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Multicultural identity processes
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ScienceDirect Multicultural identity processes Ying-yi Hong1,2, Siran Zhan1, Michael W Morris3 and Vero´nica Benet-Martı´nez4 The study of multicultural identity has gained prominence in recent decades and will be even more urgent as the mobility of individuals and social groups becomes the ‘new normal’. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art theoretical advancements and empirical discoveries of multicultural identity processes at the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and collective (e.g., organizational, societal) levels. First, biculturalism has more benefits for individuals’ psychological and sociocultural adjustment than monoculturalism. Bicultural individuals’ racial essentialist beliefs and Bicultural Identity Integration affect cultural frame switching, racial categorization, and creativity. Second, identity denial and identity-based discrimination by other people or groups threaten multicultural individuals’ psychological health and performance. Third, multiculturalism and interculturalism policies are associated with different conceptions of and attitudes toward diversity, and have distinct outcomes for multicultural individuals and societies. Addresses 1 Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, 639798, Singapore 2 Beijing Normal University, 19 Xinjiekou Outer St, Haidian, Beijing 100875, China 3 Columbia University, 718 Uris Hall, 3022 Broadway, New York, NY 10027, USA 4 ICREA at Pompeu Fabra University, Ramon Trias Fargas 25-27, 08005 Barcelona, Spain Corresponding author: Hong, Ying-yi ([email protected])
identity. Would I exist more authentically if I cut off a part of myself? (Amin Maalouf, 2000, p. 1) Since 1990, the worldwide count of immigrants and expatriates by birth or citizenship has grown by 75 percent [1]. On top of migration, international tourism has increased from 25 million to 1133 million in 2014 [2]. Global internet usage has grown from 14 million to 2.93 billion between 1993 and 2014 [3]. These aspects of globalization have heightened intercultural exposure and the diversity of societies. As an adaptation to this globalization, Amin Maalouf’s identification with multiple cultures is shared by an ever-wider fraction of humankind. To understand the formation and maintenance of multicultural identity, researchers study influential factors at multiple levels: intrapersonal, interpersonal, and collective. In this paper, we provide a review of the latest scholarship on these multi-level processes. Specifically, the research addresses (a) how individuals navigate and manage multicultural identities at the intrapersonal level, (b) how exclusion and discrimination at the interpersonal level affect multicultural identity formation and negotiation, and (c) how organizations’ and societies’ diversity policies also affect such processes.
Current Opinion in Psychology 2016, 8:49–53 This review comes from a themed issue on Culture
Intrapersonal processes
Edited by Michele Gelfand and Yoshi Kashima
Early models of acculturation assumed that high identification with one culture (e.g., host culture) implied low identification with other cultures (e.g., heritage culture). Recent conceptual advancement recognizes that high identification with one culture does not entail low identification with all other cultures [4]; multiple strong identifications are not only possible but also beneficial [5,6]. For instance, a meta-analysis of 83 studies shows that biculturalism, that is, attachment to and competency in two cultures, is associated with both positive psychological (e.g., self-esteem, lack of depression) and sociocultural (e.g., career success, lack of delinquency) adjustment, but not with health [7]. This link between biculturalism and adjustment was stronger than the association between monoculturalism (exclusive orientation toward either the dominant or heritage/ethnic cultures) and adjustment. The positive relationship between biculturalism and adjustment may be due to a variety of factors internal (e.g., bilingual competence, having social support networks in two cultures) and external
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.09.020 2352-250/# 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
How many times, since I left Lebanon in 1976 to live in France, have people asked me, with the best intentions in the world, whether I felt ‘‘more French’’ or ‘‘more Lebanese’’? And I always give the same answer: ‘‘Both!’’ I say that not in the interests of fairness or balance, but because any other answer would be a lie. What makes me myself rather anyone else is the very fact that I am poised between two countries, two or three languages and several cultural traditions. It is precisely this that defines my www.sciencedirect.com
Current Opinion in Psychology 2016, 8:49–53
50 Culture
