Behavioral and Academic Adjustment of Remotely Acculturating Adolescents in Urban Jamaica

Effects of Hallyu on Chinese Consumers: A Focus on Remote Acculturation

Remote acculturation is a modern form of non-immigrant acculturation, which has primarily been used to investigate local people’s acculturation toward one or more foreign cultures. It has been approximately 30 years since the introduction of the first Korean TV drama Jealousy into China in 1993, and China is the birthplace of the Chinese term of Hallyu. Chinese people have experienced a long-term and far-reaching impact of Hallyu and Korean culture. Hence, this paper aims to investigate the effects of Hallyu (e.g., degree of use of Hallyu cultural contents, the Hallyu image, and Hallyu cultural familiarity) on Chinese consumers, with a focus on remote acculturation. A total of 623 Chinese consumers’ survey data were collected, and an analysis of a structural equation model (SEM) was conducted to verify the research hypotheses. The results manifest that the degree of use of Hallyu cultural contents, the Hallyu image, the Hallyu cognitive image, the Hallyu affective image and Hallyu cultural familiarity positively influence Korean cultural orientation, while the Hallyu image, the Hallyu cognitive image and the Hallyu affective image exert a negative impact on Chinese cultural orientation, but the degree of use of Hallyu cultural contents and Hallyu cultural familiarity do not significantly negatively affect Chinese cultural orientation. Moreover, Korean cultural orientation brings about a positive effect on attitudes toward Korea, while Chinese cultural orientation negatively impacts on attitudes toward Korea. Additionally, attitudes toward Korea generate a positive influence on visit intention to Korea, along with the intention to purchase Korean products. Overall, this paper enriches the research objects of remote acculturation, extends the research scope of remote acculturation and provides a new perspective for studies on Hallyu by introducing remote acculturation into the exploration of Hallyu.

Negotiating Local and Global Values in a Globalized World: The Envisioned Futures of Thai Adolescents

This study investigates how adolescents growing up in a rapidly globalizing Thai city psychologically manage local and global values when considering their envisioned futures. Qualitative analysis of interviews conducted with 20 (16-18 years old) adolescents reveals four distinct patterns of local-global value negotiation. Findings indicate that adolescents at times dynamically reshape local values in order to encompass global values; at other times, adolescents conceive of themselves as sitting at the crossroads of value systems that cannot be readily integrated. By revealing how global youth negotiate local and global values, this study pushes forward the scientific understanding of biculturalism in contexts of rapid cultural change.

Proximal and Remote Acculturation: Adolescents’ Perspectives of Biculturalism in Two Contexts

Immigration and globalization are at historic highs, making biculturalism, whether by way of immigration-based proximal acculturation or globalization-based remote acculturation, increasingly commonplace for adolescents. Using focus group interviews, this qualitative study explored Latinx adolescents’ ( n = 19, 13-19 years) views of proximal biculturalism in the United States, and Jamaican adolescents’ ( n = 15, 13-18 years) views of remote biculturalism in Jamaica in terms of the existence, adaptive value, and challenges of biculturalism. Findings of thematic analyses revealed that both groups of adolescents viewed biculturalism as possible in their respective contexts although differences in processes and mechanisms were evident. In addition, youth in both contexts saw biculturalism as beneficial for social and practical reasons. Finally, both groups acknowledged challenges related to biculturalism; however, internal conflicts based on physical appearance was a theme of discussion only among U.S. Latinxs, whereas problems fitting in were primary concerns for Jamaicans. Studying the similarities (and differences) between proximal and remote biculturalism can enrich biculturalism theory, and doing so from the adolescent point of view has important practical value by providing a fuller understanding of the experience of biculturalism among youth who are developing ethnic/cultural identities and planning their futures in diversifying cultural environments.

Towards a Paradigm to Study Psychological Ramifications of Globalization

In this commentary on the special issue, it is argued that the studies presented illustrate three pivotal characteristics of a new, evolving paradigm to study the consequences of prolonged intercultural encounters, such as globalization. The first refers to the topics studied and involves the need to delineate more distal, universal, and more proximal, culture-specific elements in intercultural encounters in these topics. The second is the need to deal with variation in intensity and focus of intercultural contact, ranging from casual contact to immersion. The third involves the need to delineate the psychological mechanisms involved in intercultural contact (and their consequences). The studies in the special issue illustrate the importance of including contextual features in the study of globalization. Challenges of the evolving paradigm are described.