Emerging Adults and Migration: Diversity and Social Contributions

This chapter reviews the literature on and outlines research and policy directions toward shaping emerging adulthood migration to produce positive outcomes in an era of globalization. As the most likely demographic to migrate, emerging adults cross borders to mitigate family poverty and seek education and employment, to flee prejudice and violence, and to gain higher status. They migrate to find partnership and start new families, to seek self-actualization as women and sexual minorities, and for adventure. They are more likely to flourish when they retain a bicultural orientation, maintain healthy relationships with families and communities of origin, and receive government, social, and co-ethnic support and mentoring in countries of destination. In postindustrial nations with aging populations, emerging adult migrants may be welcomed as assets. They arrive at a life stage when they are capable of learning a new language and primed for the challenges of adapting to a new culture.

Hispanic American Students' Cultural Orientation: Does Geographic Location, Institutional Type, or Level of Stress have an Effect?

This article looks at 370 Hispanic college students from institutional locations where Hispanics are significantly present in the population and from areas were Hispanics are not a critical mass. The Bicultural Orientation Model was used as a framework to determine whether geographic location influenced the students’ level of acculturation and/or level of ethnic identification. The findings indicate that students in areas where Hispanic Americans do not have a critical mass adjusting to the majority culture at a higher level than students in critical mass locales. No difference was found in their level of ethnic identity. Cultural orientation was not found to be associated with institutional type or scores on the College Stress Inventory.

STRESS AND ETHNIC IDENTITY IN ETHNIC MINORITY YOUTH IN THE NETHERLANDS

In this article emotional problems - operationalized in terms of well-being and feelings of stress/depression - were investigated in secondary school pupils in the Netherlands. Girls, both autochthonous and allochthonous, appear to have more emotional problems than boys. Educational levels did not have an effect on emotional problems. Allochthonous pupils reported more emotional problems than autochthonous pupils. The difference was most pronounced between allochthonous pupils and autochthonous pupils in ethnic autochthonous (white) schools. Ethnic self-identification is not by itself related to feelings of well-being or stress, but appears to serve as a moderator in this respect: in ethnic minority youngsters with a bicultural orientation (identification with both their own ethnic group and the Dutch), no effect of ethnic attitudes on stress was found, while in those identifying solely with their own ethnic group, negative attitudes towards their own group or towards the Netherlands increases feelings of stress.