A Three-Generation Study of Acculturation and Identity of the Russian Minority in the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania

This article examines relationships between social identities and acculturation strategies of Russians (the ethnic minority) in the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania (RNO-A). The sample included 109 grandparent–parent–adolescent triads from ethnically Russian families ( N = 327). We assessed acculturation strategies, ethnic and national identities (identification with the Russian Federation), republican identity (with the RNO-A), regional identity (with North Caucasus), and religious identity. EFA combined five identities in two factors, labeled Russian ethnocultural identity (comprising ethnic, national, and religious identities) and North-Caucasian regional identity (comprising identities involving the republic and region). The means of the identity factors remained remarkably stable across generations, with a somewhat stronger Russian ethnocultural identity. A structural equation model revealed that Russian ethnocultural identity was a negative predictor of assimilation (the least preferred acculturation strategy), whereas North-Caucasian regional identity was a positive predictor of integration (the most preferred strategy) in all generations. We concluded that Russian ethnocultural identity is important for maintaining the heritage culture whereas North-Caucasian regional identity promotes participation of ethnic Russians in the multicultural North-Ossetian society.

Negotiating Biculturalism

The authors propose that cultural frame shifting—shifting between two culturally based interpretative lenses in response to cultural cues—is moderated by perceived compatibility (vs. opposition) between the two cultural orientations, or bicultural identity integration (BII). Three studies found that Chinese American biculturals who perceived their cultural identities as compatible (high BII) responded in culturally congruent ways to cultural cues: They made more external attributions (a characteristically Asian behavior) after being exposed to Chinese primes and more internal attributions (a characteristically Western behavior) after being exposed to American primes. However, Chinese American biculturals who perceived their cultural identities as oppositional (low BII) exhibited a reverse priming effect. This trend was not apparent for noncultural primes. The results show that individual differences in bicultural identity affect how cultural knowledge is used to interpret social events.

Measurement of Acculturation, Scale Formats, and Language Competence

This study was conducted to test whether the lack of independence between ethnic and mainstream cultural orientations is partially due to the adoption of a specific scale format. It was hypothesized that unique structural features commonly found in bidimensional acculturation instruments (paired questions that differ only in their cultural orientations and utilize the “frequency” format) cause strong inverse associations between the two cultural orientations. This study also explored the relative importance of language competence over the other domains of acculturation in the prediction of psychosocial adjustment (i.e., self-esteem, perceived stress, peer relationship, adjustment to college, family conflict). As predicted, results from a sample of 489 Asian Americans supported the hypothesis that the scale formats contribute to the lack of orthogonality. They also showed that language competence was a stronger predictor of adjustment than the other domains of acculturation, implying that language competence is a better indicator of acculturation among Asian Americans.

Cultural Identity, Perceived Discrimination, and Parental Support as Determinants of Immigrants’ School Adjustments:

This study focuses on factors predicting school adjustment of immigrant adolescents. One hundred seventy-five immigrant adolescents of Vietnamese origin in Finland (ages 13 to 18) were compared with a sample of host national Finnish youth (N = 337). The immigrant adolescents were better adjusted to school than were their host national peers. In addition, school adjustment was enhanced by the integrative mode of acculturation (i.e., acquisition of the skills needed for participation in the host culture along with adherence to traditional cultural patterns). However, ethnic identity and acculturation were shown to be distinct phenomena; the acquisition of new cultural traits did not imply the simultaneous adoption of a new identity. In addition, perceived discrimination had a detrimental, whereas perceived parental support had a positive impact on the immigrants’school adjustments. The impact of these factors turned out to be mostly indirect (e.g., through self-esteem, sense of mastery, and psychological distress).

Acculturation and Sex-Role Attitudes among Mexican Americans: A Longitudinal Analysis

Following a brief introduction to the acculturation process and Mexican American culture, the authors propose that people of Mexican heritage in the United States tend to assimilate rather than integrate with regard to their sex-role attitudes. The authors also propose that the degree of assimilation will be affected by several factors, including generational status and age. Using longitudinal data, the results of the study indicated that the degree of sex-role assimilation among Mexican Americans was affected by the aforementioned variables.

