AmericanJournalofCommunityPsychology,Vol. 26,No.3,1998BiculturalismandPerceivedCompetenceofLatinoImmigrantAdolescents1DinaBirman2NationalInstituteofMentalHealthThepresentstudyinvestigatedacculturationtotheHispanicandAmericanculturesandself-perceptionsofcompetenceamong123Latinoimmigrantadolescents.Thestudytested acontextual modelofbiculturalismbyexaminingwhetherdifferentacculturationstylespredictedperceivedcompetenceinlifesphereswithdifferentculturaldemands.Perceivedcompetencewas assessedusingHarter's(1988)Self-PerceptionsofCompetenceProfileforAdolescentsforthelifespheres ofschool, peers(both Latinoandnon-Latino),andglobalself-worth.Inaddition,ananalogous scale to assess perceptions ofcompetenceinthe familywasconstructed forthatsphere.Thestudyfoundsomesupportforacontextualmodelofacculturation.AcculturationtoAmericanculturepredictedpositiveself-perceptionsofcompetencewith Americanpeers,whileacculturationtoHispanicculturepredictedpositiveself-perceptionsofcompetencewithLatinopeers.Perceived familycompetence,however,waspredictedbyacculturationto Americanrather thanHispanicculture.Resultswithrespecttobiculturalismaretentative,withatrendrelating biculturalismto positiveself-perceptionsofglobalself-worth.However,becausemanyoftheconditionsstipulatedbythemodelwerenotmet,resultswithrespecttobiculturalismraisequestionsaboutcurrent approachestooperationalizingtheconstruct.KEY WORDS: biculturalism; acculturation; self-competence;adjustment; immigrants;Latinos;Hispanics;adolescents.1This study is based onthe dissertation of theauthor. Theauthor expressesgratitude toForrestB.Tyler whosupervisedthedissertation,andmadesignificantcontributions tothisproject.ThecomputerfacilitieswereprovidedbytheUniversityofMaryland'sComputerScienceCenter.2AllcorrespondenceshouldbesenttoDinaBirman,Room17C-14,5600FishersLane,Rockville,Maryland20857.335009l-0562/98/0600-0335$l5.00/0 19 9 8P lenumP ublishingCorporationThecontentionthatacculturationisastressfulexperiencehaslongbeenmadeintheliteratureontheadaptationofvariousacculturatinggroups(Berry&Annis,1974;Sanua,1970)andimmigrantchildreninparticular(Aronowitz,1983).Earlyscholarshipsuggestedthatassimilationintothedominantsocietywastheonlypsychologicallyhealthyformofadjustmenttoimmigration(Stonequist,1937).However,laterwritingschallengedthisassumption,assertingthatitis theretentionofaffiliationtothecultureoforiginthatleadstogreateradaptationforacculturatingpersons(Buriel,1984;Derbyshire,1968;Ramirez,1969).Mostrecently,biculturalismhasbeensuggestedasthemostadaptiveformofacculturationforimmigrantand other ethnicallydistinct groups (Ramirez,1984;Rogler, Cortes, &Mal-gady,1991;Szapocznik&Kurtines,1980).Biculturalismrepresentsamoveawayfromtheeither/ orconceptionofacculturation,whichassumedthatthemoreimmigrants becomeAmeri-canized,themoretheyshedthebehaviorsandvaluesoftheircultureoforigin.Rather,biculturalismtheoriesgenerallyassumethatacculturationtothenewcultureandtothecultureoforiginareindependent(Birman,1994;Berry,1980;LaFromboise,Coleman,& Gerton1993;Mendoza,1984,1989;Rogleretal.,1991),Inthiswayindividualsmaybeacculturatedtoonlyone,neither,orbothcultures,resultinginfourpossibleacculturativestyles:assimilation,separation,marginality, andbiculturalism (Berry,1980).Communitypsychologyhasbeenincreasinglyinterestedinaccultura-tionandhuman