(e.g., non-discriminatory policies) to the acculturating individual (see review [8] for related research on immigrant acculturation). New insights have also been gained about ‘marginals’ [9], multicultural individuals who have low identification with all their cultures [10]. Recent evidence contradicts the traditional view that these individuals are maladjusted [11]; instead, these culturally ‘marginal’ individuals are found to be well adapted and highly successful [13,14], as demonstrated by their superior creativity [13], intercultural communication skills [14], and likelihood of being in upper management positions [15]. Based on these new insights, Arasaratnam [16] proposed an alternative definition of multicultural identity as ‘the condition of persons who have formed an identity that is not affiliated with one particular culture but instead a blend of multiple cultures and contexts’, themes that are developed in recent theory on polyculturalism [17]. That said, the same identity structure that may signal independence in business executives may signal alienation in the underclass, thus future research from a broader strata of economic groups is necessary. Research has revealed both positive and negative consequences of priming international students with symbols of their home versus host culture. On the one hand, Zhang et al. [18] found that immigrants from mainland China speak English less fluently when exposed to Asian than Caucasian faces or when exposed to Chinese rather than American images. Visual primes of the home culture activate structures of their native language that interfere with second language processing. On the other hand, the same primes can have a positive emotional effect; Fu et al. [19] found that home-culture primes soothe international students’ relational insecurities that hinder their cultural adjustment. Similarly, Hong et al. [20] found that subliminally exposing international students to home cultural cues would increase subjective well-being in that it buffers perceived discrimination, and acculturation stress. These studies have broadened the range of consequences explored in cultural priming research. Bicultural individuals differ in the extent to which they integrate their two cultural identities or Bicultural Identity Integration (BII) [6]. Specifically, BII captures two dimensions of dual cultural identity: distance (degree to which two cultures are perceived as dissociated) and conflict (amount of perceived tension between two cultures). Recent research indicates that a low level of BII-distance (perceiving two cultures as overlapping) is beneficial. For instance, immigrants with lower BII-distance experience less anxiety [21]. Latino biculturals with lower BIIdistance perceived their personalities as more similar to a typical Latino and also more similar to a typical AngloAmerican (compared to those with higher BII-distance) Current Opinion in Psychology 2016, 8:49–53
[22]. Saad et al. [23] found that Chinese-Americans with low BII-distance had better creative performance in a bicultural contexts (where both Chinese and American symbols were present) but not in a monocultural context (where either Chinese or American symbols were present). Tadmor et al. [13] found that low BII-distance individuals exhibited higher cognitive complexity and ultimately creativity. Identity conflict is anxiety provoking [21]. However, surprisingly, a high level of BII-conflict (perceiving high tension between two cultures) is associated with some positive cognitive outcomes. For example, Tadmor et al. [12] and Benet-Martinez et al. found that biculturals who experience identity conflict exhibit greater cognitive complexity. Similarly, Thomas et al. [24] found that biculturals perceiving greater identity conflict have higher cultural metacognition — self-awareness of their cultural assumptions and inferences. Biculturals’ level of identity conflict also moderates how they respond to cultural primes through frame switching [5]. High BII-conflict individuals shift their biases to contrast with norms of the primed culture rather than to assimilate with it. Mok and Morris [25,26,27] compared Asian-American with conflicted cultural identities to those with compatible cultural identities. Conflicted Asian-Americans exhibited a contrastive or contrarian response — more Western biases (on measures such as focal/holistic attention, need for uniqueness, and individualism) after Chinese priming and more East Asian biases after American cultural priming. One explanation is that conflicted biculturals feel dis-identified with their cultures, motivated to dissociate themselves from each culture [4]. An alternative explanation is the motivation to protect the non-cued cultural identity [25,26,27]. Recent studies using subliminal priming indicate this response occurs implicitly rather than through conscious impression management [25]. Although this response of conflicted biculturals may prevent them from meshing with cultural contexts, it is useful in protecting them from groupthink when working in groups from their two cultures [28]. This finding implies that bicultural individuals with conflicted identities can contribute to avoiding decision biases. Because culture and race/ethnicity are often conflated, how bicultural individuals conceptualize the nature of race and ethnicity should also affect how they manage their identities. In particular, two lay theories of race have been identified — racial essentialism refers to a belief in race as fixed biological essence that determines a person’s traits and ability, whereas social constructivism refers to a belief in racial categories as malleable (see review, [29]). Asian Americans (ethnic minorities) who believe in racial essentialism identified less with American (host) culture than did those who believe in social constructivism [30]. www.sciencedirect.com
Multicultural identity processes Hong et al. 51
Furthermore, holding racial essentialism was also associated with less flexibility in shifting between cultures [31], more rigid racial categorization [32], and dampened creativity [33]. Conversely, holding less racial essentialism was associated with better psychological well-being for multiculturals because it reduces the racial barrier in interracial contexts [34].
