| The purpose of this study was to validate a newly constructed Hawaii Local Acculturation Scale (HLAS) and report on its psychometric properties. A purposive sample of 411 high school students, their parents/guardians and college students in Hawaii were administered this scale which measures affiliation and preferences for Local culture, practice of Local customs, knowledge of Pidgin English, attitudes toward Haoles, collectivism and interpersonal harmony/assertiveness. The results identified three main factors---Pidgin-Island Living, Customs-Beliefs and Relationships; collectivism was found not to have any bearing in assessing acculturation to Local culture. Strong support was found for the ability of the HLAS to discriminate between respondents differing on key demographic traits---place of birth, where reared, location of one's high school and length of residency in Hawaii---regardless of one's ethnic origin. Avenues of further research are discussed, outlining necessary refinements as well as the need to link the HLAS with other indicators of social and psychological adjustment. |
