Journal of Immigrant Health, Vol. 7, No. 3, July 2005 ( C© 2005)DOI: 10.1007/s10903-005-3674-9

Measuring Acculturation Among Male Arab Immigrantsin the United States: An Exploratory Study

Declan T. Barry1

Given the absence of empirical measures that assess acculturation patterns among male Arabimmigrants, a new acculturation instrument was developed and evaluated. One hundred andfifteen adult male Arab immigrants were administered the Male Arab Acculturation Scale(MAAS), and psychometrically established measures of ethnic identity and self-esteem. Sat-isfactory reliability is reported for the two acculturation scales, separation/assimilation andintegration/marginalization. Ethnic identity, self-construal, personal self-esteem, and collec-tive self-esteem appear to be differentially associated with acculturation patterns among maleArab immigrants.

KEY WORDS: Arab; acculturation; ethnic identity; self-construal; self-esteem.

INTRODUCTION

Arabs are one of the few groups in theUnited States who are openly stereotyped and sub-jected to prejudice with impunity (1–3). Given thatthe psychological stressors associated with preju-dice/discrimination are known to be considerable,the acculturative experiences of Arab immigrantsmay be particularly important to examine (4). More-over, clinicians should be attuned to the accultura-tion experiences of individuals of Arab descent in or-der to minimize stereotyping and enhance culturalsensitivity (5, 6). However, to this author’s knowl-edge, no standard empirical measure of acculturationexists that specifically assesses acculturation amongArab immigrants in the United States.

Acculturation may be defined as social interac-tion and communication styles that individuals adoptwhen interacting with individuals and groups fromanother culture (7). It comprises both competenceand ease or comfort in communicating with eth-nic peers and outgroup members and thus extendsbeyond assessing English language fluency. Berry’s(8) scheme may be used to classify socializationand communication patterns: “assimilation” for so-

1Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine,CMHC/SAC Room 220, 34 Park Street, New Haven, CT 06519–1187; e-mail: declan.barry@yale.edu.

cialization/communication primarily with individualsfrom the majority culture; “separation” for social-ization/communication primarily with ethnic peers;“integration” for socialization/communication withmembers of both cultural groups; and “marginal-ization” for absence of socialization/communicationwith ethnic peers and majority culture members (9).

The present study aimed to examine accultur-ation patterns among male Arab immigrants in theUnited States. Although Arab immigrants may faceacculturative difficulties because of their widespreadnegative portrayal in the popular media (1) andthe large differences between their host and homecultures (4), the correlates of acculturation amongmale Arab immigrants are not well understood. Con-sequently, the association between two classes ofvariables, which have been conceptually or empiri-cally linked to acculturation among different ethnicgroups—culture (i.e., ethnic identity, self-construal)and self-esteem (i.e., personal and collective)—andacculturation were also examined.

METHODS

Participants

Participants included 115 geographically dis-persed male Arab immigrants, aged 18 to 54 years(M = 26.50, SD = 12.85). Over 50% of the subjects

179

1096-4045/05/0700-0179/0 C© 2005 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.

180 Barry

Table I. Factor Structure, Means, and Standard Deviations of the Male Arab Acculturation Scale (MAAS)

Factor loading

Separation/ Integration/Male Arab Acculturation scale (MAAS) items Assimilation Marginalization M SD

Scale 1: Separation/Assimilation1 I would much prefer to live in an Arab country .70 .03 3.12 1.763 Most of my friends are Arabs .72 .04 3.19 1.845Ra I behave like an American in many ways −.72 .18 .18 1.847R Generally, I feel more comfortable around −.62 .14 2.98 1.55

Americans than I do around Arabs

Scale 2: Integration/Marginalization2 I mix equally well with Americans and Arabs −.31 .58 4.60 1.774 I am equally at ease socializing with −.20 .72 4.85 1.62

Arabs and Americans6 I have many Arab and American friends −.15 .70 5.46 1.288R I have a lot of difficulty making friends .06 −.65 5.70 1.37

aItems with the suffix ‘R’ are reverse scored. M: mean; SD: standard deviation. n = 115 male Arab immi-grants. MAAS items are scored on a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree).

had lived in the United States for 5 or more years(M = 6.37, SD = 5.45).