diversity moregenerally(Cortes,Rogler,& Malgady,1994;Seidman,Hughs,&Williams,1993;Trickett,Watts,&Birman,1993)asthecommunitiesandsettingsofinteresttothefieldbecomeincreasinglymulticultural.However,thefieldhasyettoapplyits contextualanalysistothephenomenonofacculturation.Moststudiesofacculturationremainpersonological,as exemplifiedby extensiveresearchrelatinganindividual'slevelofacculturationoracculturativestyletoglobaladjustmentormentalhealth(e.g.,Burnam, Telles, Karno,Hough,& Escobar,1987;Kaplan,1990;Krause,1992;Markides,1993;Masten,1994;Negy,1992;P awliuk,1996).Suchresearchhasnotyieldedconsistentlinksbetweenlevelofaccultura-tionoracculturativestyleandavarietyofoutcomesincludingself-es-teem/self-concept,locusof control,andaffectiveandanxiety disorders(seeMoyerman&Forman's,1992,meta-analysis).Analternativeconceptiontothepersonologicalemphasisofthistypeofresearchistoadoptacontextualistperspectiveonacculturation.Suchaperspectiveemphasizestheimportanceofcopingandadaptationacrossculturalcontexts,whichthemselvesvaryintheiracculturativedemands.Fromthisperspective,itisimportanttounderstandtherelationshipbe-tweenacculturationandoutcomesindifferentsituations,becauseapar-ticularacculturativestylemaybeadaptiveinsomecontextsandnotin336 Birmanothers.ThisperspectivehasbeenstressedbySasaoandSue(1993),whoproposeda"CulturallyAnchoredEcologicalFrameworkofResearchinEthnic-CulturalCommunities."Theywrote:"Thereis now a clearneedforincludingspecificcontextsinwhichthelevelofacculturationismeasured(e.g.,school,home,public versusprivateplaces,orworksettings)becausetheeffectofacculturationmaydifferinvariouscontexts"(p.723).Althoughresearchonacculturationfrom sucha contextualperspectiveis lacking, muchofthetheoreticalwriting onbiculturalismhasimpliedthatthemostadaptiveacculturative styleis dictatedbythedemandsofapar-ticularculturalsituation.Forexample,Ramirez(1984),SzapocznikandKurtines(1980),andTriandis,Kashima, Hui,Lisansky, andMarin(1982)havearguedthatbiculturalism is themostadvantageousstyleforaccultur-atingpersonsbecauseitallowspersonalflexibilitytodrawupondifferentsetsofskillsdependingonthespecific cultural demandsofdifferentsitu-ations.AsSzapocznikandKurtines(1980)argue,thebicultural communi-tiesinwhichimmigrants livecomprisedistinctculturalcontexts,requiringvariedsets of cultural repertoires.Inthesecommunities,assimilationwouldprecludesuccessfuladaptationto situations wheretheculture of origincon-tinuedtobedominant,suchasathomeorinsocialsituationsinvolvingotherimmigrants. Morerecently,Birman (1994), LaFromboiseetal. (1993),andP hinneyandDevich-Navarro (1997)haveusedtheterm"alternation"torefertothetypeofbiculturalism whereindividualsfeelacculturatedtoeitheronecultureortheother,dependingonwhich cultural contexttheyarein.Totestwhethersuchacontextualmodeldescribestheexperienceoftheseimmigrants,itisnecessarytoassesstherelationshipbetweenaccul-turationandadjustmentacrossarangeofdifferentculturalcontexts.Forexample,acculturationto theHispanicculture would be expectedtopredictadjustmentintraditionalcontexts,suchasthefamilyandinteractions withotherimmigrants, whereasacculturation totheAmericanculturewouldbeexpectedtopredictsuccessfuladaptationto