PSYCHOLOGICAL ADAPTATION AND ACCULTURATION OF THE TURKISH STUDENTS IN THE UNITES STATES BektaS, Dilek Yelda Ph.D., Department of Educational Sciences Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Ayhan Demir 2004, 162 pages The purpose of this present study was to examine the psychological adaptation of the Turkish students in the U.S. by examining the acculturation variables in Berry&rsquo / s (1997) acculturation framework. The sample of this study was the 132 voluntary Turkish students enrolled in various colleges in the U.S. contacted through various Turkish Students Associations of colleges in the U.S., Yahoo groups of the Turkish people who live in the U.S., and Intercollegiate Turkish Student Society. The participants in San Antonio, Texas were contacted by the researcher. The scales used in the study were / a demographic variable questionnaire prepared by the researcher, Perceived Social Support by Friends Questionnaire, modified version of Acculturation Attitudes Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, Satisfaction with Life Inventory, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and Cultural Distance Scale developed for the present study. Reliability studies of the scales used for the sample of the present study were conducted. Data were analyzed by various statistical analyses. The analyses used in the present study were, multiple hierarchical regression analyses, correlations, t-tests and ANOVAs. Results of the study indicated that Turkish students are found psychologically well adjusted to their new environments in the U.S., satisfied with their new cultural contexts and mentally healthy. Self-esteem, previous travel experience, and met expectations predicted 51 % of the variance in depression / self-esteem, met expectations, English proficiency, perceived social support, and perceived discrimination predicted 41 % of the variance in satisfaction with life. In terms of acculturation attitudes, separation attitude was found to be the most preferred acculturation attitude among the Turkish students and female students were found to prefer integration attitude more than male students. Keywords: Acculturation process, psychological adaptation, acculturation attitudes

Hispanic students often suffer from acculturative stress as they adapt to U.S. college environments; however, few scholars have examined the acculturative stress relationship among undocumented versus documented Hispanic college students. In this quantitative, correlational study design, adaptation levels related to acculturative stress between both statuses were examined. The theoretical foundations of this study are based on the social cognitive career theory. This investigation focused on determining how adaptation levels predict Hispanic college students' acculturative stress and whether this realtionship differ between documented and undocumented college students. The I-Adapt measure was used to measure participants' level of adaptability and the social, attitudinal, familial and educational or the Social, Attitudinal, Familial and Educational (S.A.F.E) measurement was used to measure their acculturative stress levels. The sample consisted of 165 Hispanic college students recruited from a private northeastern university. Contrarily to the main hypothesis, Regression analysis revealed that higher levels of cultural and crisis adaptability predicted lower levels of acculturative stress while higher levels of work stress adaptability predicted higher levels of acculturative stress. Future research should focus on further examination differences in adaptation toward acculturative stress and the aftermath of acculturative stress adaptation methods between documented and undocumented college students. The findings of this study can contribute to social change by informing immigration laws to adopt in order to protect college educated, skilled and productive immigrants.

Yes / Prior research ignores the specific role of acculturation attitudes in predicting acculturation behaviors and consumption choices across public and private life domains. The study uses self-administered questionnaires to collect data from 530 Turkish-Dutch respondents. The findings underscore the overall significance of investigating domain-specific (public vs. private) acculturation attitudes and subsequent acculturation behaviors. Enculturation (acculturation) behaviors function as a mediating variable in the relationship between acculturation attitudes and consumption of food and entertainment products from the heritage (host) culture. The study is one of the first to investigate the simultaneous effects of acculturation attitudes and acculturation behaviors on the choice to consumer foods and entertainment products from both heritage and host cultures. The article provides managerial implications and future research directions.

The main purpose of this study was to investigate factors and mechanisms of resilience among Turkish migrant women in the UK. For this purpose, qualitative and quantitative methods were used in combination. The quantitative study examined the role of perceived discrimination and social support, psychological distress, and integration acculturation attitude in predicting empowerment scores as the indication of resilience among Turkish migrant women in the UK. Demographic characteristics of education level, perceived English language level and residence status were controlled. The quantitative sample of the study consisted of 248 Turkish migrant women in London, while the qualitative sample of the study included 11 women who were selected among the participants of the quantitative study. Data collection instruments used in the quantitative study included, a demographic data form, Social Support Scale (Cohen &amp / Willis, 1985 / Soyg&uuml / t, 1989), General Health Questionnaire (Goldberg, 1972 / Kili&ccedil / , 1996), Acculturation Attitudes Scale (Ataca &amp / Berry, 2002), and Empowerment Scale (Sciarappa, Rogers, &amp / Chamberlin, 1994). The qualitative data were collected through narrative interviews by using an interview schedule that consisted of topics like migration story/process, experiences in the UK, coping processes/mechanisms, opportunities, discrimination, language and relationships, gender related experiences, changes in life, and social support networks. Results of the hierarchical regression analysis revealed that the model of linear combinations of educational level, perceived English language level and residence status of participants, perceived discrimination, perceived social support, distress level and integration acculturation attitude significantly explained 38.5% of the total variance in empowerment scores. Among all individual predictor variables, having medium and high educational level, having higher levels of perceived social support and integration attitude, and having lower level of psychological distress were found associated with higher empowerment scores, and thus with higher resilience among Turkish migrant women in the UK. In the qualitative study, the documentary method was used to analyse the transcribed interviews. Results revealed that migration process, language, accommodation, marriage and relationship with husband, social relationships, ties and friends, children and motherhood, losses, husband&rsquo / s family, loneliness and belongingness, Turkish community, health problems and experiences with health services, and discrimination are the important risk and/or protective factors in the resilience of Turkish migrant women. Results also revealed that having or developing an educational orientation is an important protective factor for Turkish migrant women in the host country. Qualitative findings also showed that although almost all women used some strategies to cope with the demands of their lives in a new country, this process went beyond coping and corresponded to transformation and, in turn, resilience for some women.