Longing and belonging : a study of acculturation and enculturation of ethnic Australian students and its influences on psychosocial constructs

Cross-cultural psychology researchers have revealed the psychological impacts of biculturalism, stressing the significance of adopting cultural proficiencies in both ethnic and mainstream cultures. Despite these findings prompting a proliferation of international research in both acculturation and enculturation in the last three decades, much more remains to be done to reveal the multi-faceted and intricate nature of these processes within the Australian context. Extending on the works by Miller (2007, 2010), this thesis adopted a mixed methods design to elucidate a more nuanced bilinear domain-specific model of acculturation and enculturation among ethnocultural adolescents within Australia’s most culturally diverse state, New South Wales. Additionally, the cross-sectional study examined the domain-specific relationships of these processes with a series of psychosocial and educational outcomes to inform current educational practices. To address the research gap for a reliable and valid assessment of these processes, the investigation adapted and developed a new psychometrically sound Domain-Specific Acculturation and Enculturation Measure (DSAEM). Survey data was collected among 200 secondary students attending one of four independent ethnic day schools. Students ranged from the ages of 11 to 16 years (M = 13.48 years, SD = 1.31) and consisted of 110 males and 90 females. Preliminary confirmatory factor analyses, invariance testing, as well as qualitative data, conveyed that the DSAEM holds promise as a valuable assessment tool for use within clinical and educational settings. Moreover, findings revealed significant associations between particular domains of acculturation/enculturation and various psychological and educational outcomes, providing further support for the bilinear domain-specific conceptualisation. Additionally, findings from qualitative interviews also illustrated the context-specific and dynamic rather than static nature of acculturative and enculturative processes. Lastly, theoretical contributions as well as implications to clinical and educational practices are delineated