Testing concurrent validity and group-differences of a four-dimensional assessment of attitudes toward mutual acculturation

Abstract

Acculturation attitudes commonly focus on minority and majority attitudes toward minority acculturation. However, because acculturation is a mutual process, not only are members of minority or migrant groups expected to experience acculturation, but members of the majority also are. In this study, I assessed the attitudes of 375 minority and majority students (Mage = 12.67 years, SD = 0.69, range 11–15, 46% female) in Swiss secondary schools toward (a) migration background students’ heritage culture maintenance and (b) dominant culture adoption, (c) majority students’ acquisition of cultural knowledge, and (d) schools’ endorsement of intercultural contact. This study extends the validation of the four-dimensional measurement of attitudes toward mutual acculturation (Sidler et al., 2021) through assessing group-specific differences of each dimension and through exploring the relationship of each dimension with school adjustment. The results indicated group-specific differences only within the heritage culture maintenance dimension, which is more important for second generation students. As no further group differences in relation to the four dimensions were found, these findings indicate their equal importance for minority as well as majority students and thus demonstrate the importance of a mutual acculturation framework for students independently of their migration background and nationalities. Additionally, significant positive relationships with teacher support, self-efficacy, self-esteem, and self-determination were found for each dimension except dominant culture adoption. These results strengthen the concurrent validity of this four-dimensional assessment of mutual acculturation within the school context, as 3 out of 4 dimensions were significantly linked to psychological adjustment and teacher support.