PERSONAL ADJUSTMENT TO ACCULTURATIVE TRANSITIONS - THE TURKISH EXPERIENCE

This research examines personal adjustment to acculturative transition s. Internal adjustment, or wellbeing, and external adjustment, or effe ctiveness, are analyzed in two acculturation contexts: migration from rural to urban settings in Turkey, and international migration from Tu rkey to Belgium. Comparisons are made between low-SES (socioeconomic s tatus) and high-SES youth in Istanbul, as well as between these youngs ters and Turkish youth in Belgium. Adjustment is explained by collecti vism and achievement values among acculturating persons, and by social inequality and cultural distance between acculturating and dominant c ultural groups. Full causal models are used to test individual-level a nd group-level explanations of acculturative adjustment. It is found t hat Turkish youngsters with a collectivistic value orientation have fe wer adjustment problems. Second, social inequality increases internal adjustment problems of low-SES youth in Turkey, and cultural distance adds to external adjustment problems of Turkish immigrant youth in Bel gium. Third, social inequality reinforces collectivism of low-SES yout h in Turkey, whereas in Belgium, collectivism is reinforced by cultura l distance. Simultaneously, cultural distance in Belgium lowers achiev ement values of Turkish immigrant youth.