Navigating Three Cultural Worlds: Tridimensional Acculturation and Family Decision-Making Among Somali American Adolescents and Families

This study is a mixed methods collective case study using methods and analyses mirroring Ferguson et al. (2024). Adolescent surveys and family interviews are used to explore adolescent self-regulation and family decision-making among tridimensionally acculturating Somali American families. Black U.S. immigrant/refugee adolescents must bridge not just two but three cultural worlds owing to tridimensional (3D) acculturation to their ethnic culture, European American culture, and African American culture (Ferguson et al., 2012). Therefore, they likely face high demands for self-regulation (e.g., perspective-taking, self-control) in everyday interactions such as family decision-making. Some (though not all) studies indicate bicultural and bilingual youth exhibit cognitive advantages vs. mono-cultural/lingual youth (Bialystok et al., 2011: better cognitive flexibility). Therefore, tricultural youth—who are strongly oriented to three sets of norms/behaviors—may show even greater strengths in their daily interactions. This project will first explore the sociocultural norms in Somali, European American, and African American cultures relevant to adolescent self-regulation and family decision-making in Somali American families, then examine the interplay among all these variables through in-depth case studies and cross-case comparisons. We expect findings to illuminate the strengths and challenges of 3D acculturation for Somali American families in regard to adolescent self-regulation and family decision-making, shedding light on adolescent cognitive development within complex acculturative environments.