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Third culture kid
Person raised in a culture other than that of their parents From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Third culture kids (TCK) or third culture individuals (TCI) are people who were raised in a different culture than their parents, for a large part or the entirety of their childhood and adolescence.[1] They typically are exposed to a greater volume and variety of cultural influences than those who grow up in one particular cultural setting.[2] The term applies to both adults and children, as the term kid refers to the individual's formative or developmental years. However, for clarification, sometimes the term adult third culture kid (ATCK) is used.
In the expression "third culture kid", the first culture is the culture in which the parents grew up; the second culture refers to the culture in which the family currently resides; and the third culture is the fusion of these, the one to which the child will identify the most.[3][4][5][6]
In the early 21st century, the number of bilingual children in the world was about the same as the number of monolingual children.[7][failed verification] TCKs are often exposed to a second (or third, fourth, etc.) language while living in their host culture, being physically exposed to the environment where the native language is used in practical aspects of life. "TCKs learn some languages in schools abroad and some in their homes or in the marketplaces of a foreign land. ... Some pick up languages from the nannies in the home or from playmates in the neighborhood".[8] This language immersion is why TCKs are often bilingual, and sometimes even multilingual.[1]
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Origins
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The term third culture kid was first coined by researchers John and Ruth Useem in the 1950s, who used it to describe the children of American citizens working and living abroad.[4] Ruth Useem first used the term after her second year-long visit to India with her fellow sociologist/anthropologist husband and three children.[9]
Useem et al. (1963) depicted individuals who had undergone such an experience as having distinct standards of interpersonal behavior, work-related norms, codes of lifestyle and perspectives, and communication. This creates a new cultural group that does not fall into their home or host culture, but rather share a culture with all other TCKs.[10] In 1993 she wrote:
In summarizing that which we had observed in our cross-cultural encounters, we began to use the term "third culture" as a generic term to cover the styles of life created, shared, and learned by persons who are in the process of relating their societies, or sections thereof, to each other. The term "Third Culture Kids" or TCKs was coined to refer to the children who accompany their parents into another society.
— Ruth Hill Useem
In 1984, author and researcher Norma McCaig used the term global nomad, in order to take into account that the child's situation was as a result of a parent or parents' career or life choice(s).[11]
Kay Branaman Eakin, the former education counselor for the United States Department of State, worked with American families returning to the United States after having lived abroad. She described a TCK as "someone who, as a child, has spent a significant period of time in one or more culture(s) other than his or her own, thus integrating elements of those cultures and their own birth culture, into a third culture."[12][13]
David C. Pollock and Ruth Van Reken pioneered the TCK profile with the publishing of their book, Growing Up Among Worlds (first edition 1999),[14] which brought to light the emotional and psychological realities that come with the TCK journey, often resulting in feelings of rootlessness and grief but also an increased confidence and ability to interact with many cultures. Their definition of what it means to be a TCK is widely referenced: "[A] person who has spent a significant part of his or her developmental years outside the parents' culture. The TCK builds relationships to all of the cultures, while not having full ownership in any. Although elements from each culture are assimilated into the TCK's life experience, the sense of belonging is in relationship to others of the same background."[This quote needs a citation] Through interviews and personal writings, this seminal work explored the challenges and benefits that TCKs encounter. Later editions widened the net to discuss the experiences of CCKs (cross-cultural kids) who may be immigrants, international adoptees or the children of biracial or bicultural parents.
