Psychological adjustment and cultural identities of immigrant adolescents

1
Psychological adjustment and cultural identities
of immigrant adolescents

• Evgeny Tartakovsky, Ph.D.
• Tel-Aviv University,
• The School of Social Work

2
Research objectives

• To formulate and test a developmental model of
  the immigrants psychological adjustment and
  cultural identities

3
Research design

1. Immigrant adolescents were studied at the
   pre-migration stage (1/2 year before emigration)
2. Two cohorts of immigrant adolescents were studied
   in the pre-migration stage (7 years apart)
3. Immigrant adolescents were followed during their
   first years in the new country (2.5 years)
4. Immigrant adolescents were compared to their
   non-emigrating peers in the country of origin

4
Immigrant population the participants of the
Naale program from Russia and Ukraine
5
Some information about the Naale program

• The program was founded in 1992, and it has
  brought more than 15,000 adolescents to Israel
  (50 of all immigrant adolescents from the USSR
  in this age group)
• Age at the beginning 15 (10th grade)
• Selection (about 60 accepted)
• In 1999, 2451 adolescents completed the testing
  procedures in 2006 only 918 adolescents took
  these tests
• Immigrants from Russia and Ukraine represent
  about 80 of the Na'ale students and about 70 of
  all immigrants to Israel

6
Samples

• Immigrants (from 40 cities in Russia and
  Ukraine)
• Pre-migration stage (1999/2006)
• 654/243 candidates to the program
• Longitudinal study in Israel (1999-2002)
• 211 -gt 151 adolescents participating in the
  program
• Non-Jewish adolescents in Russia and Ukraine
  studying in 10-11 grades (from 8 cities in Russia
  and 4 cities in Ukraine)
• 2000 468
• 2007 740

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Socio-demographic characteristics of the samples
(2006/7)
Socio-demographic characteristics Emigrants Non-emigrants
Adolescents living in Russia/ Ukraine 131/112 461/279
Females 60 58
Adolescents living in big cities 37 49
Single-parent families 35 23
Three generation families 20 17
Fathers with a tertiary education 55 60
Fathers' occupation (unemployed, manual or clerical, professional or managerial) 8, 40, 52 8, 36, 56
Number of children in the family 1.96 (1.01) 1.93 (1.07)
Number of rooms in the family apartment 2.70 (.79) 2.82 (1.11)
Mixed ethnicity 61, 29, 4, 4 14
plt.05
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Psychological adjustment of immigrants
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Measures of psychological adjustment

1. General Self-esteem the Self-liking/Self-worth
   scale (Tafarodi Swann, 1995) "Owing to my
   capabilities, I have much potential
2. Social competence the Texas Social Behavior
   Inventory (TSBI) (Helmreich Stapp, 1974) "I
   enjoy being around other people and seek out
   social encounters frequently"
3. School competence 10 items from the
   multifaceted academic self-concept scale (Marsh,
   Byrne, Shavelson, 1988) "Compared with my
   classmates, I must study more than they do to get
   the same grades".
4. Loneliness a Short-Form Measure of Loneliness
   (Hays DiMatteo, 1987) "I lack companionship"
5. Emotional and behavioral problems Youth
   Self-Report (Achenbach, 1991)

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Self-esteem
11
Social competence
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School competence
13
Loneliness
14
Emotional and behavioral problems
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Factors affecting the immigrants psychological
adjustment

1. The pre-migration indexes of psychological
   well-being (r0.5-0.6 in the first year 0.3-0.4
   in the third year)
2. Perceived discrimination (-). Pre-migration vs.
   post-migration perceived discrimination, M(SD)
   1.51 (.61) vs. 2.05 (.65)
3. Perceived social support from peers ()
4. Perceived social support from parents (some
   indexes) ()
5. Perceived social support from teachers (some
   indexes) ()
6. Family composition (some indexes) (- for
   single-parent families)
7. Parents education (some indexes) ()

