Remote acculturation of early adolescents in Jamaica towards European American culture: A replication and extension

Abstract

Remote acculturation is a modern form of non-immigrant acculturation identified among early adolescents in Jamaica as “Americanization”. This study aimed to replicate the original remote acculturation findings in a new cohort of early adolescents in Jamaica (n = 222; M = 12.08 years) and to extend our understanding of remote acculturation by investigating potential vehicles of indirect and intermittent intercultural contact. Cluster analyses replicated prior findings: Relative to Traditional Jamaican adolescents (62%), Americanized Jamaican adolescents (38%) reported stronger European American cultural orientation, lower Jamaican orientation, lower family obligations, and greater conflict with parents. More U.S. media (girls) and less local media and local sports (all) were the primary vehicles of intercultural contact predicting higher odds of Americanization. U.S. food, U.S. tourism, and transnational communication were also linked to U.S. orientation. Findings have implications for acculturation research and for practice and policy targeting Caribbean youth and families.

“Ayiti Cheri”

“…Unlike for urban adolescents in Jamaica (Ferguson & Bornstein, 2012; Ferguson & Bornstein, under review), orientation towards U.S. cultures was very low for rural Haitian youth, especially European American orientation. Low U.S. orientation among rural Haitian adolescents may be partially due to low U.S. cultural exposure because those who were more oriented towards European American culture had more frequent interactions with U.S. tourists (boys), communication with individuals in the U.S (girls), and consumption of U.S. fast food (both genders).…”

“…Similar to early adolescents in Jamaica and South Africa, early adolescents in Haiti reported a strong orientation towards their national culture (Ferguson & Bornstein, 2012; Ferguson & Bornstein, under review; Norris et al, 2008). This result also supports the findings of the CARICOM multi-national study that most Caribbean youth are nationalistic (CCYD, 2006).…”

“…“Americanization” is a type of acculturation across distance – remote acculturation – occurring amongst urban Jamaican adolescents via exposure to U.S. tourists and consumer products on the island. In two studies on remote acculturation, Ferguson and Bornstein (2012; under review) found that one-third of urban Jamaican adolescents were bicultural (labeled “Americanized” Jamaicans) in that they had added a European American component (in identity, behavioral style, and family values/interactions) to their Jamaican identity. In addition, all Jamaican youth – “Americanized” or not – were more oriented towards African American than European American culture, although orientation towards both U.S. cultures was positively associated with adolescent age.…”

Locals’ Bidimensional Acculturation Model

“…Yet, this research does not make a conceptual distinction between adapting towards multiculturalism within one's own country and adaptation towards a global culture, often predefined as Westernization (e.g., Chen, Benet-Martínez, & Bond, 2008;Gillespie et al, 2010;Mahammadbakhs, Fathiazar, Hobbi, & Ghodratpour, 2012). Indeed, Ferguson and Bornstein (2015) defined locals' globalization-based acculturation as originating from indirect/intermittent contact between geographically separate cultural groups rather than sustained intercultural contact with diverse cultural groups who reside in one's own home country.…”

I am AmeriBritSouthAfrican‐Zambian: Multidimensional remote acculturation and well‐being among urban Zambian adolescents

“…Focus group interviews show that Jamaican adolescents perceive European American culture as a remote culture distinct from their own local culture (Jamaican); this is a prerequisite of acculturation (Ferguson & Iturbide, ). Using empirical clustering of multiple acculturation indicators, a two‐cluster solution emerged as the best fit for Ferguson and Bornstein's Jamaican data, a finding later replicated in a new Jamaican cohort with confirmatory cluster analyses (Ferguson & Bornstein, ). As expected, there was an integrated cluster labelled “Americanised Jamaicans” (33%) showing a strong orientation towards the local Jamaican culture in addition to marked acculturation towards U.S. culture in their behaviours (i.e.…”