Interpersonal influences Individuals negotiate their cultural identities within specific social contexts as social performers meet social perceivers [35]. Problems arise when a person’s own perceptions and others’ perceptions fail to align [35,36]. For instance, an Asian American can strongly embrace both her Asian and American identities; however, perceivers might forcefully categorize her only as Asian (e.g., by white Americans) or American (e.g., by her co-ethnics). When this occurs, she may feel that her autonomy to exercise identity choice is thwarted. Another key challenge for multicultural individuals is that they are often ethnic minorities who face discrimination from majority groups [37,38]. These problems contribute to a range of negative outcomes such as dampened self-esteem, sense of belonging, and motivation [40,41], increased substance abuse and depression [42], and impaired academic performance [43], among others. Multicultural individuals, especially those with minority status, can take a wide range of strategies to battle identity denial and discrimination. An automatic response to identity denial is to over-emphasize the denied identity in a compensatory defense manner, for example, by behaving in more stereotypically American ways if one perceives denial to her American identity [35,43]. Common strategies for combatting discrimination are identity switching and identity redefinition. Identity switching is deemphasizing the vulnerable target identity and self-recategorizing into a more positively valued identity. Identity redefinition is highlighting positive associations with the target identity so as to protect self-esteem associated with that identity (see [45] for a review on the mechanisms, moderators, and limitations of each strategy). In addition to these reactive strategies, preventive approaches can be taken to protect multiculturals against potential threat. For instance, parents who have successfully adjusted to a multicultural environment can engage in racial socialization (i.e., raising awareness of racism and discrimination, and possible coping strategies) with their children to improve their adjustment and adaptation experiences [43].
Organizational and societal influences The diversity policies that organizations and societies adopt affect individuals’ multicultural identity formation and negotiation. In the remaining section, we review the impact of two alternative policies, that is, multiculturalism and interculturalism, on outcomes for multicultural individuals and societies. www.sciencedirect.com
Multiculturalism was coined in 1970s Quebec to name the ‘policy of honoring differences with the goal of preserving different cultural communities within a society or organization, valuing purity of traditions’ [17], p. 636. In essence, cultural groups have rights; societies should treat none of its major cultural groups as more central than the others; individuals should be recognized in their cultural identities. In two experimental studies, Verkuyten [46] found that presenting a statement endorsing multiculturalism in the local society enhances subsequent self-esteem of high ethnic-minority identifiers’ but not that of low identifiers. Also, individuals endorsing multiculturalism show less social dominance orientation, more interest in and appreciation of diversity, and greater comfort with differences [47]. However, some findings reveal costs of multiculturalism. One cost is reduced national unity [48]. Furthermore, multicultural approaches that focus only on superficial characteristics of cultural groups may unintentionally reinforce group stereotypes [49,50]. Discontent with multiculturalism has led to the adoption of interculturalist policies that promote ‘intercultural contact and dialog.’ The underlying theory is polyculturalism, the view that individuals have ‘partial and plural’ connections to cultures and that cultural communities have always interacted and affected each other’s evolution [17], p. 634. Recent studies of diversity ideologies find that individuals with a polyculturalist mindset, compared with those with multiculturalist mindsets, were more willing to criticize their own cultural traditions [51], more eager for intergroup contact [47], and held more positive attitudes toward people from different cultures [52]. Foreign visitors who dramatically accommodate to the norms of the society they are visiting are appreciated by polyculturalists and derided by multiculturalists [53] as multiculturalists generally prefer individuals to maintain their cultural distinction. In general, polyculturalist individuals welcome fluidity and hybridity in enacting cultural norms whereas multiculturalist individuals see them as threats to cultural preservation and authenticity.