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Theoretical inferences

• Why euphoria in the pre-migration period high
  expectations and/or self-selection?
• The shattering assumptions hypothesis in
  immigration was refuted.
• The U-curve hypothesis confirmed high
  expectations increase psychological adjustment,
  social obstacles decrease, and successful coping
  increases
• The morbidity hypothesis refuted, but why YSR did
  not improve?
• The effect of social factors (immigrants
  cultural norms, e.g. alcohol and smoking
  discrimination)
• The effect of biological factors (no change in
  psychological well-being in Russia and Ukraine
  for the last 10 years)

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Questions for further research

1. Is the found pattern of changes in the
   psychological adjustment universal for all
   voluntary immigrants or is it specific for
   adolescents immigrating in educational programs
   or for Diaspora immigrants?
2. How the psychological adjustment changes in the
   pre-migration period?
3. How the psychological adjustment changes across
   immigrant generations?

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Practical recommendations

1. Immigrants selection
2. Preparation for emigration strengthening the
   immigrants pre-migration psychological
   adjustment including social skills, and academic
   skills
3. Fighting discrimination in the receiving country
4. Strengthening social support, especially from the
   immigrants peers (A Finnish study on adults)
5. Should we strengthen the immigrant ghetto?

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Cultural identities of immigrants
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What do we know about cultural identities of
immigrants?

1. Immigrants have a multifaceted system of cultural
   identities
2. The immigrants identity associated with their
   country of origin is more salient than their
   identity associated with the receiving country
3. Among Jewish immigrants from Russia in Israel,
   Jewish identity is the most salient, followed by
   Russian and Israeli identities
4. The relationships between the identities
   associated with the country of origin and the
   receiving country varied across immigrant groups,
   and may be negative, orthogonal, or positive
5. Among Jewish immigrants from Russia in Israel, a
   negative correlation was usually found between
   their Russian and Israeli identities
6. A stronger level of perceived discrimination was
   associated with a stronger ethnic identity and a
   weaker national identity of immigrants

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The main objectives of my studies

1. To examine the relative strength of Jewish,
   Russian, and Israeli identities of the emigrants
   and the relationships between them in the
   pre-migration period
2. To compare Russian identity of emigrants with the
   matching group of non-emigrating adolescents
3. To investigate the effects of psychosocial
   factors on cultural identities of emigrants in
   the pre- and post-migration periods
4. To investigate the dynamics of changes in
   cultural identities in the post-migration period
5. To investigate the connection between the
   components of cultural identities and the
   psychological well-being of immigrants

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Measures of cultural identities Russian,
Israeli, Jewish

• Attitude towards a country a 20-item scale
  (Tartakovsky, 2009)
• I am proud of Russia/Ukraine
• I feel comfortable in Russia/Ukraine
• Identification with a nation and with an ethnic
  minority group (Roccas, 1997)
• Being Russian is an important part of my
  self-definition
• When I talk about Russians, I say we and not
  they
• When Russians are criticized, I take it
  personally
• It is important for me to think about myself as a
  Russian

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Other instruments

• Perceived discrimination the 10-item
  Discrimination Questionnaire (Phinney, Madden
  Santos, 1998)
• Russian/Ukrainian students in my school are
  hostile towards me because I am Jewish
• I feel that I am not wanted in Russian/Ukrainian
  society because I am Jewish
• Perceived social support a 12-item
  Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social
  Support from parents, peers, and teachers (Zimet,
  Dahlem, Zimet Farley, 1988)
• My parents really try to help me
• I have friends with whom I can share my joys and
  sorrows
• There is a teacher who is around when I am in
  need

