The process of acculturation: Theoretical perspectives and an empirical investigation in Peru

0277-9536/87$3.00 + 0.00 Copyright 0 1987 Pergamon Journals Ltd

Sot. Sci. Med. Vol. 25, No. 7, pp. 839-847, 1987 Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved

THE PROCESS PERSPECTIVES

JUDITH

A.

OF ACCULTURATION: AND AN EMPIRICAL IN PERU

RICHMAN, I* MOISES GAVIRIA,’

THEORETICAL INVESTIGATION

JOSEPH A. FLAHERTY,]

SUSAN BIRZ’

and RONALD M. WINTROB’ ‘Department

of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612 and *Department Psychiatry, Brown University, Providence, RI 02906, U.S.A.

of

migratory patterns have led to an increasing interest in acculturation processes and their psychosocial and psychiatric sequelae. This paper reviews alternative theoretical approaches to the study of acculturation and identifies gaps in the current knowledge base. We then present empirical Abstract-World-wide

research on acculturation processes experienced by both Indian rural to urban migrants and WhiteMestizo non-migrants in Lima, Peru. The study examined overall acculturation and five sub-dimensions: language use, customs, sociability, perceived discrimination and ethnic identity. The data show that second generation migrants are more highly acculturated across sub-areas and perceive less ethnic discrmination than first generation migrants. The first generation varied in acculturative level across sub-dimensions as a function of their age at the time of migration. Contrasts between the migrant and dominant group depicted a two-way process of culture change, but a process characterized by an inequality in the content exchanged in each direction. Socio-demographic correlates of acculturation were also found. These results are discussed in terms of the potential psychological consequences of alternative acculturative adaptations within the Peruvian social-structural context. Key words-acculturation,

migration,

psychiatric

epidemiology,

social change,

cultural

change

psychological consequences, a subsequent report will empirically link these acculturation processes to mental health outcomes.

INTRODUCTION

Although the study of acculturation processes has a long history within anthropology, a resurgence of interest in questions of ethnic identity has been occurring in other fields (particularly in sociology, psychology and psychiatry) as a consequence of world-wide migratory processes and their psychosocial and psychiatric sequelae. Within the United States, a large influx of new immigrant groups has been appearing since the 196Os, with corresponding increases in ethnic mobilizations [ 1,2]. Within Third World countries, rural poverty and agricultural stagnation have given rise to massive migrations of rural indigenous minorities to urban centers [3-51. These phenomena have contributed to complex changes in the ethnic identities of newcomer and host groups, and have also produced a unique set of physical and psychological problems confronting the health and mental health professions [6-91. This paper reviews alternative theoretical and empirical approaches to the study of acculturation processes, and elaborates a theoretical perspective on and an empirical investigation of the processes of acculturation undergone by Indian migrant and White-Mestizo host groups in Lima, Peru. While this paper focuses on the nature of Peruvian Indian and host group acculturation in terms of its dimensions and variability, and theoretically addresses some of the potential

THEORETICAL

AND EMPIRICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCULTURATION

In a classic work, Redfield defined acculturation as:

and

colleagues

[lo]

those phenomena which result when groups of individuals having different cultures come into continuous first-hand contact with subsequent changes in the original culture patterns of either or both groups. Under this definition acculturation is to be distinguished from culture change of which it is but one aspect and assimilation which is at times a phase of acculturation.

Extending this definition, Berry [ 1 I] conceptualized acculturation as a process of intergroup contact, conflict and adaptation. He delineated four altemative potential modes of adaptation: assimilation (involving the relinquishment of cultural identity and movement into the larger society), integration (involving the maintenance of cultural integrity as well as the adoption of some dominant societal values), separation (involving self-imposed withdrawal from the dominant society but maintenance of cultural identity) and marginalization (involving complete alienation and loss of identity). Berry further links the likelihood of various options being chosen to the degree of societal pluralism and receptivity to ethnic minority groups. Congruent with the preceding theoretical framework, Wintrob and colleagues [12] empirically examined acculturation among the Cree Indians of Canada. The Cree Indians of the James Bay region

*Address all correspondence to: Judith Richman, Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Box 6998,912 S. Wood St., Rm 218, Chicago, IL 60612, U.S.A. 839

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JUDITH A. RICHMAN et al.

