This study explores the psychometric properties of a proposed sequence of socioemotional cognitive skills in the domain of intergroup understanding as assessed by interview and questionnaire data from 91 Caucasian and Hispanic adolescents. The proposed sequence of skills was measured under two support conditions to test hypotheses about a developmental range of cognitive skills. Regression analyses revealed that ethnic identity exploration predicted optimal cognitive skills (high environmental support) and ethnic belonging predicted functional cognitive skills (low environmental support). Results confirm the reliability of the sequence, reveal the importance of support effects, and suggest that high and low environmental support evoke different dimensions of adolescent intergroup understanding.