Effects of acculturation and leaving home on hispanic students' adjustment to college

111 Pages·1995·2.2 MB·English

by  Hernandez, Carlos Antonio

THEEFFECTS OFACCULTURATIONANDLEAVINGHOMEON
HISPANICSTUDENTS'ADIUSTMENTTOCOLLEGE
By
CARLOSANTONIOHERNANDEZ
ADISSERTATIONPRESENTEDTOTHEGRADUATESCHOOLOF
THEUNIVERSITYOFFLORIDAINPARTIALFULFILLMENT
OFTHEREQUIREMENTSFORTHEDEGREEOF
DOCTOROFPHILOSOPHY
UNIVERSITYOFFLORIDA
1995
Copyright 1995
by
CarlosAntonioHernandez
Iwouldliketodedicatethisdoctoralworktomylovingparents,CarlosandEdith,
whoinstilledinmetheimportanceofgettingagoodeducation. Theirsacrifices,both
economicandpersonal,haveallowedtheirfourchildrentoreceiveacollegeeducation.
WordscannotexpressthegratitudeandaffectionIhaveforthem. Ithankthemforbeing
therewhenIneededthemmost.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
TherearesomanypeopleIwouldliketothank,whothroughtheyears, offeredme
assistanceandencouragementincompletingthisproject.
M
IwouldliketogivemygratitudetomydoctoralcommitteeDr. Gerardo
Gonzalez, Chair;Dr. LarryLoesch,Dr. PeterSherrard,andDr. DavidMiller. Without
theirguidanceandexpertise,Iwouldneverhaveattainedthisdegree.
IthankmymanyfriendsintheCounselorEducationDepartment,whoencouraged
meto"getdoneandgetoutofhere." IthankmydearfriendsMary,Megan,Wayne,
Diane, Anita, andTim;thestafffromthestudentservicesofficeintheCollegeof
Education;Billforhisknowledgeofcomputersoftware;andmycolleaguesattheCareer
ResourceCenter,whostoodbymeinthelastyearsofthisprojectandnotoncelabeledme
as"odd"—fortheirsupportandlaughs. IwanttogivespecialthankstoLindaLewis,
whoseassistancewiththestatisticalprogrammingandfriendshipgavemethefinalburstof
energytogetthisprojectcompleted. Icouldnothavedoneitwithouther.
Myloveandgratitudegoestomyfamily,Carlos, Edith,Edith,Maggie, and
Yolanda,whonevergaveuponme,andtoMichael,whosupportedmethroughthedarkest
hoursandshowedmehowtoenjoylifeagain. Ithankthemfromthebottomofmyheart
Andfinally,Iwanttothankalltheparticipantsofmystudy—withouttheirsupport,this
projectwouldnothavebeenareality.
TABLEOFCONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
iv
ABSTRACT
vii
CHAPTERS
INTRODUCTION
1 1
TheoreticalFramework 3
StatementoftheProblem 10
NeedfortheStudy 12
RationalefortheStudy 13
PurposeoftheStudy 14
ResearchQuestions 14
DefinitionofTerms 14
OrganizationoftheStudy 15
2 LITERATUREREVIEW 17
AdjustmenttoCollege 17
HispanicsandCollegeAdjustment 21
LeavingHome 23
TheHighSchoolandBeyond(HSB)Survey 27
ResidentialIndependenceandAdulthood 27
ParentalInfluence 31
EthnicityandResidentialIndependence 32
Hispanic Americans 33
Acculturation 33
ImpactonHispanicFamilies 36
ChapterSummary 40
METHODOLOGY
3 42
ResearchQuestions 42
Population,Sample,andSelection Procedures 43
Sample 43
Instrumentation 44
BiculturalInvolvementQuestionnaire 44
PsychologicalSeparationInventory 46
CollegeAdjustmentScales 47
DataCollection 49
RelevantVariablesandDataAnalysis 50
4 RESULTS 51
DataCollection 51
DemographicDescriptionoftheResearchSample 51
DataAnalyses 53
AnalysesbyDependentVariables 53
ResearchQuestionsSummaries 70
5 DISCUSSION 73
DiscussionofResults 73
ResearchQuestion 1 73
ResearchQuestion2 74
ResearchQuestion3 75
ResearchQuestion4 77
Limitations 78
ImplicationsoftheFindingsandRecommendations 79
ImplicationsforTheory 80
ImplicationsforUniversitiesandColleges 80
ImplicationsforFutureResearch 81
Conclusions 82
APPENDICES
A COVERLETTERANDREQUESTTOPARTICIPATE 84
B DEMOGRAPHICQUESTIONNAIRE 85
C DEMOGRAPHICSOFSAMPLE 87
REFERENCES 89
BIOGRAPHICALSKETCH 100
AbstractofDissertationtotheGraduateSchool
oftheUniversityofFloridainPartialFulfillmentoftheRequirements
fortheDegreeofDoctorofPhilosophy
THEEFFECTSOFACCULTURATIONANDLEAVINGHOMEON
HISPANIC STUDENTS'ADJUSTMENTTOCOLLEGE
By
CarlosAntonioHernandez
August 1995
Chairman: GerardoM. Gonzalez
MajorDepartment: CounselorEducation
Thisstudyinvestigatedtheeffectsofacculturationandtheleaving-hometransition
oncollegeadjustmentforfirst-timeHispaniccollegestudents. Participantswere273 first
semestertraditionalcollegeageHispanicstudentswhoweresurveyedbymail. Atotalof
155packetswerereturnedyielding 146usablesurveys(N=84femalesand62males).
TheBiculturalInvolvementQuestionnaire,thePsychologicalSeparationInventory,
andtheCollegeAdjustmentScaleswereusedtomeasureacculturation, leavinghome
transition,andadjustmenttocollege, respectively.
Thefirstresearchquestionexploredtheleavinghometransitiontoseeifitpredicted
collegeadjustmentforHispanicstudents. Theresultsdidindicatethatconflictual
independenceandemotionalindependenceforthemotherandthefatherhadsignificant