of Quebec had maintained a traditional lifestyle based on hunting, trapping and fishing through a vast region of the sub-arctic forests of northern Quebec. As northern development increased during the past 20 years, the isolation of the Cree people was steadily reduced. Beginning in the 196Os, Wintrob and colleagues [ 121studied the impact of cultural changes on the Cree people. They found older people to be least acculturated, particularly in terms of education and language use, while the younger people, as a result of their education, learned English and absorbed the Eurocanadian media. In addition, the highly acculturated were likely to favor assimilation into EuroCanadian society while the less acculturated tended to reject it. However, they found that the integration orientation (adhering to the values of both the EuroCanadian and traditional culture) was associated with relatively higher cognitive functioning and lower psychological distress. These findings were linked to the larger multicultural societal context supporting a tolerance of ethnic differences [12, 131. One of the potential adaptive modes in the Berry model, that of marginalization, can be seen as analogous to the ‘culture of poverty’ thesis articulated and widely debated in the 1960s [14]. This perspective suggests that uprooted migrants are likely to respond to perceived exclusion from the dominant society by developing and transmitting to their offspring attitudes reflective of cultural pessimism, fatalism and apathy within a social context characterized by a high degree of disorganization. Arguing against this perspective, Perlman [4], in her study of migrants inhabiting the slums of Rio de Janeiro, found these individuals to manifest a high degree of assimilation in terms of their embracement of the social and cultural values of the dominant society, despite their inability to fully actualize them. Thus, economic marginality did not appear to give rise to or even correlate with cultural marginality. In contrast to the potential acculturative adaptations postulated by Berry and theories focusing on marginality, Padilla [IS] articulated and quantitatively operationalized a model of acculturation which assumes the existence of some degree of cultural orientation, and addresses the degree to which ethnic groups remain oriented to their own culture or alternatively assimilate to the dominant culture. This model encompasses two dimensions: cultural awareness and ethnic loyalty. Cultural awareness is composed of the individual’s cultural heritage and the cultural heritage of the individual’s spouse and parents, cultural identification and preference, and language preference and use. Ethnic loyalty consists of cultural pride of affiliation and perceived discrimination. Finally, both cultural awareness and ethnic loyalty encompass social behavioral orientations involving such things as food choices or social activities. This model of acculturation and the factors underlying the model were empirically derived from data obtained from a large sample of MexicanAmericans, and used to construct a typology of acculturation styles involving relative degrees of cultural awareness and ethnic loyalty. Padilla also related the overall degree of assimilation to social status characteristics, finding no sex differences but increasing assimilation with each successive generation,

level of education and income. In a study of Japanese-Americans using the same model, Padilla and colleagues [9] also found that generational status was directly related to level of assimilation. While the first generation appeared the least assimilated, the second generation was viewed as the generation in transition, caught in a conflict between their parent’s culture and that of the dominant society. Using Padilla’s acculturation measures, Szapocznik and Kurtines [16] addressed the potential psychological consequences of three rather than two alternative modes of acculturation: (1) retention of the original culture, (2) assimilation of the culture of the dominant society and (3) integration of aspects of both the original and new culture. A study of drug abuse among Cuban-American adolescents and their parents showed that youths likely to abuse narcotics were significantly more assimilated than their peers, came from homes where there was great intergenerational conflict arising out of assimilation processes and tended to reject their culture of origin. By contrast, mothers likely to abuse sedatives tended toward ‘underacculturation’: an identification with their culture of origin while rejecting the culture of the dominant society. Similar to Wintrob’s [12] they concluded that monoculturality findings, (identification with either the culture of origin or the dominant culture, but not both) was associated with maladjustment. Other studies of acculturation have focused on a single indicator of acculturation, most frequently language knowledge and/or use. Deyo et al. [8], for example, studied English use among MexicanAmericans. They found that this variable discriminated between the first generation and subsequent generations, with a monotonic increase in English use going from the foreign born to the third generation. In addition, they found an inverse relationship between English language use and age, and a direct relationship with education and income. The importance of language to the overall process or acculturation was also emphasized by Brody [3] in his study of the psychiatric consequences of Brazilian rural to urban migration. He found a high proportion of migrants in psychiatric treatment due to feelings of rootlessness, inadequacy, and suspicion and distrust of the unknown. Brody found that illiterates “showed the broadest and most incapacitating spectrum of symptomatic or maladaptive behavior, proportionately more disorientation, and disrupted thinking processes than the literates, and greatest vulnerability to behavioral disorganization in the absence of information.” He argued that illiteracy played a major role in the psychopathology of this group because it decisively limited their capacity to understand and manipulate symbols, to receive and to integrate information, and to form reciprocal relationships with the more dominant members of the society. Given the diversity of approaches to the conceptualization and operationlization of acculturation processes, an important issue involves the utility (or underlying validity) of alternative constructs and measures. Acculturation researchers have, implictly if not explicitly, dealt with the validity of acculturation concepts and measures in a number of ways. Face validity is generally assumed on the basis of the