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General characteristics
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Third culture individuals are particularly adept at building relationships across cultures while developing a unique multicultural identity that differs from any single cultural framework.[15] They are characterized by high cultural adaptability and often serve as cultural bridges between different societies.[16]
Contemporary research indicates that TCK characteristics are consistent across nationalities and socioeconomic backgrounds, extending beyond the original American expatriate context to include children from diverse cultural backgrounds who experience international mobility.[17] The term encompasses various subcategories including military dependents, missionary children, diplomatic families, and children of international business professionals.[18]
Positive characteristics and outcomes
Research consistently demonstrates several advantageous outcomes associated with the TCK experience:
Enhanced intercultural competence: TCKs demonstrate significantly higher levels of intercultural sensitivity and cultural intelligence compared to monocultural peers.[19] They exhibit greater open-mindedness and more positive diversity beliefs, mediated by their developed intercultural competences.[20]
Cognitive and creative advantages: Studies indicate that TCKs demonstrate enhanced creativity, critical thinking abilities, and problem-solving skills when provided with culturally responsive instruction.[21] They often exhibit multilingual abilities and demonstrate facility in code-switching between different cultural contexts.[16]
Educational and professional outcomes: TCKs show significantly higher rates of higher education participation, with 95% pursuing post-secondary education compared to 61.7% of the general U.S. population. Additionally, 29% obtain advanced degrees, substantially exceeding national averages.[22]
Psychological resilience: When provided with appropriate support systems, TCKs demonstrate higher levels of general adjustment and adaptability compared to monocultural individuals.[23]
Challenges and adjustment difficulties
Despite numerous advantages, TCKs face distinct psychosocial challenges that require understanding and support:
Identity development complexities: TCKs often experience prolonged identity formation processes, struggling with questions of cultural belonging and home identity.[24] This can manifest as difficulty answering fundamental questions about personal and cultural identity, particularly "Where is home?"[1]
Mental health and well-being concerns: Research indicates that TCKs experience elevated rates of depression, anxiety, and social isolation, particularly during emerging adulthood.[25] Approximately 40% of Third Culture Students drop out of their first university institution, often due to social adjustment difficulties.[26]
Unresolved grief and relational challenges: Multiple relocations can result in unresolved grief from repeated losses of relationships and familiar environments.[27] This may manifest as difficulty forming deep emotional connections, a phenomenon described as "paradoxical social behavior" where TCKs desire close relationships but avoid emotional investment to prevent future loss.[25]
Repatriation stress: Returning to parents' home countries often presents greater adjustment challenges than initial expatriation. TCKs may experience "reverse culture shock" and feel like outsiders in their supposed "home" culture.[28]
Educational support needs: TCKs require specialized educational approaches and counseling support during school transitions.[29] Female TCKs may experience delayed identity development and demonstrate greater hesitancy in relationship formation compared to their male counterparts.[24]
Complex family dynamics: Recent longitudinal research emphasizes that TCK adjustment is significantly influenced by family functioning, parental stress levels, and family adaptation strategies during international transitions.[30]
Current research directions
Contemporary TCK research emphasizes the need for longitudinal studies that examine adjustment as a dynamic process rather than relying on retrospective accounts.[31] Researchers advocate for multi-informant approaches that include perspectives from TCKs, parents, and educators to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the cross-cultural experience.[30] Additionally, there is growing recognition of the need for culturally responsive interventions and support systems that acknowledge both the challenges and strengths of the TCK experience.
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Psychological effect
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Identity
One of the challenges of being a third culture individual is developing a sense of belonging, commitment, and attachment to a culture. These factors play a strong role in one's self-esteem and identity, and are especially apparent as present or not present among TCKs.[32] There are psychological benefits to being a bi-culturally competent individual, meaning that adjustment to the host culture and repatriation do not pose a difficulty for the individual. Individuals who do not experience this same smooth transition into the new culture are referred to as "culturally rootless" and "cultural homelessness". Culturally homeless (CH) individuals often experience confusion over their identity and especially because the TCK is frequently abroad during the adolescent development years when identity is most solidified psychologically.[32]
When individuals who have spent a significant number of their developmental years in a host culture and have not been able to adapt, develop an identity, and do not feel as though they belong, they are considered "culturally homeless". Cultural homelessness has been found to have both advantages and disadvantages, at times to being associated with low self-esteem, perceiving less control over one's own life, and an unsatisfactory level of experience with belonging and attachment.[32]
Research
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Though research initially largely focused on children in missionary families or children of diplomats, it has since expanded to other populations, including non-U.S. citizens. The researchers who pioneered the TCK research, such as Ruth Useem, were not expecting to find as many participants as they did. Useem and Cottrell, for example, were seeking at least 100 participants to respond to a survey that they believed to be "unconsciously long" but instead had 680 participants (ranging in age from 25 to 84 years) respond to the questionnaire. Instances like this one indicate to researchers the potential in exploring a subject matter that is still open to much research.[33]
