1. Participants
• 92 immigrant and non-immigrant participants (50%
immigrant; 79% female; M age = 20.8 years; age range
17-25 years) were recruited through the Psychology
Department participant pool as part of a larger ongoing
study at a university in Southwestern Ontario.
Procedure
• Participants completed the study online, including a
background information questionnaire and
counterbalanced questionnaires relating to their
relationships, ethnic identity, and life satisfaction.
Measures
• Ethnic identity was measured with the Multigroup Ethnic
Identity Measure (MEIM: Phinney, 1992). Total scores and
ethnic identity search and affirmation subscales were
used.
• Contact with peers was measured with the Peer Contacts
questionnaire (PC; Berry, Phinney, Sam, & Vedder, 2006).
Subscales included PC ethnic (ethnic peer contacts) and
PC national (Canadian national peer contacts).
Introduction
• The social support provided by others is instrumental in
identity formation, a major developmental task of youth
and emerging adults.
• In comparison to non-immigrant youth, immigrant youth
have the additional developmental task of forming their
ethnic identities, and their success in doing so has been
found to be related to their overall adjustment and
adaptation (e.g., Berry, Phinney, Sam, & Vedder, 2006).
• Lack of social support has been found to be related to
lower satisfaction with life among immigrants across the
adult life-span (e.g., Vohra & Adair, 2000).
• The purpose of this study was to better understand identity
development and satisfaction with life in immigrant youth in
comparison to their non-immigrant counterparts in a
Canadian university sample.
• We hypothesized that immigrant youth born outside of
North America would have less social support, fewer peer
contacts, and lower life satisfaction than those born within
Canada.
Method
Results
Discussion
Contact Information
For more information about this study please contact Julie Hakim-Larson (hakim@uwindsor.ca)
Ethnic Identity, Social Support, and Life Satisfaction in Immigrant and Non-Immigrant
Canadian Emerging Adults
Julie Hakim-Larson, Rosanne Menna, Shawna A. Scott, Emily Kear,
Emily M. Johnson, & Cassandra Pasiak
University of Windsor
• As expected, immigrant youth had fewer social supports
and peer contacts than their Canadian born counterparts.
They also reported lower satisfaction with life.
• However, ethnic identity searching was reported to be
greater among the immigrant youth suggesting that for
many participants, ethnic identity exploration was likely an
ongoing process.
• Having a strong ethnic identity has been shown to have
protective and beneficial effects in immigrant youth (e.g.,
Amer, 2014) and is an important feature of their
acculturation along with adapting to the mainstream
culture.
• A hypothesis for future research is that life satisfaction
should be higher among those immigrant youth who have
gone through a process of exploration and have affirmed a
sense of commitment and belonging to their ethnic group.
• In addition, the stresses faced by young immigrants (e.g.,
traumatic migration histories, discrimination, school-related
stress) and their perceived sources of support from peers,
family, and teachers have been found to be related to their
overall adjustment (e.g., Oppedal & Idsoe, 2015; Oppedal
& Royscamb, 2004).
• Future research will need to further examine the role that
sources of support as well as types of social support play
in the ethnic identity development of immigrant youth.
• A significant difference was found between those born in
Canada and immigrant youth in the domain of ethnic
identity searching with immigrant youth receiving higher
scores.
• Youth born in Canada reported significantly more
satisfaction with life, appraisal social support, and peer
contacts than immigrant youth.
• Perceptions of social support were measured with the
Interpersonal Support Evaluation List (ISEL; Cohen & Hoberman,
1983). The following subscales were examined: tangible
(someone who will provide instrumental assistance); appraisal
(someone who can serve emotional intimacy needs, assist in
problem solving when under stress, and be a confidante);
belonging (someone you can do things with); and self-esteem
(someone who provides support regarding positive comparisons
with others).
• Satisfaction with life was measured with the Satisfaction with Life
Scale (SWLS: Diener, Emmons, Larson & Griffin, 1985).
• Differences between the students born in Canada (non-immigrant)
and those born outside of North America (immigrant) were
examined and the results are displayed in Table 1.