C 2005)

Journal of Immigrant Health, Vol. 7, No. 3, July 2005 (

DOI: 10.1007/s10903-005-3674-9

Measuring Acculturation Among Male Arab Immigrants

in the United States: An Exploratory Study
Declan T. Barry1

Given the absence of empirical measures that assess acculturation patterns among male Arab
immigrants, a new acculturation instrument was developed and evaluated. One hundred and
fifteen adult male Arab immigrants were administered the Male Arab Acculturation Scale
(MAAS), and psychometrically established measures of ethnic identity and self-esteem. Satisfactory reliability is reported for the two acculturation scales, separation/assimilation and
integration/marginalization. Ethnic identity, self-construal, personal self-esteem, and collective self-esteem appear to be differentially associated with acculturation patterns among male
Arab immigrants.
KEY WORDS: Arab; acculturation; ethnic identity; self-construal; self-esteem.

INTRODUCTION

cialization/communication primarily with individuals

from the majority culture; separation for socialization/communication primarily with ethnic peers;
integration for socialization/communication with
members of both cultural groups; and marginalization for absence of socialization/communication
with ethnic peers and majority culture members (9).
The present study aimed to examine acculturation patterns among male Arab immigrants in the
United States. Although Arab immigrants may face
acculturative difficulties because of their widespread
negative portrayal in the popular media (1) and
the large differences between their host and home
cultures (4), the correlates of acculturation among
male Arab immigrants are not well understood. Consequently, the association between two classes of
variables, which have been conceptually or empirically linked to acculturation among different ethnic
groupsculture (i.e., ethnic identity, self-construal)
and self-esteem (i.e., personal and collective)and
acculturation were also examined.

Arabs are one of the few groups in the

United States who are openly stereotyped and subjected to prejudice with impunity (13). Given that
the psychological stressors associated with prejudice/discrimination are known to be considerable,
the acculturative experiences of Arab immigrants
may be particularly important to examine (4). Moreover, clinicians should be attuned to the acculturation experiences of individuals of Arab descent in order to minimize stereotyping and enhance cultural
sensitivity (5, 6). However, to this authors knowledge, no standard empirical measure of acculturation
exists that specifically assesses acculturation among
Arab immigrants in the United States.
Acculturation may be defined as social interaction and communication styles that individuals adopt
when interacting with individuals and groups from
another culture (7). It comprises both competence
and ease or comfort in communicating with ethnic peers and outgroup members and thus extends
beyond assessing English language fluency. Berrys
(8) scheme may be used to classify socialization
and communication patterns: assimilation for so-

METHODS
Participants
Participants included 115 geographically dispersed male Arab immigrants, aged 18 to 54 years
(M = 26.50, SD = 12.85). Over 50% of the subjects

1 Department

of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine,

CMHC/SAC Room 220, 34 Park Street, New Haven, CT 06519
1187; e-mail: declan.barry@yale.edu.

179
C 2005 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.
1096-4045/05/0700-0179/0

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Barry
Table I. Factor Structure, Means, and Standard Deviations of the Male Arab Acculturation Scale (MAAS)
Factor loading
Male Arab Acculturation scale (MAAS) items
Scale 1: Separation/Assimilation
1 I would much prefer to live in an Arab country
3 Most of my friends are Arabs
5Ra I behave like an American in many ways
7R Generally, I feel more comfortable around
Americans than I do around Arabs
Scale 2: Integration/Marginalization
2 I mix equally well with Americans and Arabs
4 I am equally at ease socializing with
Arabs and Americans
6 I have many Arab and American friends
8R I have a lot of difficulty making friends

Separation/
Assimilation

Integration/
Marginalization

SD

.70
.72
.72
.62

.03
.04
.18
.14

3.12
3.19
.18
2.98

1.76
1.84
1.84
1.55

.31
.20

.58
.72

4.60
4.85

1.77
1.62

.15
.06

.70
.65

5.46
5.70

1.28
1.37

with the suffix R are reverse scored. M: mean; SD: standard deviation. n = 115 male Arab immigrants. MAAS items are scored on a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree).

a Items

had lived in the United States for 5 or more years

(M = 6.37, SD = 5.45).
Participants were well educated. Approximately
50% had completed or were currently enrolled in
undergraduate education; the other 50% had completed or were currently enrolled in postgraduate
programs. Ninety-six percent (n = 110) reported average or fluent English language ability. Of the 96%
(n = 110) who reported a religious affiliation, approximately 84% (n = 93) described themselves as
Muslim, while 16% (n = 17) described themselves
as Christian. Participants were from Egypt, Iraq,
Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Saudi
Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and
Yemen.

