Ethnic Identity and Self Esteem among Turkish and Moroccan adolescent immigrants
in The Netherlands
In the 1960s and 1970s a majority of Turkish and Moroccan immigrants migrated to the
Netherlands (Wissink, Dekovíc, Yağmur, Stams, & de Haan, 2008). At that time the
Netherlands experienced an economic growth and Dutch companies turned abroad to find
cheap industrial workers including the Turkish and Moroccan men. Most of them stayed in
the Netherlands and family members soon followed The Turkish and Moroccan families. Both
adhere to the Islamic religion and have a more collectivistic cultural tradition. The Dutch
culture instead is based on the Christian tradition and has a more individualistic culture
(Wissink, Dekovíc, Yağmur, Stams & de Haan, 2008). The Netherlands supports
multiculturalism and integration, but belongs to a middle group when it comes to the extent of
immigration (Vedder & Virta, 2005). The country is characterized as belonging to the most
welcoming to immigrants (Waldrauch & Hofinger, 1997). Nowadays the public opinion in the
Netherlands is tending towards growing impatience with immigrants and the progress of their
adaptation to Dutch society (cf. Arends-Tóth, 2003). The Dutch politicians are afraid of a lack
of control in respect of growing Islamic population. They think that immigrants in the
Netherlands should learn Dutch and even act Dutch, even if this is at the expense of a loss of
contact with their cultural heritage (Crul, 2000; Driessen & Withagen, 1999). According to
this situation it is important to study the consequences for the identity development of the
Turkish and Moroccan adolescent immigrants in the Netherlands. How do they evaluate their
selves as being part of an ethnic minority? How do they explore their ethnic identity? What is
their level of self-esteem? In this paper the relation between the ethnic identity and selfesteem
among Turkish and Moroccan adolescent immigrants will be examined using two
related studies.
Masaryk University - Course PSY273 Youth Development - Spring 2014
This is an EXAMPLE of how to make a brief manuscript.
In the first paragraph you state the problem.
Then, you justify why
it's important. What
are the consequences
of the problem, that
make it important to
evaluate.
First it is important to have a look at the theories that form a basis for ethnic identity.
Adolescents identity formation has long been considered as a crucial aspect of individual
development and psychological well-being (Erikson, 1959/1980; May & Yalom, 2005;
Rogers, 1961). The theory of Erikson about identity development says that identity formation
takes place through a process of exploration and commitment that eventually leads to a
decision in important domains of identity formation (Roberts et al., 1999). During this process
adolescents try to understand the importance of their ethnic group membership, explore the
values of society where they are living in and those of their own ethnic or cultural group
(Spencer & Markstrom-Adams, 1990; Shrake & Rhee, 2004). According to Phinney (1990)
ethnic identity is that aspect of acculturation that focuses on the subjective sense of belonging
to a group or culture. It is a complex, dynamic process of exploring the implications of one’s
ethnicity and coming to understand and affirm one’s membership in an ethnic group. Ethnic
identity is a critical developmental task of adolescents (Ong et al., 2006; Marcia, Waterman,
Matteson, Archer, & Orlofsky, 1993). Not all individuals reach the stage of ethnic identity
achievement (Phinney, Horenczyck, Liebkind, & Vedder, 2001). An individual who retains a
strong ethnic identity while also identifying with the new society is considered to have an
integrated identity. One who has a strong ethnic identity but does not identify with the new
culture has a separated identity, whereas one who gives up an ethnic identity and identifies
only with the new culture has an assimilated identity. The individual who identifies with
neither has a marginalized identity (Phinney, Horenczyk, Liebkind & Vedder, 2001). Several
studies show that separation and integration are the most frequently used forms of
acculturation in The Netherlands, assimilation and marginalization tend to be exceptional
(Kemper, 1996; Prins, 1996; Vollebergh & Huiberts, 1996). This research supports the twodimensional
model of acculturation (Berry, 1990) recognizing that ethnic and national
identities among immigrants are assumed to be independent.
Then, you may continue with WHAT DO WE KNOW about the problem. This student did first a review of theories, because it applies in this case. Depending on
your case, you may just use some concise definitions of the variables and go directly to the findings of some previous studies.
It's important to
define the
variables and
to use
references.
The ethnic identity model proposes that a strong ethnic identity is important for
immigrants’ healthy integration and well-being in the new society (Alkan, 1998). This model
assumes that immigrant youth is growing up between cultures, which leads to identity
confusion and adaptation problems if the children experience a lack of appreciation for the
skills, knowledge and feelings that are typical of their cultural background. Another theory
that includes ethnic identity is the social identity theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1986). This theory
suggests strong links between group identification and self-concept. People strive to maintain
a positive social identity, thus boosting their self-esteem (Brown, 2000). According to
Phinney et al. (2001) ethnic identity should predict positive outcomes when there is a strong
supportive ethnic community. Roberts et al. (1999) found significant positive correlations
between ethnic identity and different positive attributes as coping ability, mastery, self-esteem
and optimism. Numerous research studies have found a positive relationship between a strong
ethnic identity and indicators of self-esteem and personal adjustment (Smith & Silva, 2010).
