Transcript Immigrant Adolescents’ Cultural Orientation Relates to

Immigrant Adolescents’
Cultural Orientation
and its Relationship to
Academic and Social Adjustment
Melissa Kull
New York University
Many thanks to Sita Patel for her guidance and support, as well as
numerous peer reviewers for their thoughtful comments.
Immigrant Adolescents & Acculturation
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34 million people in the United States are foreign born
and 12% are under the age of 21 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2003).
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Understanding the acculturation of immigrant youth is
important so that schools can foster pro-social
adjustment.
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Measures of acculturation have varied across studies.
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Research must further explore acculturation in youth’s
academic and social adjustment because schools are the
main context in which adaptation occurs (Vedder & Virta,
2005).
Acculturation: Theory & Research

Acculturation is a multidimensional process resulting from migration
through which an individual adapts to a new cultural context (Berry, 1997).
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One type of acculturation is socio-cultural adaptation which refers to
changes in the contexts of family, schools, and peers.
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Various factors influence acculturation (e.g., Aronowitz, 1984; Berry et al., 2006;
Liebkind & Jasinskaja-Lahti, 2000; Phinney, 1990).
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Age: Particular risks exist for youth and older adults.
Gender: Types of adaptation differ for males and females.
Length of residency: Exposure significantly impacts family dynamics.
Ethnicity: Finding a niche in established communities in host country.
Experiences: Becoming a victim of discrimination and prejudice.
Most studies have measured acculturation through a linear model of
ethnic identity.
Cultural Orientation: Theory & Research
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Research suggests that the orthogonal model is a better
measurement of acculturation than the linear model (Costigan & Su,
2004).
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The orthogonal model measures cultural orientation rather than
ethnic identity.
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As a result, individuals can be differentially engaged in domains of
both cultures, rather than replace the home culture with the host
culture.
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A few domains of cultural orientation are language, social
affiliations, activities, pride, and food (Tsai et al., 2000).
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Past research has found a significant relationship between cultural
orientation and family, and between cultural orientation and selfcompetence (Ying, 1995; Ying et al., 2000; Ying et al., 2001).
Academic Adjustment of Immigrant Youth
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Socio-cultural adaptation occurs in the context of schools and has a
profound impact on overall academic achievement and engagement
(Vedder & Virta, 2005).
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Past research has focused on ethnic identity and academic
achievement with contradictory results.
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Some studies suggest that a strong host country identity supports
better academic adjustments, whereas others suggest that a strong
native or ethnic identity is best suited for academic adjustment (e.g.,
Fuglini et al., 2005; Liebkind et al., 2004; López et al., 2002).
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Cultural orientation is understudied in the context of schools.
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To date, only one study has examined cultural orientation finding that
a dual cultural orientation was positively correlated with educational
achievement (Regner & Loose, 2006).
Social Adjustment of Immigrant Youth
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Socio-cultural adaptation occurs within schools and also affects the
development of peer relationships.
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Maladaptive social behaviors are prevalent among immigrant youth
who are most acculturated to the host culture (Wall et al., 1993).
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Young immigrant men are at a high risk for engaging in delinquency and
negative peer behaviors (Aronowitz, 1984; Go & Le, 2005).
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Young immigrant women are at a greater risk for dating violence and
victimization (Sanderson et al., 2004).
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Research portrays a complex relationship between negative peer
behaviors, acculturation, delinquency, and strong ethnic identity
(Arbona et al., 1999; Samaniego & Gonzales, 1999).
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No studies have used cultural orientation to assess acculturation in
relation to immigrant youth’s social adjustment.
Research Questions & Hypotheses
The overall purpose of the study was to explore the unique
relationship between the cultural orientation and adjustment of
immigrant youth.
1.
How does the cultural orientation of immigrant adolescents
relate to school adjustment?
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2.
Hypothesis: Orientation to American culture is related to better
school experiences, higher grades, and fewer absences.
How does the cultural orientation of immigrant adolescents
relate to social adjustment?
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Hypothesis: Orientation to American culture is related to more
negative peer experiences.
Participants
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Data were drawn from a study exploring cultural transitions and
coping of 184 immigrant adolescents attending two international
public high schools.
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52% were female (n = 97) and 48% were male (n = 90).
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Ages ranged from 14 to 21 years (M = 16.50, SD = 1.3)
African
Middle Eastern
European
South Asian
Caribbean
East Asian
Latin American
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Procedure & Measures
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Students were asked to complete three measures using
SurveyMonkey:
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General Ethnicity Questionnaire Scale assessed cultural
orientation, the extent of an individual’s engagement across a
variety of cultural domains (e.g., language, food, tradition).
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School Hassles was measured through one subscale of the
Multicultural Events Schedule for Adolescents (MESA) which
explores if students experience conflicts with teachers and
principals.
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Peer Hassles was measured through a second subscale of the
MESA which explores if the students experience conflicts with
friends.
In addition, grades and attendance records were collected.
Preliminary Analyses
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American cultural orientation was negatively correlated to age
of arrival in the U.S. (r = -.18, p <.05) and positively correlated
to length of time in the U.S. (r =.21, p <.01).
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Age of arrival in the U.S. was negatively correlated to peer
hassles (r = -.15, p =.05).
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A significant relationship was found between school and peer
hassles (r = .47, p = .001).
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Cumulative grade point averages (GPA) were strongly related
to fewer school hassles (r = -.29, p =.001).
Regression Analyses
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Regression analyses were conducted to ascertain
whether cultural orientation predicts academic and
social adjustment, controlling for cumulative GPA.
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School Hassles: students who had higher cumulative
GPAs and were more oriented toward American culture
experienced fewer school hassles (R2 =.13, F (4,160)=
5.83, p< .001).
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Peer Hassles: Although there was a significant negative
correlation between American culture orientation and
peer hassles (r = -.15, p < .05), the model was not
significant.
Conclusions and Implications
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Findings from this study lend support for the orthogonal model;
however further research is needed to understand fully the role
cultural orientation plays in immigrant adolescents’ lives.
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The strong correlation between school and peer hassles has
important implications for school interventions that support the
adjustment of immigrant youth.
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The sample was recruited from international schools, which are
specially designed to support the adjustment of immigrant youth.
Therefore, the results might not be generalizable to all immigrant
youth.
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Future research should explore the full orthogonal model and use
specific measures of academic and social adjustment to
understand better the relationship between cultural orientation
and adjustment among youth.