Acculturation, ethnic identity, and psychological functioning among immigrant and first generation Armenian young adults

This investigation provides a systematic description of certain sociodemographic and psychological characteristics of immigrant and first-generation Armenian young adults. Participants in this study were 68 males and 112 females who were either first-generation born or had immigrated to the United States, and were between 18 and 39 years of age. A survey including the following measures was administered: (a) a demographic and personal history questionnaire, (b) the Armenian Ethnic Orientation Questionnaire, (c) the Armenian-American Identity Scale, and (d) the Gordon Personal Profile-Inventory. The relationship between acculturation and ethnic identity in predicting psychological functioning, as well as the main and/or interaction effects for acculturation, ethnic identity, and/or selected sociodemographic variables (i.e., gender, socioeconomic status, language spoken in the home, and country of origin) relative to psychological functioning were studied. Significant positive relationships were found for acculturation and Armenian ethnic identity relative to Ascendancy and Sociability, and a negative relationship was found between American identity relative to Ascendancy and Sociability. Although no significant interaction effects were found for acculturation and ethnic identity relative to psychological functioning, significant main effects were found for acculturation relative to Sociability and Cautiousness, and for ethnic identity relative to Ascendancy, Responsibility, and Self Esteem. Furthermore, gender did not significantly interact with acculturation level or ethnic identity relative to psychological functioning, however, the results did indicate that males were significantly more stable emotionally than females. Although no significant interaction effects were found for acculturation and socioeconomic status relative to psychological functioning, significant interaction effects were found for ethnic identity and socioeconomic status relative to Responsibility, Sociability, and Original Thinking, and a significant main effect was found for socioeconomic status relative to Responsibility and Vigor. In addition, there was a significant main effect for language spoken in the home relative to Responsibility, as well as interaction effects between both acculturation and language spoken in the home relative to Emotional Stability and Cautiousness; and ethnic identity and language spoken in the home relative to Cautiousness. Finally, although country of origin did not significantly interact with either acculturation or ethnic identity, there were significant main effects for country of origin relative to Ascendancy, Responsibility, Emotional Stability, Self Esteem, and Original Thinking. In light of the findings, implications for future research as well as several recommendations are provided for the treatment of the Armenian population.