Conclusion and directions for future research The study of multicultural identity has gained prominence in recent decades and will be even more urgent as the mobility of individuals and social groups becomes the ‘new normal.’ As reviewed, this topic cuts across three (intrapersonal, interpersonal, and collective) intimately linked levels. For instance, Cheng and Lee [54] have shown that asking Asian Americans participants to recall positive (negative) interactions with the mainstream American group increases (decreases) participants’ level of bicultural identity integration, suggesting that the interpersonal level affects the intrapersonal level. Conversely, intrapersonal level can also affect interpersonal experiences as well. For instance, No et al. [30] found that Asian American participants who held a social constructivist view of race increased Current Opinion in Psychology 2016, 8:49–53
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their American identification significantly after recalling a large (vs. small) number of positive encounters with American culture but those who held a racial essentialism did not. Finally, both the intrapersonal and interpersonal experiences are affected by national policies [55]. Future research can further elucidate the interplay between the three levels of multicultural identity processes. Interestingly, the exponential prevalence of multicultural contacts and mixing could possibly change human biology as well. A recent study found that adult Spanish-English bilinguals have larger gray matter volume in frontal and parietal brain regions (that are typically implicated in executive control) when compared with English-speaking monolinguals [56]. The researchers explain that managing two languages (i.e., the experience with two languages and the increase need for cognitive control to use them appropriately) changes the brain. To the extent that adapting to multiple cultures also requires navigating between cultural contexts and managing multicultural identities, multicultural experiences may change human brain as well [see elaboration in [29]). Future research can investigate this intriguing possibility.
Conflict of interest statement Nothing declared.
References and recommended reading Papers of particular interest, published within the period of review, have been highlighted as: of special interest 1.
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Intercult Relations 2011, 35:17-30 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ j.ijintrel.2010.11.005. 12. Tadmor CT, Tetlok PE, Peng K: Acculturation strategies and integrative complexity the cognitive implications of biculturalism. J Cross Cult Psychol 2009, 40:105-139. 13. Tadmor CT, Galinsky AD, Maddux WW: Getting the most out of living abroad: biculturalism and integrative complexity as key drivers of creative and professional success. J Pers Soc Psychol 2012, 103:520-542 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0029360. 14. Moore AM, Barker GG: Confused or multicultural: third culture individuals’ cultural identity. Int J Intercult Relations 2012, 36:553-562 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2011.11.002. 15. Gillespie K, McBride JB, Riddle L: Globalization, biculturalism and cosmopolitanism the acculturation status of mexicans in upper management. Int J Cross Cult Manag 2010, 10:37-53. 16. Arasaratnam La: A review of articles on multiculturalism in 35 years of IJIR. Int J Intercult Relations 2013, 37:676-685 http:// dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2013.09.006. 17. Morris MW, Chiu C, Liu Z: Polycultural psychology. Annu Rev Psychol 2015, 66:631-659 http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurevpsych-010814-015001. In this study the authors proposes an alternative framework, polyculturalism, to complement the traditional frameworks of multiculturalism and colorblindness in understanding culture and its relationship with its agents. 