Puerto Rican And U.S. Essay, Research Paper
Most instruments designed to measure acculturation have relied on
specific cultural behaviors and preferences as primary indicators of
acculturation. In contrast, feelings of belonging and emotional
attachment to cultural communities have not been widely used. The
Psychological Acculturation Scale (PAS) was developed to assess
acculturation from a phenomenological perspective, with items
pertaining to the individual’s sense of psychological attachment to
and belonging within the Anglo-American and Latino/Hispanic cultures.
Responses from samples of bilingual individuals and Puerto Rican
adolescents and adults are used to establish a high degree of
measurement equivalence across the Spanish and English versions of the
scale along with high levels of internal consistency and construct
validity. The usefulness of the PAS and the importance of studying
acculturation from a phenomenological perspective are discussed.
Psychological acculturation refers to changes in individuals’
psychocultural orientations that develop through involvement and
interaction within new cultural systems. Rather than conceptualizing
acculturation as a process in which people lose connection to their
original culture (Gordon, 1978), new research has emphasized the
individual’s negotiation of two cultural entities (Berry, Poortinga,
Segall, & Dasen, 1992; Buriel, 1993). Responding to distinct sets of
norms from the culture of origin and the host culture, acculturating
individuals emerge with their own interpretation of appropriate
values, customs, and practices as they negotiate between cultural
contexts (Berry, 1980). People vary greatly in their abilities to
function within new cultural environments (LaFromboise, Coleman, &
Gerton, 1993) and may seek different levels of attachment to and
involvement in a host culture or their culture(s) of origin (Padilla,
1980).
To study individuals’ cultural orientations, measures of acculturation
traditionally have focused on individuals’ behaviors and behavioral
preferences and have relied heavily on language use and other
behaviors as indicators of acculturation (Marin, Sabogal, VanOss
Matin, Otero-Sabogal, & Perez-Stable, 1987; Szapocznik, Kurtines, &
Fernandez, 1980). For example, Szapocznik et al. (1980) described
acculturation as based in two primary dimensions: cultural behaviors
and values. Paralleling their conceptualization of acculturation, the
Behavioral Acculturation Scale (Szapocznik, Scopetta, Kurtines, &
Aranalde, 1978) includes items most closely related to cultural
behaviors and preferences (e.g., “What language do you speak at home?”
and “What language do you prefer to speak?”).
Similarly, Cuellar, Harris, and Jasso (1980) measured acculturation
with items pertaining primarily to cultural behaviors and values
(e.g., “What language do you prefer?”). This measure also included
several items concerning migration history (e.g., “Where were you
raised?”) and one item concerning ethnic self-identification (i.e.,
“How do you identify yourself?”). These factors can be important in
interpreting individuals’ acculturation experiences; however, rather
than assessing personal acculturation factors and sociodemographic
factors as separate concepts, Cuellar et al. (1980) combined these
items within the same measure.
We feel that this approach may be problematic in two primary ways.
First, such modes of measurement blur distinctions between factual
histories of individuals (e.g., age of arrival on the U.S. mainland)
and the assessment of individuals’ acculturative change. Second,
measures heavily based on cultural behaviors may not assess adequately
individuals’ acceptance and understanding of the values from each
culture (Betancourt & Lopez, 1993; Rogler, 1994) or grant sufficient
attention to individuals’ emotional attachments to each culture
(Estrada, 1993).
Alternatively, new instruments can be designed to measure
acculturation as it is psychologically experienced by the individual.
Reviews of the acculturation literature have identified cultural
loyalty, solidarity, identification, and comprehension as overlapping
elements of psychological responses to cultural exposure (Berry, 1980;
Betancourt & Lopez, 1993; Szapocznik & Kurtines, 1980). To assess
these psychological components of acculturation, the 10-item
Psychological Acculturation Scale (PAS) was developed. Unlike
traditional measures, the PAS targets individuals’ psychological
negotiation of two cultural entities (in this case, Anglo-American
culture and Latino/Hispanic culture), with particular attention to
their sense of emotional attachment to and understanding of each
culture. This set of studies was designed to assess the psychometric
properties of the PAS. In particular, cross-language equivalence,
internal consistency, and convergent and discriminant validity were
examined.
CROSS-LANGUAGE EQUIVALENCE
Back translation and decentering are widely used methods for
determining cross-language equivalence of a scale (Brislin, 1986). For
example, to create a Spanish version of an English-language measure,
one person translates from English to Spanish, and a different person
translates the Spanish version back into English. Discrepancies in the
translated versions are resolved through decentering, a process of
several iterations whereby the measure is pulled away from the
idiosyncrasies of the source language (i.e., the original
English-language version).