Procedure
Participants were self-selected in response to
widespread advertisement through electronic media,
fliers, assistance from the international student office
at a Midwestern State University, networking, and
personal contacts. Advertisements solicited for male
Arab immigrants to participate in a study about their
experiences adapting to life in the United States. The
cover page of the questionnaire packet (measures described below) contained a description of the study,
including potential risks and benefits of study participation. Since the questionnaires were completed on
an anonymous basis, individuals were not required to
sign an informed consent.

Cultural Measures
The Male Arab Acculturation Scale (MAAS; 10)
is an 8-item factor analytically derived self-report inventory (see Table I). It contains two scales: separation/assimilation (4 items; Most of my friends
are Arabs) and integration/marginalization (4 items;
e.g., I am equally at ease socializing with Americans
and Arabs). MAAS items measure participants
social interaction and communication styles (both
competency and ease/comfort in communicating) in
various settings (7, 9). The separation/assimilation
and integration/marginalization scales had internal
reliability coefficients or Cronbach alphas of .71
and .73, respectively. Items are scored on a 7-point
Likert-type response format (strongly disagree, disagree, disagree somewhat, neutral, agree somewhat,
agree, agree strongly). Scale scores are derived by
summing reverse-scored and positive-scored scale
items.
The Male Arabic Ethnic Identity Measure
(MAEIM; 5) is a 33-item self-report inventory, which
comprises four subscales: religious-family values (14
items; e.g., I would never shout at my father even
if he was to insult me badly), sense of belonging/ethnic pride (7 items; e.g., When an important
newspaper praises the Arabs, I feel that it is praising me), friendship (7 items; e.g., I would risk dying for my close friends), and ethnic Arab practices (5 items; e.g., I eat Arabic food every week).
Cronbach alphas for the overall MAEIM score
and four subscales were .89, .89, .81, .69, and .69,
respectively.

Male Arab Immigrant Acculturation

181

Table II. Correlations between Acculturation Strategy, Ethnic Identity, Self-Construal, and Self-Esteem
Acculturation strategy
Separation/Assimilation
Ethnic identity
Overall MAEIM index
Religious-family values
Sense of belonging/Ethnic pride
Friendship
Ethnic Arab practices
Self-construal
Independent
Interdependent
Personal self-esteem
Rosenberg
Collective self-esteem
Total CSE index
Membership
Private
Public
Identity

.54
.40
.31
.23
.59

Integration/Marginalization
.07
.07
.12
.02
.23

.21
.29

.40
.00

.13

.37

.24
.10
.27
.02
.39

.06
.16
.03
.06
.05

Note. n = 115 male Arab immigrants.

p < .05, p < .001.

The Self-Construal Scale (SCS; 11) is a standard

measure to assess independent and interdependent
self-construals, which has been widely used in diverse ethnic populations (5, 12, 13). Sample subscale
items include I enjoy being unique and different
from others in many respects (independent selfconstrual) and I will sacrifice my self-interest for
the benefit of the group that I am in (interdependent self-construal). In the present study, Cronbach
alpha reliabilities were .75 and .78 for independent
and interdependent scales, respectively.

lic (i.e., how they believe others privately evaluate

their social group or groups), importance to identity (i.e., role of group memberships in their selfconcept), and membership (i.e., their perception of
how well they function as members of their social groups). Psychometric evaluations have reported
adequate internal consistency for Asian-American,
African-American, and European-American samples (16). In the present study, the Cronbach alpha
coefficients for the four subscales were .78, .81, .83.,
and .79, respectively.

