Intercultural profiles and adaptation among immigrant and autochthonous adolescents

Few studies examine relationships between intercultural strategies and adaptation among adolescents using a person-oriented approach. Framed from an intercultural psychology perspective, this study used such an approach in order to examine the influence of intercultural profiles, patterns of relationships among variables related to intercultural strategies, on the adaptation of adolescents of both non-dominant and dominant groups. Two hundred and fifty-six adolescents living in Italy and aged from 14 to 18 participated to the study: 127 immigrants from Tunisia (males = 49.61%) and 129 autochthonous (males = 44.19%). Data were collected through self-report questionnaires. Using cluster analytic methods to identify profiles, the results showed that immigrant adolescents were divided in two acculturation profiles, ethnic and integrated-national, with adolescents belonging to the latter showing higher self-esteem, life satisfaction and sociocultural competence than the former. Also among autochthonous adolescents two acculturation expectation profiles were identified, not-multicultural and multicultural, with adolescents belonging to the latter showing higher self-esteem and life satisfaction than the former. Findings highlight the importance of using multiple indicators in order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the acculturation process as well as suggesting implications for the social policies in this field.