IDENTITY, ACCULTURATION AND ADAPTATION IN MIGRANT YOUTH

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IDENTITY, ACCULTURATION AND ADAPTATION IN MIGRANT
YOUTH

• Colleen Ward
• Centre for Applied Cross-cultural Research
• Victoria University of Wellington

Research funded by Royal Society of New
Zealand, James Cook Fellowship
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INTERNATIONAL COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ETHNOCULTURAL
YOUTH

• 13 nations
• Over 30 ethnic groups
• 7000 migrant youth
• 20 researchers

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RESEARCH QUESTIONS

• How do immigrant youth live within and between
  two cultures?
• How well do immigrant youth deal with their
  intercultural situation?
• What is the relationship between HOW youth engage
  in intercultural relations and HOW WELL they
  adapt?

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RESEARCH INSTRUMENT

• Demographic factors- e.g., gender, ethnicity,
  birthplace, citizenship
• Intercultural factors- e.g., language use and
  proficiency, national and ethnic identity, peer
  contacts, acculturation preferences
• Adaptation indicators- e.g., school adjustment,
  behavioural problems, psychological symptoms,
  life satisfaction

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RESEARCH SAMPLE

• 935 migrant youth
• 53 female
• 12-19 years (M 15.5)
• 70 overseas born
• 145 Chinese, 188 Korean, 147 Samoan, 102 Indian,
  111 British, 101 South African, 141 others
• 510 national youth
• 50 female
• 12-19 years (M 14.9)
• 98 New Zealand born
• 396 NZE and 114 Maori

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KEY FINDINGS
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HOW DO MIGRANT YOUTH LIVE WITHIN AND BETWEEN
TWO CULTURES?
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ACCULTURATION DIMENSIONS
CULTURAL MAINTENANCE YES
NO
YES
PARTICIPATION
NO
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ACCULTURATION PREFERENCES
Scale 1 (low) to 5 (high)
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ACCULTURATION PROFILES

• Integrated (28.7)
• National (28.8)
• Ethnic (23.6)
• Diffuse (18.8)

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INTEGRATED

• Strong ethnic and national identity
• Good English proficiency and frequent use of
  English
• Strong ethnic peer contacts
• Strong endorsement of integration

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INTEGRATED PROFILE
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NATIONAL

• Moderately strong national identity and weak
  ethnic identity
• High proficiency in and frequent use of English
• Strong national peer contacts and weak ethnic
  peer contacts
• Strong rejection of separation

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NATIONAL PROFILE
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ETHNIC

• Moderately strong ethnic identity and weak
  national identity
• Poor proficiency in and infrequent use of English
• Good proficiency in ethnic language
• Few national peer contacts and strong ethnic peer
  contacts
• Strong endorsement of separation

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ETHNIC PROFILE
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DIFFUSE

• Very weak ethnic identity
• Poor English proficiency
• Endorsement of assimilation, separation and
  marginalization

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DIFFUSE PROFILE
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HOW WELL DO MIGRANT YOUTH DEAL WITH THEIR
INTERCULTURAL SITUATION?
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LIFE SATISFACTION
Scale 1 (low) to 5 (high)
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PSYCHOLOGICAL SYMPTOMS
Scale 1 (low) to 5 (high)
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SCHOOL ADJUSTMENT
Scale 1 (low) to 5 (high)
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BEHAVIOURAL PROBLEMS
Scale 1 (low) to 5 (high)
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DISCRIMINATION
Scale 1 (low) to 5 (high)
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WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HOW MIGRANT
YOUTH ENGAGE IN INTERCULTURAL RELATIONS AND HOW
WELL THEY ADAPT?
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LIFE SATISFACTION
Scale 1 (low) to 5 (high)
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PSYCHOLOGICAL SYMPTOMS
Scale 1 (low) to 5 (high)
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SCHOOL ADJUSTMENT
Scale 1 (low) to 5 (high)
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BEHAVIOURAL PROBLEMS
Scale 1 (low) to 5 (high)
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SUMMARY

• Both national and migrant youth prefer
  integration as an acculturation strategy
• Integration is not achieved to the extent it is
  desired
• Overall, migrant youth adapt well
• Both cultural maintenance and participation
  (social inclusion) are important
• Integration associated with better adaptive
  outcomes
• Diffusion linked to poorest outcomes

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POLICY IMPLICATIONS QUESTIONS FOR THE FUTURE

• What can be done to facilitate integration?
• How can we promote greater participation and
  social inclusion?
• How do we address the issue of cultural
  maintenance?
• Who are our policies for?

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For further information contactColleen.Ward_at_vuw.
ac.nz