Self-Esteem

RESULTS

The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (SES; 14) is a

widely used 10-item measure of personal self-esteem
and self-worth with established reliability and validity (15). Psychometric evaluations have noted adequate internal consistency (alpha coefficients .72
to .92) and test-retest reliability coefficients generally above .85 (14). Participants rate the items
(e.g.,On the whole, I am satisfied with myself) on a
scale from 1 (strongly agree) to 4 (strongly disagree).
Scoring procedures result in higher scores reflecting
higher self-esteem.
The Collective Self-Esteem Measure (CSE; 16)
is a 16-item paper-and-pencil measure, which comprises four subscales: private (i.e., how individuals
privately evaluate their social group or groups), pub-

Table II summarizes the findings for separated

versus assimilated and integrated versus marginalized male Arab immigrants on ethnic identity. Separation/assimilation was significantly positively associated with the overall MAEIM index (r = .54, p <
.001) and each of the MAEIM subscales: religious
family values (r = .40, p < .001), sense of belonging/ethnic pride (r = .31, p < .001), friendship (r =
.23, p < .05), and ethnic Arabic practices (r = .59,
p < .001). In contrast, integration/marginalization
was not associated with the overall MAEIM index
or three of the MAEIM subscales: religious-family
values, sense of belonging/ethnic pride, or friendship, but was significantly negatively associated with
ethnic Arabic practices (r = .23, p < .05).

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Table II also summarizes self-construal, personal self-esteem, and collective self-esteem for
separated versus assimilated and integrated versus marginalized male Arab immigrants. Separation/assimilation was significantly negatively associated with independent self-construal (r = .21, p <
.05) and significantly positively associated with interdependent self-construal (r = .29, p < .05). Integration/marginalization was not associated with interdependent self-construal but was significantly positively
associated with independent self-construal (r = .40,
p < .001). Whereas integration/marginalization was
not associated with collective self-esteem (CSE), separation/assimilation was significantly positively correlated with overall collective self-esteem (r = .24,
p < .05) and the private (r = .27, p < .05) and identity (r = .39, p < .001) CSE subscales. In contrast,
personal self-esteem was not associated with separation/assimilation but was significantly negatively associated with integration/marginalization (r = .37,
p < .001). Scores on separation/assimilation and integration/marginalization did not differ significantly
between Christian and Muslim Arab participants.
DISCUSSION
The present study investigated male Arab immigrants acculturation patterns and their associations
with ethnic identity, self-construal, and self-esteem
were also examined. Male Arab immigrants who socialized primarily with ethnic peers (i.e., separated)
exhibited a salient Arabic ethnic identity. While integration (i.e., socialization and communication with
both Arabs and Americans) was not associated with
overall ethnic identity investment, religious-family
values, sense of belonging/ethnic pride, or friendship subscales, integrated participants appeared to
eschew traditional ethnic Arab practicesperhaps
the most overt aspect of their ethnic identity. Perhaps, similar to the findings of Noel, Wann, and
Branscombe (17), male Arab immigrants in this
study who wish to integrate may have strategically
eschewed overt ethnic practiceswhich may distinguish them from Americansto indicate their desire
to belong. However, it should be emphasized that
correlational analyses were used in this study and
thus the direction of causality between factors, such
as acculturation and ethnic identity, cannot be readily determined.
Male Arabic immigrants who socialized primarily with ethnic peers (i.e., separated) exhibited an interdependent self-construal and not an independent

