Colleen Ward

Acculturative stressors, reliably associated with poor migrant adaptation to receiving societies, are highly context-dependent. Yet, how context shapes the stressor-adaptation relationship remains poorly understood. In two pre-registered meta-analyses, we tested the moderating role of structural, cultural, and temporal factors in cross-sectional data (Study 1) and examined the temporal dynamics in longitudinal data (Study 2). Study 1 (k = 229, N = 66,409) modelled origin and receiving country contexts simultaneously to test specific migration routes. Structural factors, such as the receiving country’s poverty, inequality, and unemployment, intensified stressor-adaptation associations. Effects of cultural factors mostly concerned socio-cultural adaptation, most notably stronger stressor-adaptation associations when migrants moved from collectivistic to individualistic societies. For temporal context, longer residence in the receiving country was linked to weaker stressor-adaptation associations. Study 2 (k = 22, N = 8,555) validated the cross-sectional finding that stressor-adaptation associations attenuate over time: effects were stronger and reciprocal at earlier timepoints.

International migration has been consistently rising in modern times, and understanding what factors are associated with the successful inclusion of migrants is urgent. This meta-analysis helps pinpoint such factors by identifying the most robust social and contextual correlates of successful migrant adaptation to living in the receiving societies. Here, we meta-analyze 5,066 effects from 1,114 primary studies among 571,260 first-generation migrants, international students, business expatriates, and refugees. We show that migrant adaptation is most strongly negatively associated with the presence of stressors, especially acculturative stressors and perceived discrimination, and positively with the availability of social resources, especially feelings of connectedness with the social context and not feeling lonely. The role of variables related to culture learning, namely exposure to social groups within the new culture, and the distance between the new culture and one’s heritage culture, was more limited. This pattern was found across the different migrant groups.

The research examined the motivation to integrate and perceived discrimination as antecedents of cultural identity styles, the cognitive and behavioral strategies that bicultural individuals use for decision making in managing and maintaining their ethnic and national identities. Two major cultural identity styles have been distinguished: the alternating identity style (AIS, changing cultural identities depending on the circumstances) and the hybrid identity style (HIS, blending selected aspects of these identities in a unique way). Based on earlier cross-sectional research, we tested the hypotheses that the motivation to integrate would predict greater use of both styles and that perceived discrimination would predict greater use of the AIS, but not the HIS, over time. A community sample of 493 Chinese Americans (56% female, 51.5% first generation, M_age = 53.27 years) completed an online survey at two points in time with approximately a 1-month interval. Path modeling controlling for demographic factors (age, generation) and cultural identity style (AIS and HIS at T1) was used to test our hypotheses. Analyses revealed that younger Chinese Americans made greater use of the AIS and that both the motivation to integrate and perceived discrimination were significant predictors of the AIS at T2. In contrast, only the motivation to integrate predicted the HIS at T2, confirming our hypotheses. The results demonstrate that both personal and situational factors affect the management of cultural identities. The findings are discussed in relation to research on acculturation and integration and theories of social and situated identity identities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Despite recent developments in diversity climate research, few studies have explicitly examined perceived multicultural norms within educational contexts. This paper describes the construction and validation of the Normative Multiculturalism Scale for Educational Institutions (NMS-EI). Grounded in social, political, and acculturation psychology, the three-factor structure—Multicultural Ideology (MI), Multicultural Contact (MC), and Multicultural Policies and Practices (MPP)—was tested and confirmed in a sample of 684 culturally diverse university students in New Zealand. Correlations with validation measures, e.g., personal attitudes toward diversity and perceived institutional norms for intercultural contact and pro-diversity practices, supported the convergent and criterion validity of the subscales. In a second study with 347 culturally diverse university students in the U.S.A., structural equation models assessed the direct and indirect effects of the NMS-EI subscales on attitudes toward international students and psychological well-being as mediated by perceived threat and sense of inclusion, respectively. Results indicated that MI had a positive direct effect on intergroup attitudes and a positive indirect effect via diminished threat. Furthermore, MI and MPP had positive indirect effects on psychological well-being through an increased sense of inclusion. MC was unrelated to either outcome. The results are discussed in terms of their application to the development of programs and policies that can enhance diversity-receptive environments in higher education institutions.

Traditionally, intercultural contact has been constrained by physical proximity, but increased access to and use of digital technologies has broken down barriers and resulted in intercultural relations being increasingly digitally mediated. Technology has changed the acculturation experiences and outcomes of migrants, refugees, and international students who can access huge amounts of information throughout their migration journeys, maintain near-synchronous contact with their country of origin regardless of their location, and connect to individuals and groups both within and outside of the settlement culture. There is growing literature on the effects of social media on cultural adaptation and the interactions of diaspora communities online, yet there is a dearth of research that seeks to integrate this evidence into the broader acculturation literature. This narrative review addresses this gap, exploring three cases of digitally mediated acculturation among distinct migrant groups and types of digital technology: (1) mobile phones in refugee and asylum seekers’ migration journeys, (2) social media and the acculturative adjustment of international students, and (3) digital diasporas and the experiences of migrant groups. The findings not only highlight the impact of digital technologies on migrants’ acculturation experiences and adaptive outcomes but also suggest critical questions and possibilities for future acculturation research.