mainstreamsituations.Overall,however,biculturalism, orthecapacitytoinvokeeitheracculturativestyle,wouldpredictageneralsenseofcompetenceandself-worth,sinceitistheabilitytonegotiatebothculturesacrossthesevariedcontextsthatresultsinsuccessfuladaptation.Thepresentstudy examinedthis setofpredictionsamongLatino3immigrantadolescentslivinginapredominantlyLatinoneighborhoodinWashington,D.C.3Theterms"Latino"and"Hispanic"areusedinterchangeably inthis papertorefertoSpan-ish-speakingpopulationsintheU.S.While thetermLatinois preferred,thetermHispanic,imposedbytheU.S.demographers,hasbeenusedextensivelyinpriorliteraturedescribingthispopulation.ForamoreextensivediscussionoftheissuesseeMarinandMarin,1991.Biculturalism 337Severalpriorstudiesseemtosupportthegeneralnotionthatbicultu-ralismisadvantageousforLatinosintheU.S.(Buriel&Saenz,1980;Fer-nandez-Barrillas&Morrison,1984;Ramirez,Garza,&Cox,1980,citedinRamirez,1984;Szapocznik,Kurtines,&Fernandez,1980).However,theyfailtotestacontextualacculturation modelexplicitly becausetheyassessedadjustmentinonesinglecontextwherebiculturalism mightbeassumedtobethemostadaptivestyle.Thus,Szapocznik etal. (1980)foundthatbicul-turalCubanAmericanadolescentswereseenasbetteradjustedthanmonoculturalsbytheirbiculturalteachers,whileRamirezetal.(1980,inRamirez,1984)foundthatbiculturalMexicanAmericancollegestudentswerebetterleadersthanmonoculturalsinmulticulturalgroupsituations.Whilethesestudiesdemonstratedtheadvantagesofbiculturalismin bicul-turalcontexts,theyfailtoprovidethetestofacontextualmodelbecausetheydidnotexaminesuccessinvariedmonoculturalsituations.Onlyonestudy(Fernandez-Barrillas&Morrison,1984)hasassessedwhetherbiculturals werebetteradjustedthanmonoculturalsacrossthedif-ferentspecificsituationsoftheirlives,includingacademicperformance,familylife,andfriendships.BiculturalMexicanAmericancollegestudentsreportedlessinterferencefromstressthanmonoculturalsininterpersonalrelationshipswithpeers,butnotinacademicperformanceorfamilyrela-tionships.Unfortunatelythestudyfailedtoindicatetheculturalattributesoftheselifespheres,(i.e.,whethertheinterpersonalrelationshipsdescribedwerewithotherMexicanAmericansorwithAnglos),thusprovidingonlyalimitedtestofacontextualmodel.Inadditiontodesignlimitationsinresearchassessingacculturationcontextually,pastresearchhassufferedfrompotentialconfoundsinopera-tionalizingbiculturalism,asthemostwidelyusedscales(Ramirezetal.,1980,inRamirez,1984;Szapoczniketal.,1980)haveconfoundedthedis-tinctionbetweenbiculturalismandmarginality. Whiletheseauthorsarguethatacculturationtothetwoculturesshouldbetreatedasconceptuallyindependent,neithertheBiculturalism/ Multiculturalism ExperienceInven-tory(Ramirezetal.,1980)northeBiculturalInvolvementQuestionnaire(Szapoczniketal.,1980)fullyseparatetheirassessmentofacculturationtothetwo cultures.Instead,bothquestionnairescontainitems whichasksub-jectstoindicateonaLikertscalewhethertheypreferaspectsoftheirlivestobeHispanic-oriented,equallyHispanic-andAmerican-oriented,orAmerican-oriented.Suchanoperationalizationmakesitimpossibletoas-sesswhetherornotthosewhorespond"equallyHispanicandAmerican"areindicatinghighinvolvementinbothcultures(biculturalism)orlow(marginality).BotharecentacculturationmeasureforP uertoRicanadultsintheU.S.(Cortesetal.,1994)andtheSzapoczniketal.