Lueck & Wilson (2010)- Socio- Acculturation Flashcards
(16 cards)
Aim:
to investigate the factors that can predict acculturative stress in Asian immigrants and Asian Americans in the United States.
Sample
2,095 Asian Americans—about half were first-generation immigrants, the rest were born in the U.S. to Asian immigrant parents.
Procedure
They used semi-structured interviews, done online or in person. Interviewers shared a similar cultural and language background with participants. The interviews measured acculturative stress and how it was affected by language, discrimination, social support, family, and income. Some participants were re-contacted to check the accuracy of the data.
Findings
70% of participants showed signs of acculturative stress.
Bilingualism lowered stress by helping build support networks in and outside their culture
English-only preference was linked to higher stress.
Negative treatment (e.g., prejudice, harassment) raised stress levels.
Shared family values helped reduce stress.
Higher satisfaction with economic opportunities and willingness to immigrate again were linked to lower stress.
Assimilation
When an individual abandons their original culture and adopts the cultural behaviors and values of their new culture.
Acculturation
The process by which someone comes into contact with another culture and begins to adopt the norms and behavior of that culture.
Acculturative Stress
refers to the psychological, emotional, and social stress that individuals experience when adapting to a new culture.
Cultural Identity
A person’s sense of belonging to a particular culture or ethnic group, shaped by shared language, values, and traditions.
Protective Factors
Factors that decrease acculturative stress, such as bilingualism, strong family support, and maintaining aspects of one’s original cultural identity.
Risk Factors
Variables that increase acculturative stress and may prevent successful assimilation or integration, such as discrimination, poor language proficiency, or lack of social support.
Assimilation
When an individual abandons their original culture and adopts the cultural behaviors and values of their new culture.
Semi-Structured Interviews
A qualitative research method where the interviewer follows a set of open-ended questions but can explore the responses more deeply through follow-up questions.
Integration
When there is an interest in adopting the behaviors and values of the new culture, while still maintaining the original culture.
Marginalization
When immigrants do not identify with either their original culture or their new culture, often leading to feelings of isolation or disconnection.
Limitations
Self-Report and Social Desirability Bias:
Data was collected through interviews, which may lead to participants underreporting sensitive issues like discrimination or family conflict to appear more socially acceptable.
Correlational Nature:
The study identifies relationships between variables (e.g., bilingualism and lower stress), but it cannot establish causation.
Focus on One Ethnic Group:
While diverse within the Asian-American category, the study does not represent other immigrant groups (e.g., Latino or Middle Eastern immigrants), limiting cross-cultural generalizability.
Strengths
Large and Diverse Sample:
Over 2,000 Asian-American participants from a variety of backgrounds (Chinese, Filipino, Vietnamese, etc.), which improves population validity and makes the findings more generalizable to Asian immigrant populations in the U.S.
Cultural and Linguistic Matching:
Interviewers shared similar cultural and language backgrounds with participants, reducing researcher bias and improving credibility of the data collected.
Use of Semi-Structured Interviews:
This allowed participants to express themselves more freely, providing rich, qualitative data while still ensuring key topics were covered—balancing flexibility and structure.
