Third culture kids (TCKs) are the children of parents who live abroad in foreign countries. In this study we examined a population of US TCKs (N = 170) who have repatriated back to the US. We studied the factors that led TCKs to positive and less positive repatriation outcomes, including a focus on the variables of authoritarianism, acculturative balance, and positive affect. Multiple repatriations (i.e., parents moving back to the US between jobs) was related negatively to positive affect in men, and increased levels of authoritarianism in women. On the other hand, postings to multiple countries decreased authoritarianism for both women and men. TCKs who seemed comfortable balancing living abroad and in the US reported both good relationships with their parents and positive affect. Because they live in multicultural environments, TCKs are an important demographic to study in a rapidly globalizing world.
Karin (a pseudonym) is a third culture kid (TCK). She is a Caucasian American who grew up in Ecuador, Bolivia, and Bangladesh, where she attended American International Schools. Karin returned to the US for university. During orientation she introduced herself as American, but her new college friends realized that Karin considered Bangladesh home; she even acquired the nickname “foreigner” for saying football (for soccer) and lift (for elevator). “It’s true,” she said in an exploratory interview prior to this study, “it’s not like I grew up in the States.” Third culture kids like Karin may have extremely different backgrounds. For example, other interviewees included a biracial woman born in Columbia and raised in three different countries, a Turkish woman raised in Germany and France, and a man from India raised in South East Asia. All consider themselves TCKs. They share the experience of having spent significant time during their developmental years outside of their parents’ culture. According to Pollock and Van Reken (1999, p. 1), TCKs find themselves building “relationships to all of the cultures they inhabit, 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 (with sojourner backgrounds).”
The term TCK was first coined in the 1950s by Ruth and John Useem (e.g., see Useem, 1973) to describe the three cultures that American children occupied living in India. The first culture referred to the country of origin of the parents (i.e., the United States). The second culture referred to the host culture (i.e., India), within which existed the third culture (which has no relation to the Third World). The third culture was occupied by a transient community of expatriates, including other families from around the world who availed themselves of American and British international schools, recreational clubs, commissaries, and other amenities. Pollock and Van Reken (1999) now use the TCK term to include individuals from any country who have spent formative years in second and third cultures other than their parents’ first culture. Often the parents are diplomats, military personnel, missionaries, teachers, or working in international business. TCKs are different from immigrants in that TCKs rarely try to become citizens of the second culture. TCKs hold passports to the countries of their first culture and fully expect to return (often when they are 18). Psychological research on TCK populations is sparse. Research on the children of military families posted abroad and children with international school experience seem the most prevalent (e.g., see Ender, 2002, Gerner et al., 1992 and Wertsch, 1991).
For many reasons TCKs are a population that provides fairly unique opportunities for psychologists interested in studying the effects of globalization on culture and identity. In the next few decades, as globalized market forces lead families from their first culture into a second culture, counseling psychologists may find themselves with increasing numbers of TCK clients who face challenges that revolve around reacculturation (Timmons, 2006). In this study we examine the effects of former TCK status on a population of emerging adults (Arnett, 2000) who have repatriated back to the United States. We investigated some of the factors that lead to TCK positive adjustment and comfort with multiple cultures. We also want to show how TCK populations can provide novel data for enhancing our understanding of core personality constructs like authoritarianism.
