Return Migration and Identity: A Global Phenomenon, A Hong Kong Case

Appendix C - Quantitative analysis

A total of 50 Hong Kong repatriates participated in this study. Twenty-six (52%) participants were male and 24 (48%) were female. Their ages, at the time of the interview, ranged from 26 to 76 years old. Twenty-seven (54%) participants immigrated to Canada, and 23 (46%) immigrated to Australia. Their age at immigration to Canada or Australia ranged from 13 to 51 years old, from which 10 (20%) immigrated below age 26 and 40 (80%) above age 26. Among the Canadian immigrants, 13 (48%) were male and 14 (52%) were female. The Australian immigrants consisted of 13 (57%) males and 10 (43%) females. The cultural identity profiles consisted of seven groups: subtractive, subtractive additive, additive bicultural, additive hybrid, affirmative, affirmative additive, and global (see Table C.1). Among the total sample of participants, 1 (2%) was identified as subtractive, 2 (4%) were identified as subtractive additive, 10 (20%) as additive bicultural, 21 (42%) as additive hybrid, 6 (12%) as affirmative, 5 (10%) as affirmative additive, and 5 (10%) as global. It is worth highlighting that 62% of the participants were additive/bicultural or hybrid plus another 14% included additive features (subtractive/additive and affirmative/additive), which strongly suggests that the culture in Hong Kong embraces integration of cultural features from other countries and enables Hong Kongers to combine cultural elements from their host and home countries into their cultural identity. The main outcome measures that were used in the study analyses included three adaptation scales and two self-concept scales. The adaptation scales were the 5-item Satisfaction with Life Scale (7-point Likert Scale), 7-item Repatriation Distress Scale (7-point Likert Scale), and Birman’s 8 acculturation subscales (4-point Likert Scale). The self-concept measures were the 12-item Independent and 12-item Interdependent Self-Construal Subscales (7-point Likert Scale), and Appendix C Quantitative analysis 291 Quantitative analysis Percentage Dispositional and Relational Response based on the researcher’s 10-statement modified version of the Twenty Statement Test (TST). See Chapter 5 for an explanation of the Singelis Self-Construal Scale. Table C.1 Frequencies of the seven cultural identity profiles Cultural Identity Profile N (%) Subtractive 1 (2) Subtractive Additive 2 (4) Additive Bicultural 10 (20) Additive Hybrid 21 (42) Affirmative 6 (12) Affirmative Additive 5 (10) Global 5 (10) The researcher shortened the Twenty Statement Test to ten statements because the pilot test for the TST showed that Hong Kongers had difficulty describing themselves twenty ways. In the modified Ten Statements Test, participants were instructed to describe themselves in 10 ways, starting with “I am _____.” The researcher coded the statements into two categories of responses, dispositional and relational. In the TST scoring guide, Kuhn and McPartland (1954) defines dispositional responses to be “personal qualities, attitudes, beliefs, states and traits that DO NOT relate to other people.” Examples may be “I am honest” and “I am intelligent.” Relational responses are defined as “statements about group membership, demographic characteristics, and groups with which people experience a common fate.” Some examples are “I am a daughter” and “I am a student.” For each of the two categories, the total number of responses was multiplied by 100 to obtain the percentage dispositional response and percentage relational response. Acceptable to high reliability have been found in previous studies on the Satisfaction with Life Scale, Repatriation Distress Scale, Birman’s Acculturation Subscales, and Self-Construal Subscales, with Cronbach alphas ranging from Į = .69 to Į = .95 (Diener et al., 1985; Sussman, 2001; Birman, Trickett, and Vinokurov, 2002; Singelis, 1994). For the sample in the present study, the reliabilities were also acceptable to high, with Cronbach alpha coefficients ranging from Į = .66 to Į = .92. Reliability coefficients for the TST were not available in Kuhn and McPartland’s (1954) Twenty Statement Test and in the present study’s modified Ten Statement Test. 292 Appendix C Means and standard deviations were computed for the adaptation measures (see Table C.2). On average, participants were highly satisfied with their lives (Mean = 5.10; SD = 0.86), and experienced little re-entry distress (Mean = 2.95, SD = 0.93). For Table C.2, three of Birman’s Acculturation Subscales — ability to speak English, ability to understand English, and amount of spoken English — were collapsed into one subscale called English Language by taking the average of the three subscales. Similarly, the three Chinese-language subscales were collapsed to one. Therefore, Birman’s subscales were reduced from a...