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Attitudes towards Russia/Ukraine among emigrants
and non-emigrants
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Identification with Russians/Ukrainians among
emigrants and non-emigrants
26
Emigrants attitudes towards Russia/Ukraine and
towards Israel
27
Emigrants identification with Russians/Ukrainians
, Israelis, and Jews
4.08
4.07
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Factors affecting pre-migration cultural
identities of emigrants
Number of Jewish grandparents Jewish by the religious law Perceived discrimination
Attitude R/U -.03 -.04 -.28
Identification R/U -.10 .04 -.06
Attitude Israel -.01 .07 -.03
Identification Israel .04 .10 .20
Identification Jewish .21 .13 .16
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Changes in the emigrants cultural identities
1999/2006
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Correlations between the dimensions of emigrants
cultural identity 1999/2006
Correlations 1999 2006
Attitude towards Russia/Ukraine Identification with Russians/Ukrainians .49 .36
Attitude towards Israel Identification with Jews .48 .51
Attitude towards Russia/Ukraine Attitude towards Israel -.09 .13
Identification with Russians/Ukrainians Identification with Jews -.32 .05
Attitude towards Russia/Ukraine Identification with Jews -.19 -.01
Identification with Russians/Ukrainians Attitude towards Israel -.24 -.01
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Russian and Israeli identities are not
contradictory
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Russian and Jewish identities are not
contradictory
33
Changes in attitudes towards Israel and
Russia/Ukraine
34
Changes in identification with Israelis and
Russians/Ukrainians
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Factors affecting post-migration cultural
identities

• Pre-migration identities
• Ethnicity (Jewish vs. mixed, but not the degree
  of the mix)
• Perceived discrimination (- Attitude Isr, Id Isr
  and Attitude R/U Id R/U)
• Pre-migration vs. post-migration perceived
  discrimination, M(SD) 1.51 (.61) vs. 2.05 (.65)
• Parental attachment

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Discussion Pre- and post-migration cultural
identities

1. Emigrants are partially detached from their
   homeland and have a strong attachment to the
   country of provisional immigration
2. Self-selection or/and cognitive dissonance?
3. The pre-migration system of cultural identities
   is anticipatory (Merton, 1968) i.e., it is not
   based on a realistic comparison (?)
4. Jewish identity is very strong despite the fact
   that 96 of the adolescents were of mixed ethnic
   origin, and 61 had only one Jewish grandparent
5. Cultural identities are subjective constructs,
   which strength and relationships vary following
   social circumstances
6. In the post-migration period cultural identities
   change following adjustment difficulties and
   discrimination

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Why cultural identities are important they
predict acculturation strategies
Predicting variables Separation Assimilation Integration Marginalization
Attitude Israel -.13 .03 .35 -.39
Attitude R/U .03 -.20 .19 -.03
Identification Israel -.11 .31 .13 .09
Identification R/U .35 -.17 -.03 .03
R2 .20 22 21 .15
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Why cultural identities are important the are
related to psychological adjustment
Components of cultural identity Emotional behavioral problems Self Esteem Social competence School competence Loneliness
Attitude R/U -.15 .31 .20 .19 -.20
Attitude Israel -.26 .27 .32 -.07 -.42
Identification R/U .01 -.14 -.06 -.05 .11
Identification Israel .09 .12 -.04 .06 .13
R2 .08 .20 .14 .03 .21
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Receiving society wants assimilation or
integration

• Angela Merkel Attempts to build a multicultural
  society in Germany have utterly failed"
• David Cameron Multiculturalism has failed in
  Britain
• Nicolas Sarkozy If you come to France, you
  accept to melt into a single community, the
  national community, and if you do not want to
  accept that, you cannot be welcome in France

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Practical recommendations

1. The pre-migration cultural identities are
   positively correlated with the post-migration
   cultural identities (r .22 - .43)
2. Immigrants selection their pre-migration
   cultural identities are important their
   ethnicity is of little importance
3. To reduce perceived discrimination
4. To strengthen the immigrants positive attitude
   towards the receiving country and their positive
   attitude towards the country of origin
5. To fight or not to fight ethnic identity of
   immigrants?

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Further questions

• How cultural identities are formed in the
  pre-migration period?
• Cross-generation changes in cultural identities
• Why identification with the ethnic group and the
  nation is not related to the psychological
  adjustment of immigrants?

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Thank you!