An Empirical Comparison of Acculturation Models

The unidirectional and bidirectional models of acculturation were compared in a sample of 291 Asian Americans. Both models produced good predictions of Asian preferences, cultural knowledge, ethnic identification, and generational status. The bidirectional model, however, failed to demonstrate its reputed independence across home culture and host culture orientations. The unidirectional model is recommended as an economical proxy measure of acculturation, the bidirectional model is recommended for full theoretical investigations of acculturation, and a speculative tridirectional model is proposed to clarify the distinction between acculturation and ethnogenesis (the creation of a new ethnicity).

Relationship between Ethnic Identification and Acculturation Attitudes of Immigrants with Level of Their Socio-Economic Adaptation

This article describes the construction and testing of theoretical model of socio-economic adaptation (SEA) of immigrants considering psychological factors as the basic ones. In the analysis of previous studies acculturation attitudes of immigrants were identified as key psychological factors of SEA for the construction of the theoretical model; length of stay in the country and language skills were used as control variables; the characteristics of ethnic identity were used as predictors of acculturation attitudes. We carried out the survey of Russian-speaking immigrants in Belgium for verification of our model. Next we used path analysis for test¬ing of the model on the data obtained. According to the study, we found that (1) acculturation attitudes of immigrants associated to their level of SEA themselves regardless of length of stay in the country and their lan¬guage skills; (2) high level of SEA of immigrants is positively associated with orientation to the host society (integration and assimilation), and negative associated with orientation to their ethnic group (separation); (3) strong ethnic identification may facilitate the orientation of immigrants to their ethnic group and prevent assimilation.

The Interplay Between Bicultural Blending and Dual Language Acquisition

Bilingual individuals acquire their two languages either simultaneously or sequentially, which relates to how these languages are stored and represented in the brain. Because language is used to transmit culture, bilinguals’ mode of dual language acquisition may also relate to different perceptions of the corresponding two cultures as blended and fused versus separate and compartmentalized. With a sample of English–Spanish bilingual Mexican Americans ( N = 149), we found that compound bilinguals (simultaneous dual language acquisition) blended their two cultures to a greater extent than coordinate bilinguals (sequential dual language acquisition), and this finding remained even after controlling for generation status. Our study highlights the interplay of language and culture, particularly the importance of the process of cultural learning and language acquisition to the bicultural experience.

Longitudinal Changes in Acculturation for Immigrant Women from the Former Soviet Union

Most research on immigrant acculturation has been conducted with cross-sectional samples, using statistical designs that may not capture different trajectories for the components that contribute to this complex concept. The purpose of this study was to examine change over time in acculturation for 226 women from the former Soviet Union who had lived in the US fewer than eight years when recruited. Using self-report data from four annual waves, growth trajectories were examined in four components of acculturation (American behavior, Russian behavior, English language proficiency, and cultural generativity). Results indicate that these components changed at varying rates. Acculturation is a process with multiple distinct components which should be measured separately to obtain a full profile of change over time.

Hispanics' locus of control, acculturation, and wellness attitudes

There is reason to believe that various cultural attitudes and beliefs influence certain health behaviors, and additional research should identify the causes of such behaviors. This study explored the relationships among cultural identity, acculturation, locus of control, and health beliefs using a sample of 110 Hispanic individuals taking college classes in the southern or southwestern United States. Path analysis indicated that an external locus of control was positively related to health barrier perceptions and that acculturation was negatively related to health barrier perceptions. The findings suggest that Hispanics' perceived control over health outcomes and positive health beliefs could be enhanced with culturally perceptive counseling.

Implicit bicultural identity among Mexican American and Asian American college students

Contemporary research on ethnic identity, acculturation, and cultural orientation suggests that, at least under some circumstances, individuals can successfully internalize or identify with more than one culture. Previous research on multicultural identity has relied almost exclusively on self-report measures. Using the Implicit Association Test (IAT), the present research examined to what extent Mexican American and Asian American college students identified with American culture and with their culture of origin. Results indicated that Mexican American and Asian American participants strongly and equally identified with both cultures. The present research provides firm evidence for a bicultural identity through assessments of thoughts that cannot be consciously controlled. Patterns of bicultural identification obtained on implicit measures were not the product of deliberate responses to normative demands or conscious attempts to convey a particular self-image.

