The Relationship between Acculturative Stress and Gender Roles Attitudes in Immigrants to the United States from Sub-Saharan African Countries

Abstract

The study asks three questions about recent immigrants to the U.S. from 46 Sub-Saharan African countries: (a) what is the magnitude of the gender-based differences in acculturative stress, (b) what is the link between the gender-based differences in acculturative stress and gender roles attitudes, (c) what factors explain the most the gender-based variation in acculturative stress? The study utilized a quantitative, cross-sectional, questionnaire-based Internet survey research design with multiple fixed-effects between-group comparisons, a homogeneous purposive sample (N = 221), ANOVA tests and a WLS regression. Three conclusions were made: (a) the magnitude of the gender-based differences in acculturative stress is negligibly small and statistically insignificant; (b) there is no statistically significant relationship between the gender-based differences in acculturative stress and gender roles attitudes; (c) personal income, degree of familiarity with western culture prior to immigration, and the level of educational attainment explain the most the gender-based variation in acculturative stress. The findings suggest that the effects of gender on acculturative stress and gender roles attitudes are not as strong as previously thought and highlights the importance of income, familiarity with western culture and education as predictors of gender-based variation in acculturation stress.