Behavioral acculturation and enculturation and psychological functioning among Asian American college students

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine Asian American college students' behavioral acculturation to U.S. cultural norms and behavioral enculturation to Asian cultural norms and their relationships to ratings on measures of cognitive flexibility, general self-efficacy, collective self-esteem, acculturative stress, and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help. As hypothesized, the results indicated that both acculturation and enculturation were positively related to the membership dimension of collective self-esteem. Although not hypothesized, the results indicated that acculturation was positively related to cognitive flexibility, general self-efficacy, and the public dimension of collective self-esteem. In addition, enculturation was positively related to the private dimension and the importance of identity dimension of collective self-esteem.