18. Zhang S, Morris MW, Cheng C, Yap AJ: Heritage-culture images disrupt immigrants’ second-language processing through triggering first-language interference. Proc Natl Acad Sci 2013, 110:11272-11277. In this research the authors found that heritage-culture cues hinder immigrants’ second-language processing by priming first-language structures. This finding extends the effect cultural priming to linguisitc performance. 19. Fu JHY, Morris MW, Hong Y: A transformative taste of home: home culture primes foster expatriates’ adjustment through bolstering relational security. J Exp Soc Psychol 2015, 59:24-31. 20. Hong Y, Fang Y, Yang Y, Phua DY: Cultural attachment a new theory and method to understand cross-cultural competence. J Cross Cult Psychol 2013, 44:1024-1044. This paper provides the first evidence that acculturation is analogous to infants’ attachment to their caretakers, whereby forming secure attachment to the native and/or host cultures can help sojourners to cope with anxiety and stress and to gain a sense of safe haven. 21. Hirsh JB, Kang SK: Mechanisms of identity conflict: uncertainty, anxiety, and the behavioral inhibition system, personal. Soc Psychol Rev 2015:1-22 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/ 1088868315589475. This paper uses the Behavioral Inhibition System perspective to propose a mechnistic model that dellineates the nature and consequences (i.e., stress responses) of identity conflict. 22. Miramontez DR, Benet-Martı´nez V, Nguyen A-MD: Bicultural identity and self/group personality perceptions. Self Identity 2008, 7:430-445. 23. Saad CS, Damian RI, Benet-Martinez V, Moons WG, Robins RW: Multiculturalism and creativity: effects of cultural context, bicultural identity, and ideational fluency. Soc Psychol Personal Sci 2013 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1948550612456560. This study shows that greater bicultural identity blendedness predicted domain-general creativity in bicultural but not in monocultural contexts, and this was mediated by ideational fluency. 24. Thomas DC, Brannen MY, Garcia D: Bicultural individuals and intercultural effectiveness. Eur J Cross-Cultural Eff Manag 2010, 1:315-333. 25. Mok A, Morris MW: Bicultural self-defense in consumer contexts: self-protection motives are the basis for contrast versus assimilation to cultural cues. J Consum Psychol 2013, 23:175-188 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcps.2012.06.002. The authors found that individuals high (low) in bicultural identity integration assimilated (contrasted) to both subliminal and supraliminal cultural primes in consumer information seeking and choice. This study is also the first to show that experience of identity exclusion threat mediated the relationship. www.sciencedirect.com
Multicultural identity processes Hong et al. 53
26. Mok a, Morris MW: Attentional focus and the dynamics of dual identity integration: evidence from asian americans and female lawyers. Soc Psychol Personal Sci 2012, 3:597-604 http:// dx.doi.org/10.1177/1948550611432769. 27. Mok A, Morris MW: Cultural chameleons and iconoclasts: assimilation and reactance to cultural cues in biculturals’ expressed personalities as a function of identity conflict. J Exp Soc Psychol 2009, 45:884-889. 28. Mok A, Morris MW: An upside to bicultural identity conflict: resisting groupthink in cultural ingroups. J Exp Soc Psychol 2010, 46:1114-1117 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2010.05.020. 29. Hong Y, Khei M: Dynamic multiculturalism: the interplay of socio-cognitive, neural, and and genetic mechanisms. In Oxford Handb. Multicult. Identity. Edited by Benet-Martı´nez V, Hong Y. Oxford University Press; 2014:9-34. 30. No S, Hong Y, Liao H-Y, Lee K, Wood D, Chao MM: Lay theory of race affects and moderates asian americans’ responses toward American culture. J Pers Soc Psychol 2008, 95: 991-1004. 31. Chao MM, Chen J, Roisman GI, Hong Y: Essentializing race: implications for bicultural individuals’ cognition and physiological reactivity. Psychol Sci 2007, 18:341-348.
