Biculturality among Puerto Rican adults in the United States

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.

Understanding differences in past year psychiatric disorders for Latinos living in the US

“…Meanwhile, Cubans have the highest socioeconomic status of all Latino groups, tend to remain Spanish-speaking in the U.S. (RiveraSinclair, 1997), and mainly reside within Cuban enclaves in Miami that assist in easing the transition to the U.S. (Boswell, 2002;Hagan, 1998). In contrast to the other Latino subgroups, Puerto Ricans have lived with more than a century of U.S. influence, are U.S. citizens, and are more likely to be bilingual and to have adopted many of the lifestyle patterns of U.S. society (Guarnaccia, Martinez, Ramirez, & Canino, 2005), including expectations for increased social mobility in the mainland U.S. (Cortes, Malgady, & Rogler, 1994). Other Latinos mainly include South Americans, Central Americans and Dominicans, who come mostly as young adults in search of better employment opportunities or to escape violence (Pellegrino, 2004).…”

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“…Measures of acculturation generally assess where these immigrants are in a psychosocial change process that involves adapting to a new culture (6). Researchers continue to challenge the assumption of mutual exclusivity in the acculturative change process and have suggested that biculturality may be the stage of acculturation that is least detrimental to Hispanic immigrant health (7,8). An individual's biculturality represents a unique pattern of acculturation rather than a halfway point between identification with their native culture and their host culture (6).…”

Using the Portuguese version of the Bicultural Scale in Brazil

“…16 The Bicultural Scale (BS) was used initially to examine personal involvement in both Puerto Rican and American cultures and does not require mutual cultural exclusivity or focus exclusively on language usage, which is why it is generally considered a more comprehensive instrument for the assessment of acculturation. 6 In this study, the authors report for the first time on the use of the BS in Brazil. A Portuguese version of this instrument, conceived to assess biculturality, was tested in a sample of descendants from immigrants living in cities considered cultural enclaves in Southern Brazil.…”

“…5 Considering the unprecedented scale of human migration, greater emphasis has been given to acculturation of migrants into host societies. 6,7 Research has also developed in areas related to the obstacles and challenges faced by immigrants during their transitional journeys and eventual resettlement in new environments. 8 A preliminary analysis of the extant research in the field of acculturation reveals a plausible association between acculturative stressors and mental disorders, including mood and anxiety disorders, as well as substance use, delinquent behavior, and suicidal tendencies.…”

“…It has been advocated that studies of biculturality should be modeled on a two-dimensional representation with independent scales measuring levels of cultural involvement with original and host society cultures. 6 Moreover, acculturation scales that focus preponderantly on language mastery may produce inconsistent results. 16 The Bicultural Scale (BS) was used initially to examine personal involvement in both Puerto Rican and American cultures and does not require mutual cultural exclusivity or focus exclusively on language usage, which is why it is generally considered a more comprehensive instrument for the assessment of acculturation.…”