A person‐centred approach to identifying acculturation groups among Chinese Canadians

Abstract

This study adopted a person‐centred approach to explore acculturation groups among Chinese Canadians and to examine the demographic and adjustment profiles associated with each group. A total of 234 Chinese Canadian university students completed measures assessing different aspects of their Chinese and Canadian cultural orientations. Cluster analyses identified five acculturation groups: Integrated Group, Separated Group, Assimilated Group, Integrated Group without Chinese Practices, and Marginalized Group with Chinese Practices. Three of the five groups resembled Berry's acculturation model, and the other two groups demonstrated unique constellations of cultural orientations. The differences between the current acculturation groups and Berry's acculturation strategies were due to the differentiation between internal and external domains of cultural orientation, the addition of the domain of ethnic group evaluation, which is not typically included in acculturation research, and the use of cluster analysis, which allows for varying degrees of immersion in multiple domains of acculturation. Expected differences among the five acculturation groups in terms of participants' demographic backgrounds (e.g., length of residence in Canada), language preferences, and psychological adjustment supported the validity of the cluster solution. As expected, members of the Marginalized Group with Chinese Practices, the largest single group in the current sample, reported poorer adjustment than the Assimilated Group and the Integrated Group without Chinese Practices. The results of this study highlight the value of simultaneously considering multiple domains of acculturation and argue against research methods that assume acculturation status based on background factors such as place of birth or language use. Implications of these findings for understanding the cultural adaptation of Chinese Canadians are discussed.