2009, 65:185-204 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.15404560.2008.01594.x. 42. Chavez GF, Sanchez DT: A clearer picture of multiracial substance abuse: rates and correlates of alcohol and tobacco use in multiracial adolescents and adults. Race Soc Probl 2010, 2:1-18. 43. Mistry J, Contreras MM, Pufall-Jones E: Childhood socialization and academic performance of bicultural youth. In Oxford Handb. Multicult. Identity. Edited by Benet-Martı´nez V, Hong Y. Oxford University Press; 2014. 45. Shih M, Young MJ, Bucher A: Working to reduce the effects of discrimination: identity management strategies in organizations. Am Psychol 2013, 68:145-157 http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1037/a0032250. The authors discussed the effectiveness of two classes of identity management strategies individuals use to mitigate the negative consequences of discrimination: identity switching and identity redefinition under organizational policies of multiculturalism versus colorblindness. They provide practical advice on how organizations can reduce the need of identity management and facilitate the process when necessary. 46. Verkuyten M: Self-esteem and multiculturalism: an examination among ethnic minority and majority groups in the Netherlands. J Res Pers 2009, 43:419-427.
32. Chao MM, Hong Y, Chiu C: Essentializing race: its implications on racial categorization. J Pers Soc Psychol 2013:619. The authors are the first to demonstrate that belief in racial essentialism increase the tendency and sensitivity toward race-based categorization, thus shed light on the process of interracial perception and relationship.
47. Rosenthal L, Levy SR: The relation between polyculturalism and intergroup attitudes among racially and ethnically diverse adults. Cult Divers Ethn Minor Psychol 2012, 18:1-16.
33. Tadmor CT, Chao MM, Hong Y, Polzer JT: Not just for stereotyping anymore racial essentialism reduces domaingeneral creativity. Psychol Sci 2013, 24:99-105. It is found in this study that endorsing racial essentialism led to motivated close-mindedness which in turn hampers creativity. This finding shows that beyond its typical social consequences on stereotyping, racial essentialist belief also holds important cognitive implications.
49. Gutie´rrez AS, Unzueta MM: The effect of interethnic ideologies on the likability of stereotypic vs. counterstereotypic minority targets. J Exp Soc Psychol 2010, 46:775-784.
34. Sanchez DT, Garcia JA: When race matters: racially stigmatized others and perceiving race as a biological construction affect biracial people’s daily well-being. Personal Soc Psychol Bull 2009, 35:1154-1164. 35. Wiley S, Deaux K: The bicultural identity performance of immigrants. In Identity Particip. Cult. Divers. Soc.. Edited by Azzi AE, Chryssochoou B, Klandermans B, Simon B. Wiley-Blackwell; 2010. 36. Sanchez DT, Shih MJ, Wilton LS: Exploring the identity autonomy perspective (IAP): an integrative approach to multicultural and multiracial identity. In Oxford Handb. Multicult. Identity. Edited by Benet-Martı´nez V, Hong Y. Oxford University Press; 2014:139-159. 37. Jasinskaja-Lahti I, Ma¨ho¨nen TA, Liebkind K: Identity and attitudinal reactions to perceptions of inter-group interactions among ethnic migrants: a longitudinal study. Br J Soc Psychol 2012, 51:312-329 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.20448309.2011.02059.x. 38. Adida CL, Laitin DD, Valfort M-A: Identifying barriers to Muslim integration in France. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2010, 107:2238422390 http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1015550107. 40. Sanchez DT: How do forced-choice dilemmas affect multiracial people? The role of identity autonomy and public regard in depressive symptoms. J Appl Soc Psychol 2010, 40:1657-1677 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.15591816.2010.00634.x. 41. Townsend SSM, Markus HR, Bergsieker HB: My choice, your categories: the denial of multiracial identities. J Soc Issues
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48. Reitz J, Breton R, Dion KK, Dion KL: Multiculturalism and Social Cohesion: Potentials and Challenges of Diversity. Springer; 2009.