841

The process of acculturation content tapped and its correspondence with a given theoretical conceptualization of acculturation processes. In addition, statistical techniques such as factor analysis have been utilized to address the extent to which the various components of acculturation covary together or separately [ 151. Secondly, acculturation instruments (and their implicit theoretical constructs) have been deemed valid on the basis of their capacity to discriminate between groups expected to differ, usually first versus succeeding generations [9, 171. Finally, claims of validity have been linked to the capacity to predict given outcomes, such as health or mental health status [12, 13, 161. Looking at the major themes predominant in acculturation research in terms of issues of validity, a number of questions emerge. First, from the vantage point of the prediction of health outcomes, an intriguing question involves the extent and social conditions under which acculturation should be viewed as a linear process embodying the assimilation mode as the end point of acculturation processes. While many studies were designed primarily for the purpose of determining the extent to which succeeding migratory generations become assimilated, research linking alternative acculturative adaptations to mental health outcomes is beginning to suggest that other modes (particularly the integration alternative) may be psychologically more optimal [12, 161. Secondly, the focus on contrasts between generational groups has implicitly embodied the assumption of a substantial degree of homogeneity within generations. Intragroup differences may exist, however, which also have consequences for acculturation processes and mental health. For example, first generation migrants may vary as a function of their age at the time of migration or the socio-economic context under which they migrated, while succeeding generations may vary in acculturative and psychological experiences as a consequence of economic and cultural forces predominant at a given time or place. Lastly, while increasingly sophisticated acculturation instruments have been developed to quantitatively operationalize a rich domain of attitudinal and behavioral context [15], and have been used to characterize cultural change processes undergone by newcomers, they have not been used to examine similar issues in host groups. Thus, implicit in the literature is the assumption that cultural change is a unidirectional process, going solely from the host groups to the newcomer groups. What has not been empirically addressed is the extent to which dominant group cultures may also undergo processes of change characterized by the incorporation of aspects of the newcomer group cultures. Moreover, an important question for investigation involves the extent to which the content exchanged in each direction is similar or divergent. If the content varies as a function of the directionality of culture change, then the factorial properties of acculturation instruments and their capacity to predict health and mental health outcomes may also differ, from those found in studies of acculturation which focus on a unidirectional process of cultural change. On the basis of the preceding assessment of the acculturation literature to date, we developed an empirical study of acculturation processes within

Peru which was intended to build on recent innovations in the quantification of acculturation processes while at the same time addressing a new set of substantive issues. These include the possibility of heterogeneity within generations (specifically, within the first generation) and a two-way process of culture change between host and newcomer groups. Since acculturation processes occur and must be understood within the particular sociocultural context in which they occur, the succeeding section briefly characterizes the Peruvian social environment before detailing the methodology and findings of the study.

METHODS

Background of study and social context of the acculturation process

The Peru-Cangallo Project has been a multidisciplinary (social science and psychiatric-epidemiologic) study examining the impact of rural-to-urban migration on the psychosocial adaptation and mental health of Indian migrants from an Andean rural community (Huahuapuquio) in the region of Cangallo, Peru to the larger Andean city of Ayacucho and the coastal city of Lima. The study goals and overall theoretical framework have been elaborated elsewhere [5]. While the initial intention of the PeruCangallo researchers was to collect data on both migrants and non-migrants in all three of the locales (Lima, Ayachucho and Huahuapuquio), the terrorist activities in Peru interrupted portions of the data gathering in Ayachucho and Huahuapuquio. Thus, the data on acculturation presented here focus on the Huahuapuquien Indian migrant groups in Lima and a non-migrant White-Mestizo group in Lima. The study locale, is the capital of Peru with a population of 4,000,OOOreflecting an increase of two million inhabitants in the last ten years. Thirty-one percent of the present-day population of Lima is comprised of people who came from the Sierra in the past 30 years. The drift from the Sierra to the coast has been steady during at least three decades. The racial composition of the Peruvian population is the result of a long process of racial intermixing. In the 400 years since the arrival of the Europeans, there has been a gradual fusion of the Spanish and subsequent immigrants with the native Indians. Today, Whites, Mestizos and Indians are the main ethnic groups in the country [18]. The mass migration of Peruvian Indians from rural to urban areas is consistent with industrialization patterns characterizing most Third World nations. As traditional modes of agriculture stagnate and rural poverty remains undiminished, the movement to the cities is viewed as the central means to achieve a more modern and economically satisfactory way of life [18, 191. After migrating to the cities, the migrants typically form squatter settlements (pueblos jovenes) around the peripheries. Despite the largely economic motives for migration, the economic ‘opportunity structure’ in Lima (and other Third World cities) has been limited. The magnitude of migration into the cities has far outpaced the creation of new employment opportunities generated by the industrialization process. This situation has given rise to high levels of

