan. A survey was sent out to a random sample of 2500 undergraduate and graduate U-M students of Latinx descent, which was taken by 200 students in total. This survey was distributed in February of 2025, and was modeled after a similar survey that the lab conducted in 2018. Analysis of the responses has been done with both surveys in mind, in order to reach comparative conclusions and potentially detect changing trends over time. Both versions of the survey assess both the positive or negative quality of different sociohistorical events, as well as the overall meaningfulness of each event to the student (high or low). Examples of events rated in the survey include multiple presidential elections, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the 9/11 attacks Although the data analysis is not yet complete, but we expect to observe a correlation between recency of the event and average level of meaningfulness. Commonalities in events related to racial/ethnic identity are also anticipated. This 2025 version of the survey includes more in-depth questions on the way the respondents view their own racial/ethnic identity (positively or negatively) and the extent to which they identify with their racial/ethnic group. The event responses, as well as questions about microaggressions/experiences of prejudice, will be analyzed within the context of these identity variables. Future research can use a similar survey to continue on this comparative path to identify strong trends, or focus on a separate racial, ethnic, or social group.