50. Crisp RJ, Meleady R: Adapting to a multicultural future. Science (80-.) 2012, 336:853-855. 51. Rosenthal L, Levy SR, Moss I: Polyculturalism and openness about criticizing one’s culture: implications for sexual prejudice. Gr Process Intergr Relations 2011, 15:149-165. 52. Bernardo AB, Rosenthal L, Levy SR: Polyculturalism and attitudes towards people from other countries. Int J Intercult Relations 2013, 37:335-344. As one of the first empirical analysis on the effect of endorsing polyculturalism, the results show that greater endorsement of polyculturalism relates to more positive attitudes toward foreigners above and beyond a number of established predictors such as national identification and social dominance orientation. 53. Cho J, Morris MW, Dow B, When in Rome, what do Romans think about newcomers? Locals perceptions of a newcomer’s cultural adaptation, London, 2014. 54. Cheng C, Lee F: The Malleability of Bicultural Identity Integration (BII). J Cross Cult Psychol 2013:1235-1240. This study provides initial evidence that rather than being an individual difference trait, bicultural identity integration can be situationally induced after recalling positive bicultural experiences. 55. Berry JW, Sam DL: Multicultural Societies. In Oxford Handb. Multicult. Identity. Edited by Benet-Martı´nez V, Hong Y. Oxford University Press; 2014. 56. Olulade OA, Jamal NI, Koo DS, Perfetti CA, LaSasso C, Eden GF: Bilinguals of two spoken languages have more gray matter than monolinguals. Cereb Cortex 2015. www.sciencedaily.com/ releases/2015/07/150716135054.htm (accessed August 16, 2015).
Current Opinion in Psychology 2016, 8:49–53
ScienceDirect Multicultural identity processes Ying-yi Hong1,2, Siran Zhan1, Michael W Morris3 and Vero´nica Benet-Martı´nez4 The study of multicultural identity has gained prominence in recent decades and will be even more urgent as the mobility of individuals and social groups becomes the ‘new normal’. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art theoretical advancements and empirical discoveries of multicultural identity processes at the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and collective (e.g., organizational, societal) levels. First, biculturalism has more benefits for individuals’ psychological and sociocultural adjustment than monoculturalism. Bicultural individuals’ racial essentialist beliefs and Bicultural Identity Integration affect cultural frame switching, racial categorization, and creativity. Second, identity denial and identity-based discrimination by other people or groups threaten multicultural individuals’ psychological health and performance. Third, multiculturalism and interculturalism policies are associated with different conceptions of and attitudes toward diversity, and have distinct outcomes for multicultural individuals and societies. Addresses 1 Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, 639798, Singapore 2 Beijing Normal University, 19 Xinjiekou Outer St, Haidian, Beijing 100875, China 3 Columbia University, 718 Uris Hall, 3022 Broadway, New York, NY 10027, USA 4 ICREA at Pompeu Fabra University, Ramon Trias Fargas 25-27, 08005 Barcelona, Spain Corresponding author: Hong, Ying-yi ([email protected])
identity. Would I exist more authentically if I cut off a part of myself? (Amin Maalouf, 2000, p. 1) Since 1990, the worldwide count of immigrants and expatriates by birth or citizenship has grown by 75 percent [1]. On top of migration, international tourism has increased from 25 million to 1133 million in 2014 [2]. Global internet usage has grown from 14 million to 2.93 billion between 1993 and 2014 [3]. These aspects of globalization have heightened intercultural exposure and the diversity of societies. As an adaptation to this globalization, Amin Maalouf’s identification with multiple cultures is shared by an ever-wider fraction of humankind. To understand the formation and maintenance of multicultural identity, researchers study influential factors at multiple levels: intrapersonal, interpersonal, and collective. In this paper, we provide a review of the latest scholarship on these multi-level processes. Specifically, the research addresses (a) how individuals navigate and manage multicultural identities at the intrapersonal level, (b) how exclusion and discrimination at the interpersonal level affect multicultural identity formation and negotiation, and (c) how organizations’ and societies’ diversity policies also affect such processes.
