Date of Award:

5-2009

Document Type:

Dissertation

Degree Name:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department:

Psychology

Advisor/Chair:

Melanie M Domenech Rodríguez

Abstract

Biculturalism in the Latino population in U.S. has been found to relate to positive outcomes in the literature. However, little is known about the development of bicultural adaptation. The constituent parts of biculturalism, acculturation, and enculturation were measured over several years as part of an existing longitudinal study along with several variables that held promise as predictors of acculturation and enculturation change. An additional data point for acculturation and enculturation was gathered along with other important demographic information. Change in both acculturation and enculturation was modeled revealing that acculturation and enculturation increase and decrease linearly. The trajectory for acculturation is much steeper than the trajectory of enculturation, providing support for orthogonal measurement and indicating real possibilities for interventions to increase bicultural adaptation. The best-fit model for acculturation included years in the U.S., preference for speaking English, and receptive English vocabulary. The best-fit model for enculturation included years in the U.S., preference for speaking English, and receptive English vocabulary.

Copyright for this work is retained by the student.