Association of a traditional vs shared meal decision-making and preparation style with eating behavior of Hispanic women in San Diego County

OBJECTIVE

To examine the influence of meal decision-making and preparation on Hispanic women's dietary practices.

DESIGN

One-on-one structured interviews were conducted, assessing meal decision-making and preparation practices, barriers, and behavioral strategies to eating low-fat and high-fiber diets, fat and fiber intake, demographic, and other psychosocial factors.

SUBJECTS/SETTING

The study population included 357 Hispanic women living in the southern or central regions of San Diego County. Participants were recruited via random-digit dialing to a tailored nutrition communication intervention.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE

Household decision-making style (alone vs with family) by household activity (decides meals, prepares meals, and decides snacks).

STATISTICAL ANALYSES PERFORMED

Multiple logistic regressions were used to evaluate associations between the predictors and dependent variable. All models included adjustments for potential confounders, such as marital status, education, employment, age, and acculturation.

RESULTS

A positive statistical association between Hispanic women's acculturation level and shared decision-making style was found. Also, Hispanic women in shared decision-making households faced greater psychosocial barriers to healthful eating and reported less healthful eating compared with Hispanic women in traditional households. Women in shared decision-making households were more likely to eat at fast-food restaurants, less likely to engage in behavioral strategies promoting fiber consumption, eat more saturated fat, and encounter more barriers to reduce dietary fat as compared with Hispanic women in traditional households. Acculturation did not attenuate differences in psychosocial and dietary practices between shared decision-making and traditional households.

CONCLUSIONS

Study findings suggest intervention efforts should focus on different aspects of healthful eating among Hispanic women in shared-decision, compared with traditional, households.

Ethnic identity and mentoring among Latinas in professional roles

This study examined ethnic identity and mentoring (a known strategy to promote career success and advancement) in a sample of 103 Latina women with professional roles in the areas of business, academia, policy, and politics. Other variables examined included traditional gender roles and perceptions of professional success. Findings indicated that the women's ethnic identity was consistent with a bicultural profile; some received mentoring and, if given a choice, would prefer to be mentored by someone of similar ethnicity. This finding is critical and can allow researchers, service providers, and policy developers to apply culturally responsive strategies in communities and in organizations. Other hypotheses were not supported. A discussion of the findings, implications, and suggestions for future research are presented.

Patient satisfaction and referral intention: effect of patient-physician match on ethnic origin and cultural similarity

The study brought a cultural perspective into the mainstream model of health service quality by taking into account minorities' unique experience, patient-physician match on ethnic origin and cultural similarity. Survey data from Asian-American respondents supported a three-dimensional humaneness-professionalism-competence model of physician attributes. Physician humaneness and professionalism, patient-physician match on ethnic origin and cultural similarity predicted patient overall satisfaction and referral intention among Asian-Americans. Interestingly, the 3-dimensional model of physician attributes was also revealed in a Caucasian-American sample. However, Caucasian-Americans differ from Asian-Americans in several ways: physician competence was a significant predictor of overall satisfaction; professionalism was the only determinant of referral intention; and cultural similarity was not a significant factor with regards to either overall satisfaction or referral intention.

Unidimensional versus multidimensional approaches to the assessment of acculturation for Asian American populations

This study used generational status and the Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identity Acculturation scale to examine unidimensional versus multidimensional approaches to the conceptualization and measurement of acculturation and their relationships to relevant cultural indicator variables, including measures of Individualism-Collectivism, Independent-Interdependent Self-Construal, Loss of Face, and Impression Management. Multivariate analyses of covariance and partial correlations were used to examine the relationship between the acculturation models and each set of cultural indicator variables while controlling for socioeconomic status. Given that acculturation differences are often cited as evidence for a culture effect between groups, the present findings of an uneven nature of these relationships as a function of the particular acculturation measurement strategy have important implications for research on Asian Americans.