Participants were well educated. Approximately50% had completed or were currently enrolled inundergraduate education; the other 50% had com-pleted or were currently enrolled in postgraduateprograms. Ninety-six percent (n = 110) reported av-erage or fluent English language ability. Of the 96%(n = 110) who reported a religious affiliation, ap-proximately 84% (n = 93) described themselves asMuslim, while 16% (n = 17) described themselvesas Christian. Participants were from Egypt, Iraq,Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, SaudiArabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, andYemen.

Procedure

Participants were self-selected in response towidespread advertisement through electronic media,fliers, assistance from the international student officeat a Midwestern State University, networking, andpersonal contacts. Advertisements solicited for maleArab immigrants to participate in a study about theirexperiences adapting to life in the United States. Thecover page of the questionnaire packet (measures de-scribed below) contained a description of the study,including potential risks and benefits of study partic-ipation. Since the questionnaires were completed onan anonymous basis, individuals were not required tosign an informed consent.

Cultural Measures

The Male Arab Acculturation Scale (MAAS; 10)is an 8-item factor analytically derived self-report in-ventory (see Table I). It contains two scales: sep-aration/assimilation (4 items; “Most of my friendsare Arabs”) and integration/marginalization (4 items;e.g., “I am equally at ease socializing with Americansand Arabs”). MAAS items measure participants’social interaction and communication styles (bothcompetency and ease/comfort in communicating) invarious settings (7, 9). The separation/assimilationand integration/marginalization scales had internalreliability coefficients or Cronbach alphas of .71and .73, respectively. Items are scored on a 7-pointLikert-type response format (strongly disagree, dis-agree, disagree somewhat, neutral, agree somewhat,agree, agree strongly). Scale scores are derived bysumming reverse-scored and positive-scored scaleitems.

The Male Arabic Ethnic Identity Measure(MAEIM; 5) is a 33-item self-report inventory, whichcomprises four subscales: religious-family values (14items; e.g., “I would never shout at my father evenif he was to insult me badly”), sense of belong-ing/ethnic pride (7 items; e.g., “When an importantnewspaper praises the Arabs, I feel that it is prais-ing me”), friendship (7 items; e.g., “I would risk dy-ing for my close friends”), and ethnic Arab prac-tices (5 items; e.g., “I eat Arabic food every week”).Cronbach alphas for the overall MAEIM scoreand four subscales were .89, .89, .81, .69, and .69,respectively.

Male Arab Immigrant Acculturation 181

Table II. Correlations between Acculturation Strategy, Ethnic Identity, Self-Construal, and Self-Esteem

Acculturation strategy

Separation/Assimilation Integration/Marginalization

Ethnic identityOverall MAEIM index .54∗∗ −.07

Religious-family values .40∗∗ −.07Sense of belonging/Ethnic pride .31∗∗ .12Friendship .23∗ −.02Ethnic Arab practices .59∗∗ −.23∗

Self-construalIndependent −.21∗ .40∗∗Interdependent .29∗ −.00

Personal self-esteemRosenberg .13 −.37∗∗

Collective self-esteemTotal CSE index .24∗ .06

Membership .10 .16Private .27∗ .03Public −.02 .06Identity .39∗∗ −.05

Note. n = 115 male Arab immigrants.∗p < .05, ∗∗p < .001.

The Self-Construal Scale (SCS; 11) is a standardmeasure to assess independent and interdependentself-construals, which has been widely used in di-verse ethnic populations (5, 12, 13). Sample subscaleitems include “I enjoy being unique and differentfrom others in many respects” (independent self-construal) and “I will sacrifice my self-interest forthe benefit of the group that I am in” (interdepen-dent self-construal). In the present study, Cronbachalpha reliabilities were .75 and .78 for independentand interdependent scales, respectively.

Self-Esteem

The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (SES; 14) is awidely used 10-item measure of personal self-esteemand self-worth with established reliability and valid-ity (15). Psychometric evaluations have noted ad-equate internal consistency (alpha coefficients .72to .92) and test-retest reliability coefficients gen-erally above .85 (14). Participants rate the items(e.g.,“On the whole, I am satisfied with myself”) on ascale from 1 (strongly agree) to 4 (strongly disagree).Scoring procedures result in higher scores reflectinghigher self-esteem.