Increased tolerance
From the research that has been conducted on TCKs, it has been found that subjects are generally more tolerant of different cultures and of people of different backgrounds than subjects from the same home country who are not TCKs. In addition, TCKs generally feel that they are better able to adapt to new cultures and understand how to behave appropriately in these new environments.[34] Researcher and teacher Wenda Sheard surveyed some of her multi-cultural students, most of whom were fluent in two or more languages, and found that many felt that they had an increased tolerance of other cultures. However, as one student explained, part of this tolerance was out of necessity for maintaining a healthy social life in one's new environment and culture.[34]
In a study by Dewaele and van Oudenhoven (2009), it was found that TCKs scored higher on the open-mindedness scale on the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire (MPQ). According to the study, "this dimension [of the test] evaluates for open and unprejudiced attitudes toward out-group members, as well as diverse cultural norms and values."[35]
Intellectual effect
Though the intellectual effect of being a TCK has not yet been widely explored, there has been some research in the area. One particular study by Lee and Bain (2007) that was found to have significant findings was conducted on young native Koreans who had recently moved to the United States and were attending school in America. The researchers were looking to see how these students would respond to explicit instruction aimed to work with their originality and fluency and that is specific to TCKs. This was measured through the level of creativity demonstrated in assigned tasks given to the students. TCKs were found to be able to demonstrate significantly higher levels of creativity and originality for problem solving than TCKs not given this same explicit instruction. This study has implications for the ways that TCKs can be instructed differently from the traditional curriculum to enhance their creativity and problem solving abilities because of their third culture experience.[36]
Intellectual effect is also possible through differences in choosing to continue studies in higher education after high school. In 2001, it was found by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics that 61.7 percent of 2001 high school graduates were enrolled in college. That same year, it was found that 95 percent of the TCK population were either enrolled or had some college education. Twenty-nine percent of this population had received an advanced degree, which is also higher than the percentage of the general population.[33]
Gender differences
Much of the literature and research surrounding TCKs has found that these individuals are more open to learning new languages, demonstrate more flexibility when interacting with a novel culture than their monoculture peers, and have a greater interest in continuing a global nomad lifestyle, which includes an interest in international careers.[37] It has been found that women are more inclined to seek out interpersonal relationships while men are more task-oriented in their relationships and choices.[38] Such findings were used in the hypothesis of a study conducted by Gerner & Perry (2000) that predicted that gender differences would also be found in the cultural acceptance and experiences of TCKs.[39]
Both non-U.S. citizen females and U.S. citizen females were found to have more positive ratings of cultural acceptance, acquisition or exposure to a new language, travel, and interest in going into an international career in the future and were less prone to stereotypes.[34]
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Education and counseling
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With the growing number of international business, military placements, and immigration, there has been a growing number of TCKs. Third culture kids are being educated in a culture that is not their own. Schools and teachers need to be aware of the culture differences these students face. Studies have found that educators and counselors should be culturally competent and possess the knowledge to properly educate these types of students. This would create an effective and optimal environment for their learning and adjusting abilities. Research has indicated that TCKs need special attention during their transition phase. The stress and grief students feel during transitional phases can distort their psycho-social development, which can affect their grades and school work. Therefore, TCKs need a comfortable and inviting school setting to offset the effect of their transition. The best way for counselors to work with TCKs is to have sound knowledge about the students and their unique characteristics.[40]
Emotions
Empirical research was done by Katholiki Georgiades, Michael H. Boyle, and Kelly A. Fife on emotional and behavior problems among adolescent students, specifically immigrant students. They examined the relationship between immigrants and racial/ethnic congruence in school. They hypothesized that school belonging is the connection between congruency and emotional problems. Although their study was unable to find enough evidence to support their hypothesis, they agree that school belonging influences emotional-behavioral problems.[41] According to other studies, TCKs are proven to have less emotional stability than those who grew up in more culturally and socially stable environments.[35]
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Careers that lead to third culture kids
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Military
TCKs who have parents or guardians affiliated with the military have varying levels of exposure to local culture. This is due to the possibility of living on- or off-base. TCKs who live off-base or who are not closely affiliated with the military (such as contractors) will have higher exposure and cultural shaping, while those who spend the majority of their time on the base will have lower exposure and minimal cultural shaping.[42] Military children who are immersed in local culture from birth tend to show an extremely high level of cultural shaping, and upon relocation they are likely to experience culture shock and cling to said culture for years, if not for life. Relocation for these particular TCKs has shown to be particularly marring for them emotionally.[42] See also Military brat (U.S. subculture).