We share the concerns of Bontempo (1993) and Olmedo (1981) about the
validity of this accepted procedure. Even when original and
back-translated versions are quite similar, measurement equivalence
can still not be assumed or guaranteed for the two language versions
because concepts and wordings for scale items originally were produced
in only the source language (Bontempo, 1993; Olmedo, 1981). As an
alternative, we have developed a dual-focus approach to creating
bilingual measures, whereby the conceptual content of each item is
developed and then words are generated to express that concept in each
language (see Erkut, Alarc6n, Garcia Coil, Tropp, & Vazquez, in press,
for details of this procedure). In developing the PAS, our goal has
been to compose item wordings that express the relevant concepts with
equal clarity, affect, and level of usage in both languages.
CONVERGENT AND DISCRIMINANT VALIDITY
Convergent and discriminant validity were assessed by examining the
predicted relationships between respondents’ psychological
acculturation scores and traditional validation measures of
acculturation (e.g., place of birth, percentage of lifetime living on
the U.S. mainland) as well as culture-specific behaviors and
preferences that have been employed in other acculturation scales.
Paralleling the results from previous studies of acculturation (e.g.,
Matin et al., 1987; Szapocznik et al., 1978; Triandis, Kashima, Hui,
Lisansky, & Matin, 1982), we expected psychological acculturation
scores to be higher among respondents with greater exposure to the new
culture (i.e., Anglo-American culture) and greater exposure to English
during childhood. Similarly, we predicted that respondents’ language
preferences for completing the questionnaires would be associated with
their psychological acculturation scores, such that those who chose
the Spanish version would tend to have lower psychological
acculturation scores than those who chose the English version.
Finally, we also predicted that psychological acculturation scores
would be better predictors of individuals’ cultural behaviors and
preferences than would their degree of exposure to the new culture.
Three studies were conducted to document the psychometric properties
of the PAS.
Study 1
The first study was designed to examine internal consistency and
cross-language equivalence with respect to respondents’ scores on the
PAS.
Method
SAMPLE AND PROCEDURES
Respondents were recruited through community centers and neighborhood
contacts in several districts within the greater Boston area.
Respondents received $10 for their participation, which consisted of
completing a questionnaire.
Participants in this study were 36 self-identified bilingual Latinos
(10 men and 26 women). Respondents’ ages ranged from 13 to 58 years (M
= 28.6 years). Of the respondents, 13 were born on the mainland of the
United States and all others were born in Puerto Rico, Mexico, or
other Spanish-speaking countries in Central and South America.
Percentage of lifetime in the United States was calculated by dividing
the number of years living in the U.S. mainland by the age of the
respondent (an index previously used in research by Marin et al.
[1987] and Triandis et al. [1982]). Respondents’ percentage of
lifetime in the United States ranged from 4% to 100% (M = 75.2%).
All respondents responded to both Spanish and English versions of the
questionnaire. Spanish and English versions were presented to each
respondent in a random order.
MEASURE
Psychological Acculturation Scale. The PAS consists of 10 items
concerning individuals’ psychological responses to differing cultural
contexts (see Table 1). Item wordings for the PAS were generated
simultaneously in Spanish and English by a team of bilingual,
bicultural, and monocultural researchers. No items were included in
the scale which could not be directly and easily expressed with
parallel wording in both languages.
Subsequently, all potential items were discussed in focus groups of
Spanish/ English bilingual adolescents and adults drawn in the greater
Boston area. Items were continuously reworded, as suggested by
feedback from successive focus groups and discussions among members of
the research team. Altogether, six focus groups were conducted, at
which time both focus group participants and research team members
were satisfied with item wordings and felt no further revisions were
necessary.
A readability analysis was conducted for items on the English version
of the PAS, using the Microsoft Word 5.0 grammar program (no Spanish
grammar program was available). The Flesch estimate of reading ease
(74.7%) indicated that the English version of the PAS is fairly
readable, corresponding with a Grade 6 to 7 reading level.
Item responses for the PAS were scored on a 9-point Likert-type scale,
ranging from 1 (only Hispanic/Latino) to 9 (only Anglo/American), with
a bicultural orientation defining its midpoint. Thus, a bicultural
orientation (equally Hispanic/Latino and Anglo/American) could be
defined as a parallel sense of connection to both cultures (Cuellar et
al., 1980).
In addition, items regarding migration history, language use, and
other demographic variables were included in the questionnaires
distributed to each respondent.