842

JUDITH A. RICHMAN et Table

I.

Demoaraohic

characteristics

al.

of Indian migrant and White-Mestizo groups Migrant groups

Migrants 12+ years

Socio-demographic

Migrants O-l

I

of age at time of

years of age at

Second generation

migration (N= Ill)

time of migration (N = 31)

Lima-born (N = 67)

characteristics

Sex SfC7lU.s Male

White-Me&o non-migrants (N=64)

49.5

58.1

53.7

48.4

Female Marital status*

50.5

41.9

46.3

51.6

Married Non-married Mean aget

73.9 26. I 38.3

56.3 43.8 26.8

26.9 73. I 23.7

73.4 26.6 41.3

Education * Illiterate Some grade school Some high school Post hieh school

23.4 52.3 18.9 5.4

3.1 40.6 50.0 6.3

23.9 62.7 13.4

2;6 54.1 21.3

*P < 0.001, Chi square

test. tP < 0.001, F test

unemployment and underemployment as well as a sizable ‘informal economic sector’ comprised largely of street peddlers [ 181.In addition, Peru, like much of Latin-America, encompasses the remnants of a caste stratification system dominated by the White and Mestizo groups with the Indians at the bottom of the stratification system [18,20]. Thus, the Indian migrant population has been confronted with economic marginalization within the context of a socially highly stratified and exclusionary society. The sample and data collection procedure

The migrant sample consists of all Huahuapuquien Indian migrants (N = 209) residing in Lima at the time of the data collection in 1982 and 1983. A non-migrant, White-Meztizo comparison group (N = 64) was also interviewed. This group was matched by age and sex to correspond to the Indian migrant group. One group (N = 32) was selected from the lower class and a second group (N = 32) was selected from the middle class on the basis of occupational and educational level. Since the two non-Indian contrast groups were found to be empirically equivalent with regard to acculturation, they have been combined into one group. The sociodemographic characteristics of the Indian migrant and White-Mestizo non-migrant groups are shown in Table 1, encompassing contrasts between: (1) Indian migrants who were age 12 or older at the time of migration, (2) Indian migrants who were less than 12 at the time of migration, (3) the second-generation, Lima-born Indians and (4) the White-Mestizo contrast group. Although there are no significant sex differences across groups, the groups vary in terms of mean age, marital status and education. The 12+

*When the data were collected, occupation and income were also asked. However, the information proved unreliable, given the respondents’ use of various occupational categories to mean vastly different things (e.g. ‘business’ connoting anything from informal street peddlers to successful entrepreneurs in the ‘formal’ economic section), and ambiguities in the reporting of income from the different potential sources.

migrant group and White-Mestizo group are older and predominantly married, while the secondgeneration, Lima-born is younger and more predominantly single, with the O-11 migrant group in-between. Finally, the groups vary in educational attainment, with the White-Mestizo group at the higher end (as expected), the second-generation Lima-born next in order, followed by the O-11 migrant group, and the 12+ migrant group. Subsequent analyses address the effect of each of these variables on acculturation differences across Indian migrant/ second generation groups in contrast to the WhiteMestizo group.* Respondents were interviewed in 1982-83 by a group of 28 Peruvian interviewers composed of social workers and psychologists. The interviewers received a one-month training period, including mock interviews. The interview schedule consisted of structured psychosocial assessments, including an instrument on acculturation that is the focus of this paper. The nature and measurement of acculturation