The Collective Self-Esteem Measure (CSE; 16)is a 16-item paper-and-pencil measure, which com-prises four subscales: private (i.e., how individualsprivately evaluate their social group or groups), pub-

lic (i.e., how they believe others privately evaluatetheir social group or groups), importance to iden-tity (i.e., role of group memberships in their self-concept), and membership (i.e., their perception ofhow well they function as members of their so-cial groups). Psychometric evaluations have reportedadequate internal consistency for Asian-American,African-American, and European-American sam-ples (16). In the present study, the Cronbach alphacoefficients for the four subscales were .78, .81, .83.,and .79, respectively.

RESULTS

Table II summarizes the findings for separatedversus assimilated and integrated versus marginal-ized male Arab immigrants on ethnic identity. Sep-aration/assimilation was significantly positively asso-ciated with the overall MAEIM index (r = .54, p <

.001) and each of the MAEIM subscales: religiousfamily values (r = .40, p < .001), sense of belong-ing/ethnic pride (r = .31, p < .001), friendship (r =.23, p < .05), and ethnic Arabic practices (r = .59,p < .001). In contrast, integration/marginalizationwas not associated with the overall MAEIM indexor three of the MAEIM subscales: religious-familyvalues, sense of belonging/ethnic pride, or friend-ship, but was significantly negatively associated withethnic Arabic practices (r = −.23, p < .05).

182 Barry

Table II also summarizes self-construal, per-sonal self-esteem, and collective self-esteem forseparated versus assimilated and integrated ver-sus marginalized male Arab immigrants. Separa-tion/assimilation was significantly negatively associ-ated with independent self-construal (r = −.21, p <

.05) and significantly positively associated with inter-dependent self-construal (r = .29, p < .05). Integra-tion/marginalization was not associated with interde-pendent self-construal but was significantly positivelyassociated with independent self-construal (r = .40,p < .001). Whereas integration/marginalization wasnot associated with collective self-esteem (CSE), sep-aration/assimilation was significantly positively cor-related with overall collective self-esteem (r = .24,p < .05) and the private (r = .27, p < .05) and iden-tity (r = .39, p < .001) CSE subscales. In contrast,personal self-esteem was not associated with separa-tion/assimilation but was significantly negatively as-sociated with integration/marginalization (r = −.37,p < .001). Scores on separation/assimilation and in-tegration/marginalization did not differ significantlybetween Christian and Muslim Arab participants.

DISCUSSION

The present study investigated male Arab immi-grants’ acculturation patterns and their associationswith ethnic identity, self-construal, and self-esteemwere also examined. Male Arab immigrants who so-cialized primarily with ethnic peers (i.e., separated)exhibited a salient Arabic ethnic identity. While in-tegration (i.e., socialization and communication withboth Arabs and Americans) was not associated withoverall ethnic identity investment, religious-familyvalues, sense of belonging/ethnic pride, or friend-ship subscales, integrated participants appeared toeschew traditional ethnic Arab practices—perhapsthe most overt aspect of their ethnic identity. Per-haps, similar to the findings of Noel, Wann, andBranscombe (17), male Arab immigrants in thisstudy who wish to integrate may have strategicallyeschewed overt ethnic practices—which may distin-guish them from Americans—to indicate their desireto belong. However, it should be emphasized thatcorrelational analyses were used in this study andthus the direction of causality between factors, suchas acculturation and ethnic identity, cannot be read-ily determined.

Male Arabic immigrants who socialized primar-ily with ethnic peers (i.e., separated) exhibited an in-terdependent self-construal and not an independent

self-construal. In addition, integrated male Arabstended to exhibit an independent self-construal.These findings may be explained, in part, by thesimilarity–attraction effect, which posits a positivelink between attitude similarity and attraction (18).Thus, Arab immigrants who reported a more salientinterdependent self-construal may be attracted toand subsequently interact with their ethnic peers(who tend to have a salient interdependent self-construal). In contrast, Arab immigrants who exhibita more salient independent self-construal may bemore readily attracted to and prone to interact withAmericans (who tend to have a salient independentself-construal). Overall, the findings regardingthe associations between acculturation, ethnicidentity, and self-construal point to the importanceof assessing multiple facets or dimensions ratherthan using categorical or unidimensional measuresof culture (7, 19). Further studies should considerexamining these cultural variables as they pertain tohealth seeking behaviors among Arab immigrants.For example, the cultural variables examined inthis study (acculturation, ethnic identity, and self-construal) are associated with willingness to seekpsychological services among East Asian immigrantsin the United States (19).

