The Ecology of Third Culture Kids:: The Experience of Australasian Adults

The ecology of human development has been shown to be different for different cultures and sub-cultures within a particular culture, and to play a significant part in shaping the outcome traits or character profile exhibited by individuals who experience a given ecology. This is the case for those who spend childhood years abroad; who expect to eventually repatriate to their passport country. Those who experience the phenomenon have been called Third Culture Kids (TCKs). A progressive naturalistic study was undertaken providing foundational data on the experience of adult Australasians who were TCKs. In this study Australasians presented stronger in their self-report of altered relational patterns and traits related to resourcefulness than was described in the existing literature. The outcome traits were linked to the developmental ecology by exploring the processes and tensions that were at work. Models of human development were adapted to produce a TCK-specific developmental model. The results of this study have implications for those who deploy families abroad, as well as those who educate, and nurture the social potential of TCKs.