Self-Concept as an Indicator of Acculturation in Mexican Americans

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Abstract
A self-concept element was employed as the basis for a nine-item index of acculturation. The self-concept component, conceived of as a role-identity, employed in the present study measures a construct that has been neglected in acculturation research. The component assesses the respondent's feelings of insiderness/outsiderness. The measure was developedfrom a nationally representative sample of 991 Mexican Americans. Factor analysis of the items resulted in threefactors: (1) language, (2) self-definition as an insider, and (3)self-definition as an outsider. The index supplied significant and meaningful correlations with previously employed indicators of acculturation. The measure was concluded to be both an extension of the acculturation concept and a parsimonious indicator of acculturation.

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