It is important to note that the development ofacculturation scales, such as the MAAS, may helpclinicians to provide culturally sensitive treatmentto Arab immigrant clients (24). Unlike proxy indicesof acculturation, such as educational level, theMAAS accounts for the “multilayer” contexts ofacculturation (25) as well as the heterogeneity ofacculturation experiences within the male Arabimmigrant community in the US.

Acculturation and ethnic identity scales, suchas the MAAS and MAEIM, provides a standard-ized, structured way to enter into the worldview oftheir Arab immigrant clients. While the MAAS pro-vides useful information about social interaction andcommunication (both competency and ease/comfort)with members of their ethnic group and of the largersociety, the MAEIM affords information about tra-ditional ethnic values and practices, which are salientor eschewed. In turn, this information helps cliniciansto develop more effective individualized treatmentplans (26), including case conceptualization (e.g., amarginalized Arab man is less likely to have a so-cial support network than his separated counter-part), treatment modality offered (e.g., a separatedArab client may respond more favorably to direct,behavioral rather than traditional psychodynamic

Male Arab Immigrant Acculturation 183

interventions), and assessment of change (e.g., anArab client at the beginning of treatment is marginal-ized, works on communication skills during treat-ment, and later makes friends with Americans andbecomes more assimilated). Measures of accultur-ation, ethnic identity, and self-construal are usefultools for clinicians to capture potentially significanttrends among cultural variables and to make senseof large amounts of data, which might otherwise besomewhat overwhelming for those who treat clientsfrom a variety of cultural backgrounds.

Integrated Arabs reported low personal self-esteem while those who separated had elevated col-lective self-esteem. These findings appear to supportJetten, et al. (20) view that uncertainty about one’sstatus within social groups (e.g., perceived low sta-tus of one’s ethnic group within groups comprised ofmajority group members) may be associated with de-creased self-esteem. These findings need replication.Future research should also assess the roles of per-ceived social exclusion and perceived threat as poten-tial mediators of the relationship between accultura-tion status, and personal and collective self-esteem(21, 22).

Several limitations should be noted. This studyemployed male Arab immigrants only because thedevelopment of one of the ethnic identity measures(5) involved qualitative interviewing (both individ-ual and focus group) by a male interviewer. Severalattempts to solicit the participation of female Arabimmigrants proved unsuccessful. The experiences offemale Arab immigrants may vary significantly fromthose of their male counterparts. Thus, the resultsof this study should not necessarily be applied to fe-male Arab immigrants. Furthermore, in comparisonto the Arab-American population, individuals fromthe Palestinian Authority and Arabian Gulf coun-tries were over-represented in this study (23). Partic-ipants were well educated and may not be represen-tative of the overall Arab immigrant population inthis country. The study used a cross-sectional designand correlational analyses and thus limits statementsregarding causality. Prospective longitudinal studieswith repeated measures are needed to determine riskfactors and natural course of acculturation for maleArab immigrants.

The use of electronic media to solicit partici-pants is still somewhat unorthodox. The Internet wasused because of the small number of male Arabic im-migrants completing the questionnaires in the North-west Ohio area. It is important to note, however, thatthe Northwest Ohio and Internet samples were com-

parable on all measures. In addition to facilitating re-cruitment, the use of the Internet may afford partic-ipants a greater sense of anonymity than traditionalsurvey methods and thus may be a useful data collec-tion tool (9). Future research on Arab immigrants inthe US would benefit from examining potential dif-ferences in the pattern of associations between ac-culturation and self-esteem between Christian andMuslim Arabs. Although no significant differenceson acculturation were found in this study betweenboth religious groups, this may reflect this study’s rel-atively small sample size.

Overall, the findings of this study suggest thatacculturation patterns may be differentially asso-ciated with ethnic identity, self-construal and self-esteem among male Arab immigrants in the UnitedStates. Increased knowledge about possible relation-ships between aculturation strategies, ethnic identity,self-construal, and self-esteem may help inform pro-grams, such as those developed by many universityinternational student offices that assist immigrantsadapt to life in the United States. Increasing aware-ness of the interplay between acculturation pat-terns, ethnic identity, self-construal, and self-esteemmay also facilitate hypothesis formulation and test-ing, or “scientific mindedness,” a key componentof culturally competent counseling (27), and helpthe clinician become a more knowledgeable “culturebroker” (4).