(1980)measurecontainitemsthatassessAmericanismandHispanicismdimensionsinde-338 Birmanpendently.However,intheformermeasurenostrategyforcomputingbiculturalismisofferedandinthelatterbiculturalismisdefinedasthedifferencescorebetweenAmericanismandHispanicism,withsumsclosetozerorepresentingbiculturalism.Thisapproachalsofailstodistinguishbetweenthose whoareequally highly involved in bothculturesfromthoseequallyuninvolvedinboth.Inanefforttoresolvethisissueofconfoundsinmeasurement,thecurrentstudyadoptedthelogicandproceduresofthe"emergentproper-ties" modelusedby HallandTaylor (1985)inassessingandrogyny, acon-ceptrepresentinghighendorsementofbothmasculineandfeminineattributes.Theseauthorssuggestthatandrogyny couldbemeaningfullyas-sessedby multiplying theindependentscores of Masculinity andFemininity.Thiswouldproduceadistributionofscoreswherehigherscoresreflecthigherinvolvementonbothdimensions(biculturalismintermsofaccul-turation),lowerscoressuggestlackofinvolvementineitherdimension(marginalityintermsofacculturation),andscoresinthemiddlerepre-sentinga unidimensional orientation on eitherof thetwo dimensions.How-ever,HallandTaylor cautionedthatthistechnique,which mathematicallyrepresentstheinteraction term betweenthetwo main effectsin aregressionmodel,wouldonlyprovideanadequatetestoftheemergentpropertiesmodelwhen bothmaineffectsarepositiveandsignificantpredictorsoftheoutcomevariables.THEPRESENT STUDYThepresentstudywasdesignedtoaddresstwomainlimitationsofcurrentresearchinacculturationdescribedabove:(a)testingacontextualmodelofacculturationbyassessingitsimpactinsettingswhichdifferinacculturativedemands,and(b)employingameasurementprocesswhichassessesbiculturalism ashighinvolvement inbothcultures.To addressthefirstlimitation,thestudyexplicitlylookedattherelationshipofdifferentstylesofacculturationandperceptionsofsuccessfuladaptationacrossarangeofdifferentcontextswhichthemselvesvaryinculturalorientation.Inaddition,thestudy examinedtherelationshipof biculturalism toagen-eralsenseof self-worth.Withrespecttotheissueofmeasurement,thestudyemployedtwotechniquestooperationalizebiculturalism ashighinvolvementinthetwoculturesratherthanabalancedinvolvementoruninvolvementinboth.First,existingacculturationscaleswereadaptedtomeasureacculturationtotheHispanicandAmericanculturesindependently.Second, bicultural-ism was computedasa productof scores on AmericanismandHispanicismandwas operationalizedastheinteractiontermin theregressionequation.Biculturalism 339Inthis way onlythoseindividualswithhighscoresonbothmeasureswereconsideredbicultural.Independentmeasurementofacculturationtothetwo cultures thus allowedtheexamination oftheimpactofeachaccultura-tiondimensiononfunctioning inspecificcontextsaswellastheimpactofbiculturalismon global self-worth. Takentogether, thesetechniquesallowedthestudy totestimplicit assertionsinacontextual, or"alternation"modelofbiculturalism, whichhaveremaineduntestedinprevious acculturationresearch.Thefollowingspecifichypothesesderivedfromthecontextualmodelweretested:Hypothesis1:Highacculturation totheHispanicculture willpredictadjustmentin Hispanic-orientedcontexts, includingthefamilyandrelation-shipswithLatinopeers.Hypothesis2: HighacculturationtotheAmericanculturewillpredictadjustmentinAmerican-orientedcontexts,includingschoolandrelation-shipswithAmerican(non-Latino)peers.Hypothesis3: Biculturalism will predicta senseof global