Our theoretical construct and measure of acculturation embodies the Padilla [ 151specification of the extent to which a cultural group embraces aspects of its own culture and aspects of the new culture. However, in contrast to the Padilla two-factor model composed of cultural awareness and ethnic loyalty, we hypothesized on theoretical grounds that the process of acculturation in Peru is composed of a more complex set of sub-components, each of which may have very different social meanings, covary separately for different social status groups (most importantly, for newcomer versus host groups), and have differing consequences for psychological distress or well-being. These sub-components include: language use, customs (e.g. food and music preferences), sociability (with members of one’s own ethnic group or other ethnic groups), perceived discrimination (on the basis of ethnic status), and ethnic identification (presumed to reflect a deeper psychic level beyond the conscious attitudinal and behavioral level). The hypotheses, delineated and tested in the succeeding sections, reflect our assumptions of the particular nature of the processes of cultural

The process of acculturation exchange occurring within the Peruvian societal context. Given this framework, acculturation in this study is measured by 21 items based on the Padilla [15] framework, broken down as follows: language use (six questions), ethnic customs encompassing music and food preferences and dress (four questions), ethnic ‘psychic’ identification (one question), sociability preferences (four questions) and perceived discrimination (six questions).* Table 2 gives the alpha coefficients for the overall scale and each sub-scale (with the exception of ethnic psychic identification). As shown in the table, the overall instrument and separate sub-scales manifest a reasonable demonstration of reliability in terms of the internal consistency of items as measured by coefficient alpha. The validity of the scale and sub-scales rest on the extent to

*The acculturation ing questions:

scale and sub-scales

include

the follow-

Language 1. As a child which language 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

did you learn to speak? At present which language do you generally speak at home? At present which language do you generally speak with your friends? At present which language do you generally speak with people from the Sierra? What language does your spouse speak? What language do your children speak fluently?

Customs 1. 2. 3. 4.

Prefer to listen to music from? Prefer food from? How frequently do you dress in Sierra clothes? How frequently does your spouse dress in Sierra clothes?

Ethnic identity 1. With which of the following descriptions do you identify? (a) Huahuapuquiano, (b) Ayacuchano, (c) Cangaino, (d) Limeno, (e) Indio, (f) Cholo, (g) Criollo, (h) Mestizo, (i) Serrano, (j) Campesino, (k) Comunero, (1) Hermano. Sociaf&ty 1. The friends you see most frequently are from the? 2. When you have a reunion at home do you invite people who are mostly from? 3. Do you prefer your friends mostly from? 4. When you meet with people from your hometown (friends), do you find yourself often talking about events of p? Discrimination

(perceived)

How frequently

do you have difficulty getting employment? Is it because you are from Sierra (Lima)? How frequently do you have difficulty getting employment? Is it because your parents are from Sierra (Lima)? How frequently do you have difficulty getting employment? Is it because you lack knowledge of Spanish? In general, how freqLently do people you associate with treat you differently and why? Is it because you are from Sierra (Lima)? 5. In general, how frequently do people you associate with treat you differently and why? Is it because your parents are from Sierra (Lima)? 6. In general, how frequently do people you associate with treat you differently and why? Is it because of your lack of knowledge of Spanish? SSM

2517-F

843

Table 2. Realiability of acculturation scale and sub-scales: alpha coefficients Overall scale Sub-scales: Language

0.91 0.66

Customs

0.60

Sociability Perceived discrimination Ethnic identity

0.73 0.85 -

which they discriminate between groups as hypothesized below, and on their ability to predict mental health outcomes (which will be addressed in a subsequent report). Hypotheses

and their theoretical

rationale

Eflect of generation andage at the time of migration. Congruent with the general literature, it was hypothesized that the second generation Lima-born Indians would manifest a higher level of overall acculturation compared to the first generation. We also expected this relationship to be similar for each sub-dimension of acculturation except perceived discrimination. Here, we hypothesized that the higher degree of contact with the dominant (highly stratified) society would produce a higher level of perceived discrimination compared to that experienced by the first generation migrants. Secondly, we hypothesized that the first generation group does not constitute a uniform group, but rather varies on acculturative level, depending on age at the time of migration. More specifically, we expected the group who migrated as children (ages 0-l 1) to be significantly more acculturated than those who were older at the time of migration (age 12+) and therefore more similar to the second-generation group. This hypothesis was based on the assumption that the children arriving in the new culture would achieve greater exposure to it (in part, through the educational system) compared to the adults who migrated with the primary intention of providing their children with greater educational and occupational opportunities. Finally, we hypothesized that each of the migratory groups would differ from the White-Mestizo comparison group in terms of overall acculturation and each dimension. Directionality of culture change. Although acculturation studies generally focus solely on the extent to which ethnic minorities embrace the culture of the dominant society, culture change, as we suggested in the preceding section, can potentially occur within the culture of either the host or newcomer groups. Thus, we hypothesized that, in addition to the Indian adoption of some aspects of the dominant culture, aspects of Indian culture would also be diffused into the dominant culture. However, these processes were hypothesized to occur only for particular subdimensions of acculturation. In the area of language use, we predicted that there would be significant absorption of Spanish by the Indian migrants, but little corresponding absorption of Quechua (the Indian language) by the White-Mestizo group. By contrast, in the area of customs, we expected a greater degree of reciprocity in the extent to which each group chose to embrace aspects of the other group’s