REFERENCES

1. Abraham N: Anti-Arab racism and violence in the UnitedStates: In: McCarus E, ed. The Development of Arab-American Identity. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press;1994; 155–204

2. Shaheen J: The TV Arab. Bowling Green, OH: Popular Press;1984

3. Suleiman MW: America and the Arabs: Negative images andthe feasibility of dialogue: In: Abu-Laban A, Suleiman MW,eds. Arab Americans: Continuity and Change. Belmont, MA:AAAUG Inc.; 1989; 251–272

4. Abudabbeh N: Counseling Arab-American families: In:Gielen PU, Comunian L, eds. The Family and Family Ther-apy in International Perspective. Trieste, Italy: Edizioni LintTrieste; 1998; 115–126

5. Barry DT, Elliott R, Evans EM: Foreigners in a strange land:Ethnic identity and self-construal in male Arab immigrants.J Immigr Health 2000; 2:133–144

6. Erickson CD, Al-Timimi NR: Providing mental health ser-vices to Arab Americans: Recommendations and considera-tions. Cultur Divers Ethnic Minor Psychol 2001; 4:308–327

7. Barry DT, Garner DM: Eating concerns in East Asian immi-grants. Eat Weight Disord 2001; 6:90–98

8. Berry JW: Acculturation as varieties as adaptation: In: PadillaA, ed. Acculturation: Theory, Models and Some New Find-ings. Boulder, CO: Westview; 1980:9–25

184 Barry

9. Barry DT: Assessing culture via the Internet: Methods andtechniques for psychological research. Cyberpsychol Behav2001; 4:17–21

10. Barry DT: Foreigners in a strange land: The relationships be-tween Arab ethnic identity, self-construal, acculturation pat-terns, and male Arab self-esteem. Unpublished Master’s The-sis, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, 1996

11. Singelis TM: The measurement of independent and interde-pendent self-construals. Pers Soc Psychol Bull 1994; 20:580–591

12. Okazaki S: Asian American and White American differenceson affective distress symptoms. Do symptom reports differacross reporting methods? J Cross Cult Psychol 2000; 31:603–625

13. Singelis TM, Bond MH, Sharkey WF, Kriss SYL: Unpack-aging culture’s influence on self-esteem and embarrassability.J Cross Cult Psychol 1999; 30:315–341

14. Rosenberg M: Conceiving The Self. New York: Basic Books;1979

15. Griffiths RA, Beumont PJV, Giannakopoulos E, Russel J,Schotte D, Thornton C, Touyz SW, Varano P: Measuringself-esteem in diet disordered patients: The validity of theRosenberg and Coopersmith contrasted. Int J Eat Disord1999; 25:227–231

16. Luhtanen R, Crocker J: A collective self-esteem scale: Self-evaluation of one’s social identity. Pers Soc Psychol Bull 1992;18:302–318

17. Noel JG, Wann DL, Branscombe NR: Peripheral ingroupmembership status and public negativity toward outgroups.J Pers Soc Psychol 1995; 68:127–137

18. Byrne D: An overview (and underview) of research and the-ory within the attraction paradigm. J Soc Pers Relat 1997;14:417–431

19. Barry DT, Grilo CM: Cultural, psychological, and demo-graphic correlates of willingness to use psychological servicesamong East Asian immigrants. J Nerv Ment Dis 2002; 190:32–39

20. Jetten J, Hogg MA, Mullin B: In-group variability and mo-tivation to reduce subjective uncertainty. Group Dyn 2000;4:184–198

21. Leary M, Tambor E, Terdal S, Downs D: Self-esteem as aninterpersonal monitor: The sociometer hypothesis. J Pers SocPsychol 1995; 68:518–530

22. Heatherton T, Vohs KD: Interpersonal evaluations followingthreats to self: Role of self-esteem. J Pers Soc Psychol 2000;78:725–736

23. US Bureau of the Census: The Arab population: 2000.Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 2003; 2–4.

24. Al-Krenawi A, Graham JR: Culturally sensitive social workpractice with Arab clients in mental health settings. HealthSoc Work 2000; 25:9–22

25. Abu Baker K: Acculturation and reacculturation influence:Multilayer contexts in therapy. Clin Psychol Rev 1999;19:951–967

26. Barry DT, Bullock WA: Culturally creative psychotherapywith a Latino couple by an Anglo therapist. J Fam Psychother2001; 12:15–30

27. Sue S: In search of cultural competence in psychotherapy andcounseling. Am Psychol 1998; 53:440–448