Measuring Acculturation With the ARSMA-II: Bidimensional Analysis Increases Accuracy as Frequency of Use Increases Over Time. (November 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Jones, Nicole; Mortimer, Amanda
• Is Part Of: Hispanic journal of behavioral sciences. Volume 36:Number 4(2014:Nov.)
• Page Start: 387
• Page End: 412
• Publication Date: 2014-11
• Subjects: acculturation -- Mexican American -- measurement -- ARSMA-II; Hispanic Americans -- Mental health -- Periodicals; Hispanic Americans -- Psychology -- Periodicals; 300
• DOI: 10.1177/0739986314548025
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0739-9863

Abstract

The current literature review highlights the need for a two-dimensional rating system for Mexican American acculturation. It demonstrates increased attention to acculturation issues over time despite ongoing lack of the two-dimensional acculturation analysis. Although creators of the Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans–II (ARSMA-II) originally stated that the measure's Mexican Orientation and Anglo Orientation subscales were orthogonal, they combined the two into a unidimensional acculturation score. A review of usage of the ARSMA-II from 1995 to 2013 revealed that 56% of studies collapsed the two subscales into a single acculturation score. Additional analysis revealed an increase in studies using the ARSMA-II across time, while showing that there was neither a difference in the usage of unidimensional and bidimensional scoring methods nor a shift in choosing scoring methods across time. We recommend that future studies use both the Mexican Orientation and the Anglo Orientation subscales to increase the accuracy of their acculturation research.