effectstowardcollegeadjustment. Thesecondresearchquestionaddressedtheissueof
acculturationasapredictorofcollegeadjustment. Asamaineffect, acculturation
variableswerefoundtohavelesspredictabilityofcollegeadjustmentthandidleaving
hometransitionvariables. Itwasonlywhenacculturationvariablesinteractedwiththe
leavinghometransitionvariablesthatthepredictabilityofcollegeadjustmentwas
enhanced. Thisfindingindicatedthatacculturationvariables,bythemselves,arenot
enoughtopredictcollegeadjustment. Thethirdresearchquestionexploredtheinteraction
betweenacculturationandtheleavinghometransition. Itwasfoundthattheinteractions
betweenbiculturalismandconflicturalindependencefromthemother,cultural
involvementandemotionalindependencefromthemother,andculturalinvolvementand
conflictualindependencefromthemotherpredictedcollegeadjustment. Thefinal
researchquestionlookedatacculturationandtheleavinghometransitiontoseeifthey
interactedwithgendertopredictcollegeadjustment. Thestatisticalresultsshowedno
significantinteractioneffectinpredictingadjustmenttocollege. Gender,asasinglemain
effect,wasfoundtopredictcollegeadjustment. Maleswerefoundtoexperiencemore
academicandfamilyproblemsthanfemalesinthisstudy.
Itwasconcludedthattheleavinghometransitionhadahigherincidencein
predictingadjustmenttocollegeforHispanicstudentsthandidacculturationorgender.
Thisstudyhighlightedtheeffectsleavinghometransitionhadoncollegeadjustmentfor
Hispanicstudents.
CHAPTER
1
INTRODUCTION
TheUnitedStateshasalongtraditionofwelcomingimmigrantsfromdiverse
cultural, ethnic, andsocialorigins. Many whosoughtentrancetotheUnitedStatescame
insearchofabetterlife. Otherscametoescapeoppressionintheircountryoforigin. A
largesegmentofimmigrants,however,werebroughtagainsttheirwillandforcedto
conformtotheestablishedculture(Baruth&Manning, 1991) Theresulthasbeenthe
emergenceofdiversegroupsofpeoplewithidentifiablevalues,traditions,andcustoms.
OneculturallydiversegroupthatisrapidlygrowinginnumbersintheUnitedStates
istheHispanicpopulation. TheU.S. BureauoftheCensus(1990)classifiesHispanic-
Americans intothefollowingsubgroups: Mexicans, PuertoRicans,CentralandSouth
Americans,Cubans,andotherHispanics. Accordingtothe 1990U.S. Census, thereare
%
approximately22millionHispanicsintheUnitedStates,orroughly8.6 ofthetotal
U.S. population. Itisexpectedthatbytheyear2000Hispanicswillbethenation'slargest
"minority"group,andthatbytheyear2020therewillbeover47millionHispanicsinthe
UnitedStates,representing 15%ofthetotalpopulation(Davis,Haub,&Willette, 1983).
HispanicscanbeCaucasian,Mongoloid, Negroid, orvariouscombinationsofrace
(Casas&Vasquez, 1989). Approximately62.6%oftheHispanicpopulationintheUnited
StatesareMexican, 13.8%CentralandSouthAmerican, 11.1%PuertoRican,4.9%
Cuban, and7.6%other(U.S. BureauoftheCensus, 1991). AlthoughthereareHispanics
livinginall 50states,themajorityoftheHispanicpopulationisconcentratedinthestates
1
2
ofCalifornia,Texas,NewYork,andFlorida. Thisincreasingpopulationisimpactingthe
mainstreamAmericancultureintheareasoflanguage, housing, employment, education,
business,health,andthearts.
Hispanicsubgroupsvarygreatlyinpersonalcharacteristics, educationallevel
attained,culturalvaluesandtraditions, familydynamicsandcompositions,andsocio-
economicsituations. ThemedianageoftheHispanicoriginpopulationin 1991 was24.3
years. Thisfigureis8yearsyoungerthanthe 1991 non-Hispanicmedianageof33.8
years;however,differencescanbefoundwithinindividualHispanicgroups. For
example,themedianageforMexicansis24.3;forCentralandSouthAmericansitis27.9;
forPuertoRicans267;forCubans39.3;andforotherHispanicsthemedianageis31.0.
Ascanbeseen,theheavilyrepresentedMexicangroup(62.6%oftheHispanic
population)istheyoungestinmedianageandCubans(makingup4.9%oftheHispanic
population)representtheoldest. Educationreportsfromthe 1991 CurrentPopulation
Survey(U.S. BureauoftheCensus, 1991)showeda 12.5% increasefrom 1983 for
Hispanics25yearsandoverwhoattended4yearsofhighschoolormore. Thosehaving4
yearsofcollegeormoreincreasedby21.2%duringthesameperiod. Thesedataindicate
thatcomparedtothegrowthintheoverallHispanicpopulation,thepercentageof
Hispanicswithahighschoolorcollegeeducationhasincreasedataslowrateduringa
recentdecade. ThesedataalsoshowthattheprospectofHispanicenrollmentand
completionofsecondaryandpostsecondaryeducationislow.
MostofthepublishedresearchonHispanicshasfocusedonMexicanAmericans
(Knight&Kagan, 1977;Olmendo,Martinez,&Martinez, 1978,Olmendo&Padilla,
1978,Rueschenberg&Buriel, 1989). Lessresearchisavailableontheotherthree