Results
CROSS-LANGUAGE EQUIVALENCE
On a 9-point scale, mean PAS scores were 4.37 (SD = .86) and 4.42 (SD
-1.06) for the Spanish and English versions, respectively. Means and
standard deviations for the Spanish and English versions of scale
items are provided in Table 1. Mean item scores were nearly identical
for each language version, showing a high degree of consistency in
respondents’ scores across the Spanish and English versions.
The correlation between individuals’ total PAS scores from the Spanish
and English versions was also extremely high, r(35) = .94, suggesting
a high degree of cross-language measurement equivalence. Individual
Spanish/ English version item-to-item correlations ranged from .70 to
.92, with the exception of two: (a) “In what culture(s) do you feel
confident that you know how to act?” r(36) = .37; and (b) “In what
culture(s) do you know what is expected of a person in various
situations?” r(36) = .64.
INTERNAL CONSISTENCY
Alpha coefficients of reliability for scores on the Spanish and
English versions of the PAS were .83 and .85, respectively. Item total
correlations ranged from .22 and .68 for scores on the Spanish version
and from .27 and .71 for the English version, indicating highly
similar patterns of item total correlations across individuals’
responses to the two versions.
Study 2
The results from the first study indicated that scores on each
language version of the PAS were internally consistent and that
individuals’ responses to the PAS were highly comparable across the
two language versions. Still, much research on Latinos has been
criticized for treating members of different Latino subgroups as part
of one homogeneous population (Marin & VanOss Marin, 1991). Therefore,
a second study was designed to examine psychometric properties of the
PAS within a more specific subgroup of Latino respondents. To date,
most acculturation measures have been validated using Mexican American
respondents. In this study, Puerto Rican respondents were used for two
reasons: (a) Puerto Ricans tend to be underrepresented in validation
studies of acculturation measures, and (b) Puerto Ricans are the
largest Latino subgroup in the northeast region of the United States.
Method
SAMPLE AND PROCEDURES
Respondents were recruited for participation in the same manner as in
Study 1. A total of 107 Puerto Ricans participated in this study,
including 39 males and 64 females (4 respondents did not state their
gender). Respondents’ ages ranged from 12 to 58 years (M = 27.9
years). Of the respondents, 85 were born in Puerto Rico and 21 were
born on the U.S. mainland. Respondents’ percentage of lifetime spent
in the United States ranged from 77% to 100% (M = 92%).
MEASURES
The measures used in Study 2 were equivalent to those employed in the
first study. However, in this study, respondents were asked to respond
only to one questionnaire in the language of their choice (i.e.,
either the Spanish version or the English version).
Cultural behaviors and preferences. Items pertaining to cultural
behaviors and preferences were adapted from traditional acculturation
scales and included in each version of the questionnaire for
validation purposes. Individual items concerning language use (both
reading and speaking), cultural foods, music, holiday celebrations,
and family celebrations were inspired by items on the Marin et al.
(1987) and Szapocznik et al. (1978) scales. Parallel items were
included to address actual cultural behaviors (e.g., How do you
celebrate family events?) and individuals’ preferences for cultural
behaviors (e.g., How do you prefer to celebrate family events?),
yielding a total of 12 items added to each questionnaire.
Complementing the response format for the PAS items, these items were
scored on a 9-point scale, ranging from 1 (only Spanish) to 9 (only
English).
Items pertaining to language reading and speaking were combined to
create composite measures of language use (behavior items) and
preferred language use (preference items); alpha coefficients of
reliability were .90 for scores on the language use measure and .80
for scores on the preferred language use measure. Scores on the
remaining behavior and preference items yielded low estimates of
internal consistency and were examined individually in data analysis.
Results
INTERNAL CONSISTENCY
Overall, the mean PAS score for this sample was 3.48 on the 9-point
scale (SD = 1.38). Of the respondents, 64 chose to complete the
Spanish version of the PAS and 42 chose the English version. Item
scores on both language versions of the PAS were shown to be
internally consistent, with alpha coefficients of .90 and .83 for the
Spanish and English versions, respectively. Item total correlations
from this sample ranged from between .55 and .81 for the Spanish
version of the PAS and from between .36 and .67 for the English
version.
Because scores from this sample yielded high levels of internal
consistency on both language versions of the PAS, responses to the
Spanish and English versions of the scale were pooled for further data
analysis.
FACTOR ANALYSIS
A principal components analysis yielded a single primary factor of
psychological acculturation, which accounted for 51% of the variance.
No additional factors were extracted beyond this factor because all