self-worth, be-causethecapacitytoinvoke eitherculturalrepertoireislinkedtoahigherlevelofoverallperceivedcompetenceandself-esteemforadolescents.METHODProcedureandSampleRespondentswere recruited through English for Speakersof OtherLan-guages(ESL)andotherclassesinpublicschoolsandafter-schooltutoringprogramsin a Latino neighborhoodof Washington, DC, resulting in asampleof convenienceof123 junior andseniorhigh school students enrolledinareapublic schools.To obtaininformed consent, eachstudent under18 was askedtotakehomelettersinSpanish describing thestudy,tobesignedbytheirparentor guardian if they consentedtothestudent's participation. Those 18oroldersignedtheir own consentforms.Only those whohadimmigrated totheU.S.fromLatinAmericaatschool-age(over6)wereincludedinthestudy.This was donebecauseit was thoughtthat children whohadcometotheU.S.ataveryearlyagewouldbeargreaterresemblancetoU.S.-bornLatinosintermsoftheiracculturationexperience.Sixty-four(52%)oftherespondentsweremale,and59(48%)werefemale.Theaverageagewas17 years;rangefrom12 to22. Sixty-nine stu-dentswereinhighschool,and54in juniorhigh.Sixty percent(74)oftherespondentswereimmigrantsfromElSalvador.TherestwerefromtheDominicanRepublic(18),Guatemala(9),Bolivia(5), Mexico(4),P eru(4),andotherLatinAmericancountries.Toassesstherepresentativenessof340 Birmanthesample,statisticsonthecountriesoforiginofLatinoimmigrant juniorandseniorhighschoolstudents intheDistrictofColumbiapublicschoolswereobtainedfromtheLanguageMinority AffairsBranchofDCP ublicSchools.In1995,outofatotalof1,304suchstudentsin junior andseniorhigh,869(67%)werefromElSalvador,115(9%)fromtheDominicanRepublic,63(6%)Guatemala,55(4%)Nicaragua,42(3%)Mexico,32(3%)P eru,24 (2%)Bolivia, andtherestwere1% orlessfromothercoun-tries.Therefore,althoughthepresentstudy usedasampleofconvenience,itappearsrepresentativeoftheLatinoimmigrant populationinDCpublicschoolswithrespecttocountriesoforigin.Thestudents hadlivedin theUnitedStatesforanaverageof 3.2 years(Mdn=2.8;range6 months-13 years).Thesampleis relatively evenly dis-tributedwithrespecttolevelsofEnglishlanguageskills,with37%inbe-ginninglevelsofESL(IandII),29%inmoreadvancedESLlevels(IIIandIV),and28%nolongerrequiringESL,andthusenrolledinregularEnglishclasses.Ofthe106adolescentswhoreportedthisinformation, 54lived withbothparents,26withtheirmotherandnotfather,fourwiththeirfatherandnotmother,and22withotherfamilymembers.Theparentswerelargely employedinlow-skilled, low-pay occupations,with halfof themoth-ersworking eitherin menial servicejobs(47; 38%)orasunskilledworkers(15;12%).Althoughalmosthalfoftherespondentsdidnotspecifytheirfather'semployment(58;47%),themostfrequentoccupationlistedforfatherswas unskilled laborer(32; 26%).Overall, only 12 (9%)ofthemoth-ersand15(12%)ofthefathers werereportedtobeemployedinskilledoccupations.Thedataalsoreflectaloweducationalleveloftheparentsoftheseadolescents,with47(37%)ofthemothersand29(24%)ofthefathersreportedashaving anelementaryschooleducationorless,and66(53%)ofthemothersand43(35%)ofthefathersasnothaving finishedhighschool.Data CollectionBilingualadministratorsadministeredpaper-and-pencilquestionnairesinSpanish,individually andingroups.Allquestionnairesexcepttheaccul-turationscaleswhich wereoriginally