Ethnicity and adjustment: a comparative study of Maltese- and Anglo-Australian adolescents

Author: Victoria Borg

The Relationship Paths Being Examined

Ethnicity and parent-child conflicts. Researchers have been interested in various measures of adjustment, such as parent-child conflicts and self-esteem, as a function of ethnicity. During adolescence, parent-child conflicts become more salient than in any other stage (Rosenthal 1984). These conflicts are mainly caused by the disparity between the adolescent's and the parents' values and expectations through the generation and cultural gaps. Different family systems, which also include child-rearing practices, can also contribute to such conflicts (Rosenthal 1982). A study conducted by Rosenthal (1984) examined intergenerational conflicts between adolescents and their parents. There were three groups of subjects, namely Anglo-Australian, Greek and Italian-Australian. Differences in conflictsbetween the three groups were found. Anglo-Australian adolescents reported significantly less conflicts than the Greek- and Italian-Australians.

Ethnicity and self-esteem. The discrepancy between the majority group which isc haracterised by an Anglo-Australian background and minority ethnic groups in various aspects of life is well acknowledged by several writers. In view of the perceived lower status of NESB persons, the task of developing a positive sense of ethnicity is quite difficult (Bottomley & Lepervanche 1984). Given that establishing a stance towards their ethnicity is crucial for the adolescents' adjustment (Rotheram & Fraser Wyche 1994), an identification with an ethnic group that mediates low status jeopardises positive self-esteem, which is an integral part ofone's identity (Phinney & Chavira 1992). Such a group may generate feelings of sharne, disgust and denigration for its culture.

Stress and self-esteem. People with low self-esteem are more likely to withdraw socially. Such behaviour increases the stress level of the individual due to the lack of 'stress buffers' found in friendships (Gore & Colten 1991). It could be that having someone to help you would in itself be helpful in enabling you to cope with these stressors. Studies examining the relationship between stress and self-esteem (eg., Youngs et al. 1990) found a negative relationship between the number of stressful life events and the level of self-esteem. The more stressful life events the adolescent experiences, the lower the self-esteem.

Parent-child conflicts and self-esteem. One aspect of family dynamics that impinges on the adolescent's adjustment are parent-child conflicts. A substantial body of literature has focused on this area. The adolescent's perception of the attitudes of significant others is highly related to global self-esteem (Rosenberg 1979). Those adolescents who perceive their parents to be caring and supportive are more likely to have high self-esteem. Those parents who encourage autonomy and independence also tend to help the adolescent to have high selfesteem (Noller 1995). Conflicts over these issues may lead to parent-child conflicts which might affect the adolescent's self-esteem. Given that the opinion of significant others has a major impact on self-esteem (Harter 1990), such conflicts may jeopardise the individual's well-being and adjustment.

Parent-child conflicts and stress. Parent-child conflicts involve role expectations by more than one 'role sender, a term coined by Thomas (1968). For adolescents, there are at least three 'role senders': parents, peers and the mass media. In many cases, the expectations entailed by these 'role senders' are at loggerheads with each other. Such situations trigger role conflict and dissensus, thereby making conformity to all of the role expectations difficult or impossible. Under such conditions, the adolescent is likely to experience considerable stress because of multiple, conflicting standards of desired behaviour. Parent-child conflicts can be detrimental to adjustment. A study by Siddique & D'Arcy (1984) examined the role of family, school and peer-groups, on four measures of psychological well-being, including stress. All three sources of stress were found to be related to the four measures of mental health, with family stress having the strongest negative impact.

Gender and parent-child conflicts. Another aspect of the adolescent experience which has been of interest to researchers is the relationship between gender and parent-child conflicts. Gender differences in parent-child conflicts have been identified (Rosenthal 1984). During adolescence, there seems to be a significant pressure for girls to adopt traditional roles (Siddique & D'Arcy 1984). Given that during the last two decades there has been a trend in changing sex-stereotyped behaviour, this pressure for girls to conform to traditional roles is likely to provoke conflicts with parents, who tend to be oriented towards sex-role behaviour A study (Rosenthal & Grieve 1990) revealed that amongst Italians in Australia a dissatisfaction with being a girl is associated with membership in an ethnic minority culture where gender roles are very much stereotyped.

Gender and self-esteem. A substantial body of literature reveals gender differences in self esteem. Males have a significant higher self-esteem than females (Offer et al. 1991; Hogg et aL 1987). Sex roles play a very important part in this discrepancy in self-esteem. We live in a society in which male activities, such as sport, science, medicine and business, are accorded higher prestige (Dasen et al. 1988). Given that masculine roles as well as characteristics have a higher status, one would expect that females have a significantly lower self-esteem.

Gender and stress. Gender differences in various types of stress have also been found (Fumham & Shiek 1993; Salgado de Snyder et al. 1990). Unlike men, women have to cope with the stressors associated with the expectations and performances of their multiple roles, such as mothers, wives and employees, inter-role conflicts and the stratification of sex. Women worry more than men about disagreements with parents (Siddique & D'Arcy 1984). In their study among Hispanic immigrants, Mexican Americans and Anglo Americans, examining the relationship between gender, ethnicity, psychosocial stress and generalised distress, Salgado de Snyderand and her associates found that females had higher scores on levels of stress related to cultural/fainily conflicts, as well as higher scores on the measure of generalised distress than their counterparts.

Ethnic identification and parent-child conflicts. Recently, a number of studies have drawn attention to ethnic identification and parent-child conflicts. The extent to which the individual identifies with his or her ethnic group seems to have implications on the relationship between parents and adolescents with regard to conflicts. Rosenthal's (1984) study found that those who assimilated experienced most parent-child conflicts. Given that immigrant parents tend to adhere to the traditional culture, the cultural gap between parents and adolescents who seem to give up the traditional culture in favour of the dominant, is widened. Such a discrepancy triggers more parent-child conflicts. Conversely, these conflicts are minimised when the adolescent's ethnic identity is high. A study which was conducted among Chinese adolescents in Melbourne (Fan 1995) revealed that the higher they were in ethnic identification, the less parent-child conflicts they experienced.

Ethnic identification and self-esteem. Studies have examined the relationship between identification and self-esteem. The extent to which the individual identifies with his or her ethnic group seems to have implications for the evaluation of the self-concept. Low levels of racial identity of Black students have been found to be associated with low self-esteem (Parkam & Hehn 1985). Conversely, a high level of racial identification is associated with high self-esteem. A high self-esteem may encourage high identification through which the exploration of ethnic issues is enhanced. Also, a clear understanding of one's background may contribute to positive feelings about oneself (Phinney & Chavira 1992).

Ethnic identification and stress. The literature also suggests that higher levels of ethnic identification seem to be negatively related to stress. Given that parent-child conflicts are minimised for those who are high on ethnic identification, it is reasonable to suspect that high levels of ethnic identification are related to low level of stress. It is possible that etlmic identification minimises internal conflicts between the core elements of the original culture which are still rooted in their value and belief systems (Rosenthal & Feldman 1992) and the new culture. This would obviously deflate the stress level of the adolescent. The study by Fan (1995) revealed that the higher the adolescents scored on etlmic identification, the lower they scored on the stress level.

Source: Maltese Background Youth - Editors Cauchi M, Borland H, Adams R, 1999, [Europe Australia Institute], p 62

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