Although acculturation is among the most extensively studied topics in contemporary social science, research concerning the processes, outcomes and conditions of acculturation in Indigenous communities is relatively rare. This is a critical omission given that much of the intercultural contact across the globe is occuring in the Native lands of the world’s 476 million Indigenous Peoples. Before examining the proposition that the condition of multiculturalism is the most “advantageous” approach to cultivating positive intercultural relations or that it promotes enhanced psychological well-being in Native, Aboriginal and First Nations communities, we must understand what multiculturalism means to Indigenous Peoples and how they experience it in their everyday lives. Accordingly, we focus on notions of multiculturalism in a post-colonial settler society, working with Māori, the Indigenous Peoples of Aotearoa/New Zealand. Adopting a Braided River framework, combining Western and Indigenous perspectives with inductive and deductive techniques, we describe an emerging program of mixed methods research that has yielded rich, nuanced data about Indigenous conceptualizations of multiculturalism. The results indicate that the defining features of multiculturalism found in acculturation science overlap to a limited extent with Indigenous perspectives and that additional social, political and historical issues must be addressed to ensure that multiculturalism can benefit Indigenous Peoples.

The present study explored the role of perceived societal norms of multiculturalism in the engagement of cultural identity styles (hybridising‐HIS and altenating‐AIS) and, in turn, their impact on bicultural identity consolidation and cultural identity conflict. We examined 293 Chinese Americans' perceptions about the extent to which culturally diverse groups are in contact with one another (multicultural contact); whether diversity is valued and appreciated (multicultural ideology); and whether there are policies and practices that support and accommodate diversity (multicultural policies and practices) in the United States. Results from a path analysis showed that multicultural ideology was negatively associated with AIS and cultural identity conflict. Multicultural contact was positively associated with HIS and bicultural identity consolidation. Multicultural policies and practices had no significant associations. The findings underscore the important role of perceived societal acceptance of multicultural ideology and perceived norms of multicultural contact in managing cultural identities. Furthermore, the study highlights that perceived multiculturalism norms as societal‐level factors combined with individual‐level cultural identity styles can influence the identity outcomes of multicultural individuals. Further research into the role of perceived societal norms for both majority and cultural minority individuals in identity integration is warranted.

Objective: The current study identified unique profiles of cultural stressors (i.e., bicultural stress discrimination, and negative context of reception) and acculturative strategies (i.e., heritage practices, heritage identification, U.S. practices, and U.S. identification), in Hispanic/Latinx (HL) emerging adults. Additionally, we examined associations between positive and negative psychosocial functioning, with profiles of cultural stressors and acculturation. Method: The current study utilized baseline data drawn from a daily diary study on acculturation collected at a large public Hispanic Serving Institution. The sample for this study consisted of 779 HL college students (75.8% female, Mage=20.80 years, SD=2.66). Results: Latent Profile Analysis identified four distinct profiles. The Bicultural and Low Cultural Stressors (B-LowCS; 53.55%) was marked by heritage and U.S. cultural orientation and low levels across all cultural stressors. The Marginalization and High Acculturative Stressors (M-HighAS; 20.13%) was marked by low heritage and U.S. cultural orientation, high acculturative stressors, and low discrimination. The third profile, the Heritage Rejection and Low Cultural Stressors (HR-LowCS; 16.05%) was marked by rejection of heritage culture and low cultural stressors. Finally, the Separation and High Cultural Stressors (S-HighCS; 10.26%) was marked by low U.S. cultural orientation and high cultural stressors. Consistent with passed research, the B-LowCS profile was marked by the highest level of psychosocial functioning, and the lowest levels of internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Conclusions: The results of the current study highlight the need to further our understanding configurations of cultural stressors and acculturation, and the implications of these distinct profiles on psychosocial functioning in HL emerging adults.

Returning home after a study abroad experience can be challenging. In the current research, we examine the discrepancy between adaptation expectations and experience in a longitudinal sojourner study ( N = 1319; M _age = 17 years; 70% female). Returnees adaptation expectations were assessed prior to returning home, followed by post return measures of adaptation experiences and general well‐being. Overall, returnees reported higher levels of re‐entry adaptation than anticipated. According to the accuracy hypothesis, unmet expectations will be associated with lower well‐being. In contrast, the directional hypothesis suggests that unmet expectations will negatively impact on well‐being, but only if the expectation is undermet. Well‐being on return was regressed on pre‐travel adaptation expectations and adaptation experience on re‐entry. Polynomial regression and Response Surface Analyses were conducted for two outcome variables (stress and satisfaction with life), two types of adaptation (psychological and sociocultural), and at different time points (approximately 2 weeks and 6 months after return). Results consistently show that larger discrepancies were associated with lower well‐being for negative mismatches (when expectations were undermet). For positive mismatches, if adaptation was better than expected, well‐being was higher. Congruence between expectation and experience were not associated with well‐being. Thus, across analyses, results supported a directional hypothesis.