International Journal of Behavioral Development # 2004 The International Society for the 2004, 28 (6), 495–507 Study of Behavioural Development http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/pp/01650244.html DOI: 10.1080/01650250444000135 The role of acculturation in the emerging adulthood of aboriginal college students Charissa S. L. Cheah, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, USA Larry J. Nelson Brigham Young University, Provo, USA Compared to traditional, non-Western cultures, emerging adulthood (18–25 years of age) may look considerably different in cultures that place emphasis on the group (i.e., collectivistic) over the individual (i.e., individualistic). However, within minority cultures, individual members vary on the extent to which they identify with their heritage culture. Thus, the purpose of this study was to explore the role that culture, particularly acculturation to Canadian aboriginal heritage culture, may play in emerging adulthood. Specifically, aboriginal emerging adults who scored above or below the mean of their peers on acculturation to their heritage (aboriginal) culture were compared to their majority European Canadian counterparts in several aspects of emerging adulthood including (a) perceived adult status, (b) perceived criteria for adulthood, (c) achieved criteria for adulthood, (d) personal beliefs about the future, and (e) risk behaviours. Results revealed the significance of examining acculturation in understanding the role of culture in the process of emerging adulthood, particularly among ethnic minority youth. In particular, findings revealed that young aboriginal adults’ level of identification with aboriginal traditions such as the significance of interdependence and maintenance of harmony, the role of children and family, and historical sociocultural events appeared to play a role in many aspects of emerging adulthood. Introduction Emerging adulthood is a complex and dynamic period of life that presents young people both numerous opportunities and a variety of challenges. It may best be characterised as a time during which 18–25-year-olds (a) are pursuing individualistic- oriented rather than other-oriented goals, (b) are striving to form an identity through experimenting with work, relation- ships, and worldviews, (c) lack specific transitional roles that prepare them for adult roles, (d) are entering into increasingly intimate, nonmarital relationships, and (e) are engaging in relatively high rates of risky behaviours such as unprotected intercourse, illegal drug use, and driving while drunk (Arnett, 2000). However, this generalisation of the time period does not capture the variation that exists both within individuals and across cultures. Indeed, researchers have cautioned that emerging adult- hood may not be a universal period, but rather varying widely according to a culture’s values and beliefs. For example, whereas Western cultures such as the United States tend to value the individual and emphasise the capacity of an individual to stand alone as a self-sufficient person, some Western subcultures and Eastern majority cultures (e.g., China) tend to emphasise the goals, needs, and views of the family and community over those of the individual. Researchers have started to explore emerging adulthood in a variety of majority cultures (e.g., China; Nelson, Badger, & Wu, in press; Argentina; Facio & Micocci, 2003) as well as ethnic (Arnett, 2003) and religious (Nelson, 2003) subgroups in the United States. While these types of studies provide insight into broad differences between cultures, they fail to capture differences within those cultures, or intracultural variability. Several theorists and researchers have noted that indivi- duals within a culture vary in the extent to which they adopt the values and beliefs promoted by their culture (Lightfoot & Valsiner, 1992). Acculturation refers to the processes by which individuals adapt or react to a foreign culture and usually this entails the adoption of new cultural practices, but it can also refer to the blending of cultures (Berry, 1998). Although researchers have redefined acculturation as a bidirectional process between minority and majority groups, it has been argued that this process is a stronger issue for the former group as it learns the dominant society’s language, values, and social competencies (Ryder, Alden, & Paulhus, 2000). Acculturation has been identified as a source of variability for family structure, family roles, parental goals in development, adaptations to extrafamilial stresses and demands, childrearing practices, and interge- nerational conflict, among other things (Garcia Coll & Correspondence should be sent to Charissa Siew Lyng Cheah, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250; e-mail: Charissa.Cheah@umbc.edu. A portion of this paper was presented at the Society for Research in Adolescence, Baltimore, MD, March 2004. The authors are grateful to the students in Saskatchewan for their valuable time and information. The authors would also like to thank Penny Binning, Tara Gokavi, and Krista Trinder for their assistance with data collection. In addition, the authors would like to extend their gratitude for the grant support of the Family Studies Center at Brigham Young University and the University of Saskatchewan.