Lueck & Wilson (2010)

#stu

Aim

to investigate the variables that may predict acculturative stress in a nationally representative sample of Asian immigrant and Asian Americans

Participants

the sample consisted of 2095 Asian Americans
1271 were first-generation immigrants who were 18 years or older when they came to the US
the rest of the sample was born in the US to first-generation immigrant parents
the sample consisted of several different Asian cultures (Chinese, Filipino, Vietnamese)

Procedure

the researchers carried out semi-structured interviews conducted either face-to-face or over the Internet by interviewers of a similar cultural/linguistic background of participants
a random sample of participants was contacted to validate the data taken from the interviews
the interviews measured the participants' level of acculturative stress, the impact of language proficiency, language preference, discrimination, social networks, family cohesion, and socioeconomic status on this stress

Result

of the 2095 participants, 1433 were found to have acculturative stress (70%)

Conclusion

bilingual language preference contributes to lower acculturative stress because social networks can be constructed with family and friends --> wider support system
the preference for speaking only English is a predictor of high acculturative stress
negative treatment (xenophobia, prejudice, harassment, threats) contributes to higher acculturative stress
sharing similar values and beliefs as a family significantly contributes to lower acculturative stress

Evaluation

strengths:

• provides detailed (rich qualitative) information
• provides insight for further research
• permitting investigation of otherwise impractical (or unethical) situations
• high ecological validity

limitations:

• inability to generalize results to the wider population
• researcher bias
• difficult to replicate (but other studies, like that of Clive Wearing, display the same results confirm the findings)
• time-consuming ?