Psychological, Sociocultural, and Marital Adaptation Turkish Immigrants in Canada by Bilge Ataca a Thesis Submitted to the Depar
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Psychological, Sociocultural, and Marital Adaptation of Turkish Immigrants in Canada by Bilge Ataca A thesis submitted to the Department of Psychology in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Queen's University Kingston, Ontario, Canada September, 1998 copyright O Bilge Ataca, 1998 National Library Bibliothèque nationale du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Sewices services bibliographiques 395 WeCrington Street 395. WeUingPon OLtawaON K1AW OttawaON KIAûN4 Canada Canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowïng the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distriiute or seU reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la fome de microfiche/nIm, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copy~@tin this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. Abstract This study examined the acculturation and adaptation of married Turkish immigrants in Canada A comparative approach was employed by uicorporating the two sedentary reference groups of the Turkish migrant group: Turks in Turkey, and Euro- Cdans.In this sense it is the £htcomplete study of acculturation. Data were coLlected through self-report questionnaires hmthree groups: 200 married Turkish immigrants and 90 married Emo-Canadians living in Toronto, Canada, and 1 14 married Turks living in Izmir, Turkey. Contrary to the general contention that migration inevitably results in negative outcornes, immigrant couples did not necessarily experience more difficulty due to acculturation than the sedentaty groups. Psychologicdly, Turkish immigrant couples experienced no more dBculty than Turkish couples, yet experienced more diniculty than Euro-Canadian couples. They had more sociocultural difncdty than both sedentary groups. In temof maritai problerns, they were not different fiom either group. The psychological, sociocultud, and marital adaptation of Turkish immigrant couples and also of Unmigrant men and women were also disthguished using simdtaneous multiple regression and canonical correlation analyses. Consistent with stress and coping models, psychological adaptation of married couples was associated with hardiness, social support, acculturation attitudes, and discrimination. On the other hancl, in line with social leamhg perspectives, sociocultural adaptation was mostly related to English proficiency and contact with members of the dominant group. Marital adaptation was mostiy associated with marital stressors and marital support. There were merences in the differentiation of adaptation between males and fernales. This differentiation was more clear in men than in women; there were also Mkrent variables associated with the adaptation of men and women. Utilking the basic socioeconomic distinction among professional and nonprofessional Turkish immigrants in Canada, the effects of socioeconomic status as well as gender were examined. The two social classes of immigrants had different acculturation experiences and adaptational outcornes. Gender ciifferences were moa apparent in the lower socioeconornic status group. Women in general were psychologically more vulnemble than men; the group that faces more nsk factors were those women of low socioeconomic status. In tenns of acculturation attitudes, Turkish immigrant couples strongly endorsed separation; however, those of hi& socioeconomic status preferred integration and assimilation to a greater, and separation to a lesser extent than those of low socioeconomic status. Euro-Canadian couples prefemed immigrants to adopt integration. The greater incompatibility between the attitudes of Euro-Canadians and those of low socioeconomic status is likely to foster greater conflichial relations. Acknowledgements Now that the looong jouniey is over, it is time to give credit to al1 those who helped me find the way. TMN.TO YOU, John W. Berry, for providing the rnost excellent opportunity to open rny eyes to "culture," for broadening my horizons, and for your unquestioning trust in me. Ronald Holden, for seeing me through the program, for your invaluable attention and assistance, and for statistical guidance. Dorothy Cotton, for your extraordinary wit that lightened each meeting, and for providing prompt and critical feedback. Leandre Fabrigar, for your help with data analysis, for your patience and efforts in uniting my world with the world of stats, and solving ail of my problems. The Turkish community in Ottawa and Toronto, and the Turkish participants in hmir, for welcoming us to your homes and sharing your most valuable expenences, and the Euro-Canadian participants in Ottawa and Toronto, for showing interest in the study. This study could have not been realized without your enthusiasm. Ebru and Emre, for the pains you took to collect the Turkish data in the very first few months of your engagement, for sharhg my joy and grief, and for always king there. My "dear" niends, especially, Cemile, Sonia, Dan, Kyunghwa, Steve, Stevo, Sheelagh, Mesfin, and Bruce, for your contributions to this work at various stages, but most of dl, for enriching my Me in Canada and making it an unforgettable experience. My friend, coach, and counsellor, for drawing my attention to the existence of other "styles," thereby lifting the clou&, bringing the energy back to fight, and your full confidence and support. 1 am grate M... Mom and Daci, for the very heparents you are, for king always at my back, for taking pride in me, and for your unconditional love. 1 dedicate this work to you... Table of Contents .. Ab stract .......................................... u Aclmowledgements .................................... iv Table of Contents .....................................vi List of Tables ...................................... W ListofFigures ..................................... xiv INTRODUCTION .................................... 1 Review of the Literature .............................. 4 Acculturation .................................. 4 Adaptation ................................... 9 Psychological and Sociocultural Adaptation ................11 Marital Adaptation ............................. 14 Turkish Migration ............................... -17 Factors Influencing Adaptation ........................ -23 Demographic Factors ............................ 23 Gender ................................. 23 Socioeconomic status ......................... 27 PersonaIity Factor .............................30 Hardiness .............................. -30 Marital Factors ...............................32 Marital shessors and marital support .................32 Acculturation Factors ...........................34 vii hgthof residence .......................... 34 Language proficiency .........................35 Socialsupport .............................35 Culturai distance ........................... -40 Contact with the Iarger society ................... -41 Acculturation attitudes ........................43 Rejudice and discrimination .................... -49 TheResentStudy ..................................53 ThemesandSpecXcPredictio11s ........................ 54 METHOD ........................................ 60 Participants .................................... .60 Tiirkish Immigrant Sample ...........................60 Euro-Canadian Sample ............................ -62 Turkish Sample .................................62 Materiais ......................................63 Demographidsackground Information .....................63 Persodty ................................... 64 Marital Factors ................................. 64 Acculturation ..................................66 Adaptation ..................................-70 Additional Measures ............................. -75 viii Translation ................................... 76 Pilot Study ..................................-77 MainStudy ................................... 79 Demographic Characteristics of the Samples ....................82 Turkish Sample ................................ -87 Tinkish Immigrant Sample .......................... -87 Eure-Canadian Sample .............................88 Psychometric hperties of the Scales ...................... -89 Reliability .................................... 96 Validity ..................................... 97 Validity of the Accutturation Attitudes Scale .............. 100 Adaptation of Turkish Immigrant, Turkish, and Euro-Canadian Couples ..... 114 Acculturation of Turkish Immigrants ....................... 119 Psychological. Socioculhual. and Marital Adaptation of T~rkishI~migrants.............................. 119 Socioeconomic Status and Gender Similarities and DifTerences in Acculturation ................................ 140 Acculturation Attitudes of Turkish unmigrants and Euro-Canadians .... 147 Findings Related to Women and Men Across Cultural Groups ......... 153 DISCUSSION ..................................... 156 Summary of Findings and Implications ...................... 163 Adaptation of Tudcish Immigrant, Turkish, and Euro-Canadian Couples . 163 Psychological.