Barry
self-construal. In addition, integrated male Arabs
tended to exhibit an independent self-construal.
These findings may be explained, in part, by the
similarityattraction effect, which posits a positive
link between attitude similarity and attraction (18).
Thus, Arab immigrants who reported a more salient
interdependent self-construal may be attracted to
and subsequently interact with their ethnic peers
(who tend to have a salient interdependent selfconstrual). In contrast, Arab immigrants who exhibit
a more salient independent self-construal may be
more readily attracted to and prone to interact with
Americans (who tend to have a salient independent
self-construal). Overall, the findings regarding
the associations between acculturation, ethnic
identity, and self-construal point to the importance
of assessing multiple facets or dimensions rather
than using categorical or unidimensional measures
of culture (7, 19). Further studies should consider
examining these cultural variables as they pertain to
health seeking behaviors among Arab immigrants.
For example, the cultural variables examined in
this study (acculturation, ethnic identity, and selfconstrual) are associated with willingness to seek
psychological services among East Asian immigrants
in the United States (19).
It is important to note that the development of
acculturation scales, such as the MAAS, may help
clinicians to provide culturally sensitive treatment
to Arab immigrant clients (24). Unlike proxy indices
of acculturation, such as educational level, the
MAAS accounts for the multilayer contexts of
acculturation (25) as well as the heterogeneity of
acculturation experiences within the male Arab
immigrant community in the US.
Acculturation and ethnic identity scales, such
as the MAAS and MAEIM, provides a standardized, structured way to enter into the worldview of
their Arab immigrant clients. While the MAAS provides useful information about social interaction and
communication (both competency and ease/comfort)
with members of their ethnic group and of the larger
society, the MAEIM affords information about traditional ethnic values and practices, which are salient
or eschewed. In turn, this information helps clinicians
to develop more effective individualized treatment
plans (26), including case conceptualization (e.g., a
marginalized Arab man is less likely to have a social support network than his separated counterpart), treatment modality offered (e.g., a separated
Arab client may respond more favorably to direct,
behavioral rather than traditional psychodynamic

Male Arab Immigrant Acculturation

interventions), and assessment of change (e.g., an
Arab client at the beginning of treatment is marginalized, works on communication skills during treatment, and later makes friends with Americans and
becomes more assimilated). Measures of acculturation, ethnic identity, and self-construal are useful
tools for clinicians to capture potentially significant
trends among cultural variables and to make sense
of large amounts of data, which might otherwise be
somewhat overwhelming for those who treat clients
from a variety of cultural backgrounds.
Integrated Arabs reported low personal selfesteem while those who separated had elevated collective self-esteem. These findings appear to support
Jetten, et al. (20) view that uncertainty about ones
status within social groups (e.g., perceived low status of ones ethnic group within groups comprised of
majority group members) may be associated with decreased self-esteem. These findings need replication.
Future research should also assess the roles of perceived social exclusion and perceived threat as potential mediators of the relationship between acculturation status, and personal and collective self-esteem
(21, 22).
Several limitations should be noted. This study
employed male Arab immigrants only because the
development of one of the ethnic identity measures
(5) involved qualitative interviewing (both individual and focus group) by a male interviewer. Several
attempts to solicit the participation of female Arab
immigrants proved unsuccessful. The experiences of
female Arab immigrants may vary significantly from
those of their male counterparts. Thus, the results
of this study should not necessarily be applied to female Arab immigrants. Furthermore, in comparison
to the Arab-American population, individuals from
the Palestinian Authority and Arabian Gulf countries were over-represented in this study (23). Participants were well educated and may not be representative of the overall Arab immigrant population in
this country. The study used a cross-sectional design
and correlational analyses and thus limits statements
regarding causality. Prospective longitudinal studies
with repeated measures are needed to determine risk
factors and natural course of acculturation for male
Arab immigrants.
The use of electronic media to solicit participants is still somewhat unorthodox. The Internet was
used because of the small number of male Arabic immigrants completing the questionnaires in the Northwest Ohio area. It is important to note, however, that
the Northwest Ohio and Internet samples were com-

183
parable on all measures. In addition to facilitating recruitment, the use of the Internet may afford participants a greater sense of anonymity than traditional
survey methods and thus may be a useful data collection tool (9). Future research on Arab immigrants in
the US would benefit from examining potential differences in the pattern of associations between acculturation and self-esteem between Christian and
Muslim Arabs. Although no significant differences
on acculturation were found in this study between
both religious groups, this may reflect this studys relatively small sample size.
Overall, the findings of this study suggest that
acculturation patterns may be differentially associated with ethnic identity, self-construal and selfesteem among male Arab immigrants in the United
States. Increased knowledge about possible relationships between aculturation strategies, ethnic identity,
self-construal, and self-esteem may help inform programs, such as those developed by many university
international student offices that assist immigrants
adapt to life in the United States. Increasing awareness of the interplay between acculturation patterns, ethnic identity, self-construal, and self-esteem
may also facilitate hypothesis formulation and testing, or scientific mindedness, a key component
of culturally competent counseling (27), and help
the clinician become a more knowledgeable culture
broker (4).

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