JUDITH

844

A. RICHMAN et al.

Table 3. Acculturative levels of Indian migrant and White-Mestizo groups: mean differences across groups’ Acculturation Group Indian migrants 12f Indian migrants 0-I I Lima-born Indians White-Mestizo non-migrants *The

dimension

Overall acculturation

Language

Customs

Sociability

1.8534 2.0770’ 2.4669** 2.8135***

2.0659 2.3559’ 2.7281” 2.9922***

I .9682 2.1935’ 2.3159’ 2.6523***

1.5591

(P < 0.001)

(P < 0.001)

(P < 0.001)

Perceived

1.9453’ 2.0796’ 2.5586*** (P < 0.001)

discrimination

2.3915 2.6398* 2.8570.. 2.9896** (P < 0.001)

Ethnic identity

1.1071 I.2621 2.3269** 2.8750*** (P < 0.001)

asterisks indicate group differences at the P -c 0.05 level or better based on the Students-Newman-Keuls procedure. The means are based on a three-uoint scale. with a higher score reflective of the culture of the dominant society and a lower score reflective of the culture of the Indian migrants.

culture. These hypotheses were premised on the assumption that there is always some degree of reciprocity of exchange between groups in close proximity and contact, but the nature of exchange in a socially highly stratified society reflects inherent inequalities. While language serves as a means of carrying out the major institutional functions of the society (and perpetuating group interests and control), particular customs (particularly food, music and dress preferences) are more relevant to the gratification of needs in the private sphere. Eflect of socio-demographic characteristics on areas and levels of acculturation. Congruent with the general literature on accculturation, we hypothesized that acculturative level would vary across particular social statuses. First, although sex differences often have not been found to be significant in studies of migrants in the United States, we hypothesized that the patriarchial nature of Peruvian society would contribute to migrant women’s lower levels of acculturation on each dimension. This pattern was hypothesized to be particularly striking in the area of sociability, given the higher degree of restrictedness likely to be experienced by females in interacting with members of the dominant culture. In terms of educational levels, we hypothesized a direct relationship to level of acculturation on each dimension, but with this relationship strongest in the area of language use (in so far as language is likely to be absorbed through the educational process). In terms of marital status, we hypothesized that married individuals would generally be more acculturated than single individuals to the extent that they were likely to absorb aspects of the dominant culture (particularly language and customs) through their children.* Finally, similar to other studies, we hypothesized that older individuals would be less acculturated than younger individuals This would be particularly true for ethnic psychic identity which is assumed to tap a deeper level of consciousness formed early in life and less malleable, and language which is assumed to be absorbed more rapidly at a younger age.

*The presence of children was not directly measured, but was nevertheless assumed to characterize married individuals to a greater degree than single individuals. tThe overall acculturation score is a mean of the means of the sub-scores to account for the uneven distribution of questions in the components.