Non-military government
Some of these TCKs may grow up moving from country to country in the diplomatic corps (see Foreign Service brat) while others may live their lives near military bases.[43]
Religious
Missionary kids (MKs) typically spend the most time overseas, of any TCKs, in one country. 85% of MKs spend more than 10 years in foreign countries and 72% lived in only one foreign country. Of all TCKs, MKs generally have the most interaction with the local populace and the least interaction with people from their passport country. They are also the most likely of the TCKs to integrate themselves into the local culture.[43] 83% of missionary kids have at least one parent with an advanced degree.[44] Missionary kids struggle to adjust to the parents' culture; the majority of MKs identify mostly with the country in which their parents served.[45]
Business
Another career that can lead to TCKs is a career in business. Sixty-three percent of business TCKs have lived in foreign countries at least 10 years but are more likely than children in missionary families to live in multiple countries. Business TCKs have fairly high interaction with both their host nationals and people from their host country.[43]
Other
Not all TCK families have one of the four careers listed above. Other careers include working for an intergovernmental agency (for example, the Nuclear Energy Agency, the Commonwealth Secretariat, and the International Agency of the Francophonie), an international public or non-governmental organization (for example, an international school or serving as international staff of the United Nations or one of their agencies), and a local organization such as a hospital. Working in media or athletic industries (for example, Wally Szczerbiak) can also mean being moved abroad.[46] Like most of the other careers that send employees abroad, involvement with the host culture can vary greatly.[43]
Recent research into the 'other' category has identified a subgroup of TCKs now labelled EdKids. These are children who relocate to various countries with their parents who are educators in international schools. This creates a unique paradigm of a nuclear family whose family-work-school-social experiences are intertwined.[47]
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Career decisions
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Effect on the workforce
Third culture individuals, with their international experience, generally value the international aspect of their lives. In a survey given to TCKs in 2001, there was a strong interest among TCK participants to continue to travel as they move into adulthood and their future careers, and many continued to maintain their internationally acquired languages. It was also found in these surveys that approximately half of the participants continue to travel at least once a year and that just a little under 15 percent travel for business.[33] TCKs have also been found to report selecting to study majors while in college that could have the options of having international careers. Some of these fields of study include business, nursing, and teaching English as a foreign language.[48]
Below are tables showing some of the fields that TCK go into.
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Language and third culture individuals
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Most international TCKs are expected to speak English and some countries require their expatriate families to be proficient with the English language.[42] This is largely because most international schools use the English language as the norm.[42]
Families tend to seek out schools whose principal languages they share, and ideally one which mirrors their own educational system. Many countries have American schools, French schools, British schools, German schools and 'international schools' which often follow one of the three International Baccalaureate programs. These will be populated by expatriates' children and some children of the local upper middle class. They do this in an effort to maintain linguistic stability and to ensure that their children do not fall behind due to linguistic problems. Where their own language is not available, families will often choose English-speaking schools for their children. They do this because of the linguistic and cultural opportunities being immersed in English might provide their children when they are adults, and because their children are more likely to have prior exposure to English than to other international languages. This poses the potential for non-English speaking TCKs to have a significantly different experience from TCKs for whom English is a native language.[51] Research on TCKs from Japan, Denmark, Italy, Germany, the United States and Africa has shown that TCKs from different countries share more in common with other TCKs than they do with their own peer group from their passport country.[51]
A few sociologists studying TCKs, however, argue that the commonality found in international TCKs is not the result of true commonality, but rather the researcher's bias projecting expectations upon the studied subculture. They believe that some of the superficial attributes may mirror each other, but that TCKs from different countries are really different from one another.[51] The exteriors may be the same, but that the understanding of the world around them differs.[42]
Kikokushijo
In Japan, the use of the term third culture kids to refer to children returned from living overseas is not universally accepted; they are typically referred to both in Japanese and in English as kikokushijo, literally 'returnee children', a term which has different implications. Public awareness of kikokushijo is much more widespread in Japan than awareness of TCKs in the United States, and government reports as early as 1966 recognised the need for the school system to adapt to them. However, views of kikokushijo have not always been positive; in the 1970s, especially, they were characterised in media reports and even by their own parents as "educational orphans" in need of "rescue" to reduce their foreignness and successfully reintegrate them into Japanese society.[52][53]
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Statistics (U.S. TCKs)
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Research has been done on American TCKs to identify various characteristics:[54][55]
Cognitive and emotional development
- Teenage TCKs are more mature than non-TCKs, but, in their twenties, they take longer than their peers to focus on their aims.[56]
- Depression is comparatively prevalent among TCKs.[56]
- TCKs' sense of identity and well-being is directly and negatively affected by repatriation.[57] The severity of the effect from repatriation may also depend on the degree of cultural and linguistic differences between the TCK's place of recent residence and place of repatriation.
- TCKs are highly linguistically adept (not as true for military TCKs).[58]
- A study whose subjects were all "career military brats"—those who had a parent in the military from birth through high school—shows that brats are linguistically adept.[59]
- Like all children, TCKs may experience stress and even grief from the relocation experience.[60][61]
Education and career
See also
References
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