Biculturality among Puerto Rican adults in the United States
- 1 October 1994
- journal article
- Published by Wiley in American Journal of Community Psychology
- Vol. 22 (5), 685-706
- https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02506900
Abstract
Identified the concept of acculturation as a cornerstone of immigration research, while questioning assumptions about zero-sum cultural change in acculturation scales and in procedures assessing biculturality. Involvements in the host society culture and the culture of origin should be assessed separately in order to reflect the complexities of the cultural interactions immigrants and their offspring experience. To evaluate this prescription, we convened focus groups of Puerto Rican adults to discuss their cultural experiences in Puerto Rico and in the United States. Discussions were content analyzed to develop acculturation items. Factor analysis of the responses of 403 first- and second-generation adults yielded two general factors, involvement in American culture and involvement in Puerto Rican culture, which demonstrated modest reliability, relative independence, and moderate correlations with traditional acculturation scale validators. Results of the study challenge the assumption of mutual cultural exclusivity in acculturative change; enable the measurement of degree of biculturality; and provide future directions for the assessment of acculturation in domains other than language usage. The concept of acculturation is integrated with recent formulations in community psychology which advocate a deeper and more extensive commitment to studying the implications of cultural phenomena and greater focus on the growing cultural diversity in the United States.Keywords
This publication has 24 references indexed in Scilit:
- International migrations: A framework for directing research.American Psychologist, 1994
- The study of culture, ethnicity, and race in American psychology.American Psychologist, 1993
- Acculturation and mental health status among Hispanics: Convergence and new directions for research.American Psychologist, 1991
- An Empirical Scale to Measure Type and Degree of Acculturation in Mexican American Adolescents and AdultsJournal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 1989
- Research Themes, Authors, and Future Directions in the Hispanic Journal of Behavioral SciencesHispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 1988
- Factors Associated with Acculturative Stress and Depressive Symptomatology Among Married Mexican Immigrant WomenPsychology of Women Quarterly, 1987
- Development of a Short Acculturation Scale for HispanicsHispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 1987
- Measurement of Acculturation in a Community Population of Mexican AmericansHispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 1987
- Relationships among Acculturation, Sociodemographic Characteristics and Social Supports in Mexican American AdultsHispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 1985