Many investigations failed to find gender differences in ethnic identities (e.g. Nesdale et al.,
1997; Virta & Westin, 1999). Liebkind (1996) concludes that adult females are more likely to
remain at home and maintain traditional practices; younger females may identify with
Western values that allow women greater freedom.
To explore the relation between ethnic identity and self-esteem two studies are described
in this paper. Phinney et al. (2001) examined the relation between ethnic identity and
identification with the new society, how these identities are related to the adaptation of
immigrants, and how these relationships vary across groups and national contexts. They
studied four immigrant-receiving countries including the Netherlands. In the Netherlands data
were collected from Turks, Surinamese of Indian descent, and Antilleans. Ethnic identity was
measured with four items assessing ethnic affirmation (e.g., sense of belonging, positive
This is a
finding of a
previous
study. You
may also use
the type of
articles named
"Reviews",
"Systematic
Reviews" or
"Meta-
Analysis".
Because they
do a review of
all previous
studies
evaluating the
relationship
between, in
this case,
"Ethnic
identity" and
"self-esteem".
Then, you may finish with 1 or more studies evaluating the situation in your home country, and you may also compare those findings with those from other countries.
feelings). Identification with the receiving society was measured with four comparable items.
Also four identity variables were computed corresponding to the four acculturation
orientations: integrated identity, assimilated identity, separated identity, and marginalized
identity. In this paper only the results according to the Turkish immigrants will be described.
The identity of the Turkish immigrants was predominantly separated in contrast to, for
example, the Surinamese immigrants. The study also revealed that Dutch immigrant
youngsters with integrated identities scored significantly higher than all other groups on
measures of psychological adjustment. Marginalized identities exhibited the lowest levels of
psychological adaptation. This difference was statistically significant for self-esteem.
A second study examined whether self-esteem mediates the relationship between two
aspects of identity (ethnic identity exploration and ethnic identity commitment-affirmation)
and externalizing problem behavior in Dutch, Turkish-Dutch and Moroccan-Dutch
adolescents living in the Netherlands (Wissink, Dekovíc, Yağmur, Stams & de Haan, 2008).
This paper will only focus on the relation between ethnic identity and self-esteem. Wissink et
al. (2008) used a sample of 345 adolescents with a mean age of 14,5 years. The immigrants
had to fill in different questionnaires at school. The Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure
(MEIM) was used to measure ethnic identity (Roberts et al., 1999). The five-item global selfesteem
scale of the Self Perception Profile for Adolescence (Harter, 1985) was used to
measure self-esteem. The research showed that the ethnic groups differed in both ethnic
identity exploration, and in ethnic identity commitment-affirmation. The Dutch adolescents
reported the lowest and the Moroccan-Dutch adolescents reported the highest levels of both
exploration and commitment-affirmation. In self-esteem there were no ethnic differences
found. In ethnic identity there were no gender differences, but for self-esteem girls reported
lower levels of self-esteem than boys. The hypothesis of the study was that there would be a
significant correlation between the ethnic identity dimensions and self-esteem. This
hypothesis is only confirmed in the Moroccan-Dutch group: ethnic identity commitmentaffirmation
correlated positively with self-esteem. This result means that the stronger
Moroccan-Dutch adolescents’ commitment to and affirmation of their ethnic identity, the
higher their level of global self-esteem. Exploring ethnic minority group membership is not
associated with a higher level of self-esteem.
The results of the two studies are showing that among the Turkish and Moroccan
adolescents in the Netherlands ethnic identity effects the self-esteem in different ways.
Turkish immigrants seem to have a separated identity, they scored significantly lower on selfesteem
than immigrants with an integrated identity and higher in comparison with immigrants
with a marginalized identity. Moroccan adolescents in the Netherlands are showing a high
level of ethnic commitment and affirmation what correlates with a high level of self-esteem. It
can be concluded that despite of the dominating negative Dutch view on Turkish and
Moroccan immigrants the self-esteem of those immigrants is not really low. In future research
it is important to include more factors related to ethnic identity and self-esteem to examine a
broader perspective. For example, political views, importance of religion, opinions about their
host society could be included in research to ethnic identity and self-esteem. Now it is not
clear where exactly the level of self-esteem comes from.
In the Netherlands it is needed to find a balance between encouraging cultural retention
and promoting adaptation to the larger society (Phinney, Horenczyck, Liebkind, & Vedder,
2001). Giving opportunities for the Turkish and Moroccan immigrants to make choices in
such a way that they can keep their ethnic identity, experience high levels of self-esteem and
develop a new identity in their host society. To develop the ethnic identity in a good way is
from big importance for adolescents and it has also to be supported in the Dutch society.
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ok, but you cannot just invent and use your own particular style.
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