developedinSpanish,weretranslatedusingthe"de-centeringtechnique"(Brislin,1986).Inaddition, threeinde-pendentjudgesofLatinoimmigrant backgroundconfirmedthatthetrans-latedversionsconveyedthemeaningoftheEnglishlanguageoriginals inlanguagethatwouldbeunderstandabletoLatinoadolescentsintheDCarea.Thetranslationsandadaptationsofallmeasuresasusedinthepre-sentstudyareavailablefromtheauthor.Biculturalism 341MeasuresRespondentswereaskedto completequestionnaires about basicdemo-graphicinformationpertainingtothemselves,andtheeducationandoccu-pationoftheirparents.AcculturationToassessacculturation,theHispanicandAmericanAcculturationScaleswereconstructedbasedonitemsfromtwoexistingquestionnairesdesignedforCubanAmericans,theBiculturalInvolvementQuestionnaire(Szapoczniketal.,1980)andtheBehavioralAcculturationScale(Szapocznik,Scopetta,&Kurtines,1978).ThesescaleswererewordedtoassessacculturationtoHispanicandAmericanculturesindependently.Theserevisionsresultedintwoseparateacculturationquestionnaires(seeBirman,1991):aBehavioralAcculturationScale,toassessbehavioralac-culturationtothetwo cultures,anda revisedBicultural InvolvementQues-tionnaire(alsousedby Gomez& Fassinger,1994,as the"BIQ-B")to assessidentity/evaluativeacculturationto eachof thetwo cultures. TheBehavioralscaleaskedrespondentshowmuchtheyuseeachofthelanguages,eatAmericanandHispanicfoods,celebrateculturalholidays,andsoforth,whiletheBiculturalInvolvementQuestionnairescaleassessedhowmuchtheyenjoythoseactivities,andwouldliketohavethemintheirlives.CompetenceP erceivedcompetencewasassessedusingthreesubscalesoftheSelf-P erceptionP rofileforAdolescents(Harter,1988):(a)ScholasticCompe-tence;(b)SocialAcceptance;and(c)GlobalSelf-Worth.TheSocialAcceptancesubscalewasadministeredtwicetoassessSocialAcceptancebyLatinoandnon-Latinopeersseparately.4To assessperceivedcompetenceasafamilymember,aperceivedFam-ilyCompetencesubscalewasdevelopedforthepresentstudy,usingthesamestructuredalternativeformatas theHarter(1982,1988)scales(avail-ablefromtheauthor).ThequestionsweredrawnfromthesubscaleswhichconstitutetheRelationshipDimensionoftheFamilyEnvironmentScale4Althoughtheoriginalintentof thestudy was to assess socialacceptanceby "American"peers,pilottestingofquestionnairesrevealedthatforthepresentsampletheterm"American"conjuredupanimageofWhiteAmericans,andmayhaveexcludedtheAfricanAmericanpeers who constitutedthemajorityofnon-Latino classmatesof thepresentsample.Therefore,theterm "non-Latino" peers was suggestedby therespondentsandadoptedtocreateamoreinclusiveimageofAmericanpeersintheirneighborhoodschools.342 Birman(FES,Moos& Moos,1981), and werere-wordedto reflecttheadolescent'scompetencewithrespecttofamilyissues.Forexample,respondentswereaskedwhichofthefollowingalternativestatementswastrueofthem:"Someteenagersfeelthey can behelpfulandsupportive toothermembersoftheirfamily,butotherteenagersfeeltheycannotbehelpfulandsup-portivetoothermembersoftheirfamily";"Someteenagershardlyevercriticizeothermembersoftheirfamily,butotherteenagerscriticizeothermembersof theirfamilyalot."Anadditionalitempertaining totheextentteenagersfeeloneshouldtreattheirparentswithrespect(respeto)wasaddedonthesuggestionofHispanickeyinformers, resultingina10-itemscale.RESULTSP reliminaryanalyses revealedstrongsignificantcorrelationsbetweentheHispanicBehavioralandBicultural Involvement scales(.74; p