Analyses and results To test the first set of hypotheses, analysis of variance was utilized, with ethnic/generational group status as the independent variable and overall acculturative level? and each sub-category as the dependent variables. In addition, the StudentNewman-Keuls procedure was used to determine the extent to which each migratory group differed significantly from each of the other groups. The results are shown in Table 3. Table 3 indicates that ethnic/generational status is significantly (P < 0.001) related to overall acculturation and each sub-area. Congruent with some of the hypothesized differences between the second generation and first generation Indian migrant groups, the Lima-born manifested a higher level of overall acculturation and Spanish language use. In addition, this group was significantly more acculturated than both the migrant groups in terms of ethnic identity and was more acculturated than the l2+ migrant group in the areas of customs and sociability. However, discrepant from one of our hypotheses, the second generation reported lower rather than higher perceived discrimination compared to the first generation migrant groups. In terms of the hypotheses involving the comparative acculturation of the O-l 1 age at migration group in relation to the other groups, the results varied across the particular acculturation dimensions. For the overall measure, the O-1 1 migrant group manifested a higher acculturative level than the 12+ migrant group as hypothesized, but a lower level in contrast to the Lima-born. This pattern also held for the language and perceived discrimination dimensions. (For perceived discrimination, the O-l 1 migrant group was higher than the second generation but lower than the l2+ migrant group.) For the customs and sociability dimensions, the O-11 group did not significantly differ from the Lima-born, while manifesting significantly higher acculturation than the 12+ migrant group. By contrast, both Indian migrant groups were similar on the question tapping ethnic identity. Finally, the migrant and second generation Indian groups, compared to the White-Mestizo group, manifested significantly lower overall acculturation and lower scores on four of the five sub-dimensions, as predicted. However, discrepant from our hypothesis, the White-Mestizo and second generation Indian groups did not significantly differ in the area of perceived discrimination. From Table 3, it is also apparent that, as predicted, the direction of culture change varies by sub-category

The process of acculturation of acculturation. While the migrant and second generation groups manifest acculturation sub-scores in each area (though to a much fesser degree in the area of ethnic ‘psychic’ identity) indicative of embracing the culture of the dominant society, the WhiteMestizo group manifests almost no incorporation of the Indian culture with regard to language use, little perception of discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, and limited alteration of their ethnic identity. By contrast, the White-Mestizo group does manifest a greater degree of sociability in relation to the Indian groups, and some incorporation of their customs. Turning to socio-demographic differences in acculturation among migrants and second generation Indians, Table 4 presents a series of one-way analyses of variance showing, first, that there is no sex difference in overall acculturation level and in relation to four of the five acculturation sub-dimensions. Only in the area of sociability is there a slight (P < 0.10) sex difference, with women manifesting a lower acculturation level. Marital status was similarly unrelated to overall acculturation and four of the five subdimensions. Only in the area of ethnic identity do married individuals manifest a slightly higher degree of acculturation (P < 0.10). Bycontrast, education is directly related to overall acculturation as well as to each of the sub-dimensions. These relationships encompass significant increments in level of acculturation as the migrants move from no formal education to less than high school and high school level educations. However, the high school and post high school groups do not differ significantly in relation to any of the acculturation areas. Finally, the younger migrants manifest a greater degree of overall acculturation and higher scores on the language and customs dimensions, in contrast to the older migrants. DISCUSSION

Several of the findings depicting processes of acculturation occurring within Peruvian society are congruent with major emphases in the overall acculturation literature to date such as the delineation of

Male Female Marital stm2s Married Single Education illiterate
845

important linkages between acculturation level and both generational and educational status. At the same time, the data also point to the utility of examining potential sources of heterogeneity within generational groups (in this case, age at the time of migration for the first generation) and examining acculturation as a two-way process of exchange between the host and newcomer groups. Moreover, to the extent that the content exchanged in each direction was shown to vary, future studies of acculturation and physical and psychological well-being might usefully create finer sub-divisions of the components of acculturation to reflect more complex processes of exchange. Focusing on the significance of generational status, the second generation Indians manifested a higher level of acculturation along most dimensions, but, discrepant from our expectations, also reported the lowest level of perceived discrimination compared to the other Indian groups, and no greater ethnicityrelated perceived discrimination than the WhiteMestizo group. Given the highly stratified and exclusionary nature of Peruvian society coupled with the high aspirations inculcated to this group by their parents, we expected to find an enormous awareness of social inequality by the second generation group. The exact meaning and likely psychological effect of the limited perception of discrimination by this group is unclear. From a reference group perspective, the second generation may have compared its own achievements to those of the first generation, and consequently maintained a positive image of societal opportunities. Following this perspective, the second generation may not experience a particularly high degree of demoralization or depression. Ahernatively, the discrepancy between this group’s aspirations and actual achievements (however greater than that of the first generation) may have led to the psychological use of denial as a defense mechanism to cope with a painful and disappointing social reality. Sociologically, this would corespond to a state of false consciousness involving the maintenance of the fantasy of future integration into the dominant society as a consequence of educational attainment.

