Structure and Measurement of Acculturation/Enculturation for Asian Americans Using the ARSMA-II (original) (raw)

The stmcture and measurement of acculturation/encullllration was in1•estigated on 2 Asian American samples. Factor analyses revealed sim1/ar 2-facror structures for both acculturation and encu/11/ration. Thefacror-analy tic-denved measure yielded scores with adequate reliabilio• and marginal construct validity. Acculwrationlenculturation differences by generation status. gende1: and cow111y region were also detected. O ver the past decade, there has been increased research on th e relevance of accu l- turation/enculturation to psychosocial development, ph ys ical and mental health, and service utilization Kim & Atkinson, 2002; LaFromboise, Coleman, & Gerton, I 993; S. K. Lee, Sobal, & Frongillo, 2003). However, one of the persistent problems in this line of research has been how to best conceptualize and measure acculturation and enculturation for specific racial and ethni c groups (Kim & Abreu, 200 I). In thi s article, we address conceptual and measurement issues related to acculturation/enculturati on and describe two studies related to the validation of an ex istent acc ulturation measure fo r use with Asian American college student populations. From a psychology standpoint, accultu ration has long been conceptual ized as the process by which indi viduals experi ence changes in their cultural va lues, behavio rs, and cognitions when they come into continuous, firsthand contac t with another cultural group, typically the dominant host culture (G raves, 1967). In the past, these changes were believed to occur in a unidimensional direction. That is, acculturation implied th at individuals replaced the charac teri sti cs of their nati ve culture with the charac teri sti cs of the dominant host culture. described this repl acement process as a form of cultural assimilati on th at helped immigrants more readil y ada pt to and fit into th e ir new host environments. In recent yea rs, thi s unidimensional model of acc ulturati on has been criti ci zed and challenged by socia l sc ientists, because the mode l is based on a fla wed assumption th at individu als cannot orient to more th an one culture . It a lso privileges the noti on of assimilation and implies deficiencies within th e nati ve culture. Research, however, fi nds that indi viduals are able to retain their nati ve cultural characteristi cs while concurrently acquiring the characteristi cs o f the dominant host culture LaFra mboise et al., 1993). That is, individuals are able to competentl y function in multiple cul tural environments without necessarily ex perie ncin g fee lings of marginalizati on (cf. Park, 1928; Stonequist, 1937). The retention of the nati ve culture (o r acquisition thereof for U .S.-born children of imm igrants) is commonly referred to as enculturation (Co rtes, Rogier, & Malgady, I 994).