The longitudinal interplay between acculturation and intergroup contact in adolescence

In current multicultural societies, mutual adjustment of majority and ethnic minority groups is a crucial issue shaped by groups' acculturation preferences and their encounters. These aspects are particularly relevant in adolescence when young people extend their social relationships and develop attitudes towards others. However, the association between acculturation preferences across domains and the quantity and quality of intergroup contact in adolescence remains underexplored. Thus, we conducted a three-wave longitudinal study with majority (N = 740; 64.73% female; M_age = 14.58) and ethnic minority (N = 244; 56.56% female; M_age = 14.91) adolescents to examine these links. Results of random-intercept cross-lagged models showed that among majority adolescents, at the between-person level, their preferences for minority acculturation were mainly associated with contact quality in and out-of-school, with preference for heritage culture maintenance linked to more positive contact and preference for adoption linked to more negative contact. Within-person increases in positive contact in school were followed by decreases in adoption preference. Among ethnic minority adolescents, at the between-person level, their adoption preference was related to more frequent and positive contact across contexts, with additional within-person associations. Overall, the findings emphasize the context-specific and asymmetrical interplay between acculturation and intergroup contact in adolescence.