2.2636 2.2288 (P > 0.10)

2.50 2.48 (P>O.lO)

2.25 2.24 (P >O.lO)

2.02 1.94 (P < 0. IO)

2.69 2.66 (P > 0.10)

I .84 I .94 (P >O.lO)

2.2 152 2.2960 (P >O.lO)

2.44 2.55 (P > 0.10)

2.22 2.28 (P >O.lO)

1.95 2.03 (P > 0.10)

2.64 2.73 (P > 0.10)

1.90 1.87 (P-CO.10)

I. 7087 2.1181’ 2.4213** 2.4734” (P
I .87 2.36’ 2.65’. 2.67’* (P < 0.001)

I.77 2.13’ 2.38*’ 2.38(P 4 0.001)

I .43 1.84. 2.13” 2.19.’ (P < 0.001)

2.22 2.60’ 2.172.90,’ (P < 0.001)

2.152.18.’ (P
2.3097 2. I773 (P c 0.05)

2.5436 2.3892 (P < 0.01)

2.3017 2.1513 (P < 0.01)

2.0050 1.9160 (P > 0.10)

2.7006 2.6363 (P > 0.10)

I .94 1.80 (P 20.10)

1.17

1.64’

A@<32 >32 *See footnote

to Table 3.

846

JUDITH

A. RICHMAN et al.

An important question for future research involves the extent to which the denial of ‘objective’ social discrimination may be protective against psychological feelings of distress, or whether objective social discrimination such as that occurring in Peru is likely to translate into psychiatric symptomatology among the ‘victims’ regardless of their individual psychological coping styles. First generation Indian migrants who migrated as children (ages O-l 1) manifested interesting differences in acculturation levels across the five subdimensions in comparison to the other groups. In the area of language and perceived discrimination, they stand out as more acculturated than the Indian migrants who migrated at a later age but less acculturated than the second generation Lima-born group. However, in the areas of customs and sociability, they manifest acculturative levels similar to the Limaborn, while on the one question tapping deeper ethnic psychic identity, they are equivalent to the first generation group who migrated at a later age. These findings suggest that this first generation group may be as much or more a ‘generation in transition’ as the second generation. Moreover, an interesting issue involves the relative meaning of each area as it affects the process of reference group identification. In effect, to what degree does this group really stand alone or alternatively identify more with the other first generation group or with the Lima-born? If the psychic identity question taps the deepest level of ethnic identity, it is conceivable that this group is first generation at heart, although it functions attitudinally and behaviorally in some ways similar to the second generation. The finding of a greater degree of similarity than difference between the sexes in most aspects of acculturation was discrepant from our expectation that the patriarchal nature of Peruvian society would impede the acculturation of females to a greater degree than that of males. Only in the area of sociability was this hypothesis borne out (though only weakly). This latter finding might be understood in the context of Indian migrant women’s dual roles, involving the economic necessity of full-time work along with the traditional sole responsibility for housekeeping and child care within the home. Bunster and Chaney [21], on the basis of their ethnographic study of Indian migrant women in Lima, argued that role overload leaves migrant women little time for the development of social relationship. Future research, however, should address the relationship between the discrepant social role expectations of males and females and the (perhaps more subtle) differences in acculturation and ethnic identity which may not have been adequately elicited in this or in other studies. The results depicting a two-way process of cultural exchange between the Indian migrants and WhiteMestizo dominant groups suggest questions regarding the significance of what is exchanged in each direction. To what degree does the diffusion of Indian customs into the dominant culture enhance the overall ethnic pride and consequent psychological wellbeing of the Indian groups? Or alternatively, to what degree does the virtual exclusion of the Indian Quechua language from public institutions and the continuation of Spanish as the sole dominant

language symbolize the inferior status of the Indians, despite the inclusion of their food and music as sources of private gratification for the dominant group? In addition, given recent political changes in Peru (involving the election of a left-wing President with greater sympathies toward the previously disenfranchized groups), it would be interesting to repeat this study and empirically examine the effect of the altered political climate on the acculturation processes currently underway. Finally, an important question for future research involves the extent to which a given acculturative level in each area differentially affects psychological distress or well-being. Pollock [22] recently argued from a psychoanalytic perspective that the retention of a deep psychological sense of one’s earlier roots is facilitative of the necessary internal process of both mourning the past and embracing the social environment characterizing the present. In addition, some researchers have empirically shown that acculturative adaptations reflecting more of an integration than an assimilation mode is linked to more positive mental health outcomes. Thus, from these perspectives, we would hypothesize that a score in each area (though especially on the ethnic identity question) reflective of a degree of retention of Indian culture, might be more conducive to psychological well-being than a score reflective of a more complete state of assimilation.

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