Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T16:44:08.443Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Ethnic Background and Identity among Greek-Australian High School Pupils1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 October 2015

James A. Athanasou
James A. Athanasou*
Affiliation:
Department of Industrial Relations and Employment, N.S.W.
*
Dept. of Industrial Relations & Employment, Division of Employment & Training, 1, Oxford Street, Darlinghurst, N.S.W. 2010
Get access

Abstract

This paper seeks to contribute to the understanding of the conditions which underly the functioning of young Greek-Australians in their society, and the relationship between their ethnic background and identity. Questions relating to ethnic background and identity were administered to 1,029 Greek-Australian pupils from 25 secondary schools in the south-east, inner west and central areas of Sydney (439 males and 590 females). Principal components analysis of fifteen items from the survey was used to explore individual variations in responses. The largest correlation was 0.56 between the importance of Greek origin and feelings about being Greek. Six components with eigen values > 1.0 accounted for 59% of the total variance. The six patterns of response were characterised as : I. Cultural involvement-media contact, II. Ethnic Identity, III. Ethnic Background IV. Bipolar Greek cultural factor, V/VI Specific Factors. There was a general tendency for ethnic background and internalisation-of-identity responses to be separated as components.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Educational and Developmental Psychologist , Volume 6 , Issue 2 , November 1989 , pp. 11 - 15
Copyright
Copyright © Australian Psychological Society 1989

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

1

Preparation of this paper has been supported by a grant from the Commonwealth Government through the Office of Youth Affairs.

References

Athanasou, J.A. (1984) Religious practices and knowledge among Greek Orthodox junior high school students. Journal of Christian Education, 79,17–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bottomley, G. (1970). After the Odyssey: A study of Greek Australians. St. Lucia: University of Queensland Press.Google Scholar
Davis, M. & Goodnow, J.J. (1977). Problem-solving strategies used by Australian children with Australian and Greek parentage. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 8(1), 33–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Giannopoulos, G. (1978). Beyond the generation gap: A Greek perspective. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 3, 37–40.Google Scholar
Isaacs, E. (1975). Greek children in Sydney. Canberra: A.N.U. Press.Google Scholar
Isaacs, E. (1981). Greek children at school and after. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service.Google Scholar
Kringas, P. & Lewins, F. (1980). Why ethnic schools? Canberra: Australian National University Press.Google Scholar
Lauquier, H.C. (1961). Cultural change among three generations of Greeks, American Catholic Sociological Review, 22, 223–232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marjoribanks, K. (1978). Ethnicity, family environment, school attitudes and academic achievement. Australian Journal of Education, 22(3), 249–261.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Medding, P.Y. (ed) (1973). Jews in Australian Society. Melbourne: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Rodopoulos, L.S. (1978). Understanding the Greek family in Australia. Australian Child and Family Welfare, 2, 24–35.Google Scholar
Rosenthal, D.A.Moore, S.M. & Taylor, M.J. (1983). Ethnicity and adjustment: A study of the self-image of Anglo-, Greek-, and Italian-Australian working class adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 12, 2,117–135.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rosenthal, D.A. & Hrynevich, C. (1985). Ethnicity and ethnic identity: A comparative study of Greek-, and Anglo-Australian adolescents. International Journal of Psychology, 20, 723–742.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scourby, A. (1980). Three generations of Greek Americans: A study in ethnicity. International Migration Review, 74(1). 43–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taft, R. (1973). Beyond the third generation: The ethnic identification of jewish youth. In Medding, P.Y. (ed.) Jews in Australian Society. Melbourne: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Tenezakis, M.D. (1980). A test for mother tongue interference in second language learning: Some comparisons between Greek speaking and English monolingual children in Australia. Journal of Intercultural Studies, 1,1980,69–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vlachos, E.C. (1968). The assimilation of Greeks in the United States, Athens: National Centre of Social Researches.Google Scholar