Abstract
Although prior research has shown potential academic difficulties for Tibetan adolescents when coping with the mainstream Han culture, little is known about their psychosocial adjustment. Adopting a person-centered approach, the current study explores psychosocial adjustment profiles based on internalizing indicators (i.e., depression, loneliness, life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect) and externalizing indicators (i.e., prosocial behavior and antisocial behavior). Moreover, guided by the empathy theory, this study also examines the direct and interactive effects of empathy (affective and cognitive empathy) and ethnicity (Tibetan vs. Han adolescents) on psychosocial adjustment profiles. A total of 306 Tibetan adolescents (66.3% girls) and 321 Han adolescents (55.1% girls) were involved in this study, and participants were asked to fill in a set of self-report questionnaires. A latent profile analysis revealed five psychosocial adjustment profiles: adaptive, maladaptive, externalizing, internalizing, and moderate. Furthermore, a multiple multinomial analysis showed Han adolescents were more likely than Tibetan adolescents to be a member of adaptive and moderate profiles than of the externalizing profile. Individuals with low affective empathy and high cognitive empathy were prone to be adequate in terms of psychosocial functioning, and the effects of low affective empathy and high cognitive empathy on psychosocial functioning were highlighted in Han adolescents only.
Highlights
With the interdependence of the economy and the intermingling of cultures, inter-cultural communications are expanding dramatically within mainland China, which has triggered a mounting interest in understanding how ethnic minorities cope with the mainstream culture of China
Profiles contrast between the externalizing profile and others, the results showed that individuals with low affective empathy and high cognitive empathy were more likely to be a member of the adaptive profile; Han adolescents were more likely than Tibetan adolescents to be a member of adaptive and moderate profiles; females were more likely than males to be member of adaptive, moderate, and internalizing profiles; age was positively associated with the possibility of being a member of moderate and internalizing profiles
Given the dearth of research investigating potential psychosocial difficulties of Tibetan adolescents when coping with the mainstream culture, the current study adopted a person-centered approach in identifying psychosocial adjustment profiles of Tibetan adolescents and Han adolescents
Summary
With the interdependence of the economy and the intermingling of cultures, inter-cultural communications are expanding dramatically within mainland China, which has triggered a mounting interest in understanding how ethnic minorities cope with the mainstream culture of China (the Han ethnic group; Yong, 2013). The Tibetan culture, one of the biggest of these ethnic minorities (approximately 7 million Tibetans residing in mainland China; National Bureau of Statistics, 2010), has distinct ethnic characteristics, including physique, geography, Psychosocial Adjustment in Adolescence language, and religion (Lan et al, 2019a). Due to these significant differences from the mainstream culture of China, a burgeoning body of research (e.g., Yong, 2013) has shown that Tibetan youth experience more difficulties (e.g., poor academic performance) than their Han peers because of language barriers and insufficient education. Likewise, exploring the potential correlates of their psychosocial adjustment may offer some insights into designing some school activities to facilitate their positive psychosocial adjustment in the process of acculturation
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