International Journal of Psychology, 2015
DOI: 10.1002/ijop.12191
I am AmeriBritSouthAfrican-Zambian: Multidimensional
remote acculturation and well-being among urban Zambian
adolescents
Yuna L. Ferguson
1
, Kim T. Ferguson
2
, and Gail M. Ferguson
3
1
Department of Psychology, Truman State University, Kirksville, MO, USA
2
Department of Psychology, Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY, USA
3
Department of Human and Community Development, University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
O
ne impact of globalisation is that adolescents today are frequently exposed to the values, attitudes and norms of other
nations without leaving their own backyards. This may lead to remote acculturation—cultural and psychological
changes experienced by non-migrant individuals having indirect and/or intermittent contact with a geographically separate
culture. Using quantitative and qualitative data, we examined multidimensional remote acculturation among 83 urban
Zambian adolescents who are routinely exposed to U.S., U.K. and South African cultures through traditional and
social media and materials/goods. Cluster analyses showed 2 distinct groups of adolescents. “Traditional Zambians,
TZs” (55.4%) were signifcantly more oriented towards Zambian culture and reported a higher level of obligation to
their families and greater interdependent self-construal compared with “Westernised Multicultural Zambians, WMZs”
(44.6%), who were more oriented towards U.S., U.K. and South African cultures. Furthermore, remote acculturation
predicted somewhat lower life satisfaction among WMZs. These results demonstrate that individuals’ behaviours, values
and identity may be infuenced by multiple geographically distant cultures simultaneously and may be associated with
psychological costs.
Keywords: Remote acculturation; Zambians; Globalisation; Self-construal; Well-being; Adolescents.
Remote acculturation is a modern form of acculturation
resulting from globalisation, whereby individuals adopt
the practices, values and identities of foreign cultures
in which they have never lived (Ferguson & Bornstein,
2012). In this study, we extend these fndings with a
sample of understudied adolescents growing up in urban
Zambia, an ideal location to examine remote accultura-
tion. Owing to Zambia’s recent economic development
and the infux of foreign goods and media, as well
as increasing internet use, adolescents in Lusaka, the
capital of Zambia, currently have unprecedented access
to international infuences from multiple nations. This
multinational infuence allows us to test the possibility
of multidimensional remote acculturation—that urban
Zambian adolescents become oriented towards multiple
Correspondence should be addressed to Yuna Ferguson, Department of Psychology, Truman State University, 100 East Normal Avenue, Kirksville,
MO 63501, USA. (E-mail: yferguson@truman.edu).
This research was funded by the Research Development Grant from Penn State University, awarded to Yuna Ferguson. Each author made major
contributions to the article. All authors contributed equally towards the study conception and design and data analysis and interpretation. Data collection
was completed by Yuna Ferguson, who also initially drafted the article. Kim Ferguson and Gail Ferguson wrote parts of the draft that were relevant to
their individual expertise and also critically revised the entire draft. All authors have reviewed and approved the fnal draft before submission.
remote cultures simultaneously, specifcally, U.S., U.
K. and South African cultures. While prior studies have
focused mainly on remote acculturation in behaviours
and values, this study also highlights remote identity
acculturation. In addition, we examine whether remote
acculturation is relevant to adolescents’ well-being as
has been found among remotely acculturated emerging
adults (Ferguson & Adams, in press).
REMOTE ACCULTURATION: ACCULTURATION
WITHOUT MIGRATION
Traditionally, acculturation research has focused on indi-
viduals in contexts impacted by migration, in which
migrants and nationals come in contact and are changed
© 2015 International Union of Psychological Science