Current Opinion in Psychology 2016, 8:49–53 This review comes from a themed issue on Culture
Intrapersonal processes
Edited by Michele Gelfand and Yoshi Kashima
Early models of acculturation assumed that high identification with one culture (e.g., host culture) implied low identification with other cultures (e.g., heritage culture). Recent conceptual advancement recognizes that high identification with one culture does not entail low identification with all other cultures [4]; multiple strong identifications are not only possible but also beneficial [5,6]. For instance, a meta-analysis of 83 studies shows that biculturalism, that is, attachment to and competency in two cultures, is associated with both positive psychological (e.g., self-esteem, lack of depression) and sociocultural (e.g., career success, lack of delinquency) adjustment, but not with health [7]. This link between biculturalism and adjustment was stronger than the association between monoculturalism (exclusive orientation toward either the dominant or heritage/ethnic cultures) and adjustment. The positive relationship between biculturalism and adjustment may be due to a variety of factors internal (e.g., bilingual competence, having social support networks in two cultures) and external
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.09.020 2352-250/# 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
How many times, since I left Lebanon in 1976 to live in France, have people asked me, with the best intentions in the world, whether I felt ‘‘more French’’ or ‘‘more Lebanese’’? And I always give the same answer: ‘‘Both!’’ I say that not in the interests of fairness or balance, but because any other answer would be a lie. What makes me myself rather anyone else is the very fact that I am poised between two countries, two or three languages and several cultural traditions. It is precisely this that defines my www.sciencedirect.com
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(e.g., non-discriminatory policies) to the acculturating individual (see review [8] for related research on immigrant acculturation). New insights have also been gained about ‘marginals’ [9], multicultural individuals who have low identification with all their cultures [10]. Recent evidence contradicts the traditional view that these individuals are maladjusted [11]; instead, these culturally ‘marginal’ individuals are found to be well adapted and highly successful [13,14], as demonstrated by their superior creativity [13], intercultural communication skills [14], and likelihood of being in upper management positions [15]. Based on these new insights, Arasaratnam [16] proposed an alternative definition of multicultural identity as ‘the condition of persons who have formed an identity that is not affiliated with one particular culture but instead a blend of multiple cultures and contexts’, themes that are developed in recent theory on polyculturalism [17]. That said, the same identity structure that may signal independence in business executives may signal alienation in the underclass, thus future research from a broader strata of economic groups is necessary. Research has revealed both positive and negative consequences of priming international students with symbols of their home versus host culture. On the one hand, Zhang et al. [18] found that immigrants from mainland China speak English less fluently when exposed to Asian than Caucasian faces or when exposed to Chinese rather than American images. Visual primes of the home culture activate structures of their native language that interfere with second language processing. On the other hand, the same primes can have a positive emotional effect; Fu et al. [19] found that home-culture primes soothe international students’ relational insecurities that hinder their cultural adjustment. Similarly, Hong et al. [20] found that subliminally exposing international students to home cultural cues would increase subjective well-being in that it buffers perceived discrimination, and acculturation stress. These studies have broadened the range of consequences explored in cultural priming research. Bicultural individuals differ in the extent to which they integrate their two cultural identities or Bicultural Identity Integration (BII) [6]. Specifically, BII captures two dimensions of dual cultural identity: distance (degree to which two cultures are perceived as dissociated) and conflict (amount of perceived tension between two cultures). Recent research indicates that a low level of BII-distance (perceiving two cultures as overlapping) is beneficial. For instance, immigrants with lower BII-distance experience less anxiety [21]. Latino biculturals with lower BIIdistance perceived their personalities as more similar to a typical Latino and also more similar to a typical AngloAmerican (compared to those with higher BII-distance) Current Opinion in Psychology 2016, 8:49–53
[22]. Saad et al. [23] found that Chinese-Americans with low BII-distance had better creative performance in a bicultural contexts (where both Chinese and American symbols were present) but not in a monocultural context (where either Chinese or American symbols were present). Tadmor et al. [13] found that low BII-distance individuals exhibited higher cognitive complexity and ultimately creativity. Identity conflict is anxiety provoking [21]. However, surprisingly, a high level of BII-conflict (perceiving high tension between two cultures) is associated with some positive cognitive outcomes. For example, Tadmor et al. [12] and Benet-Martinez et al. found that biculturals who experience identity conflict exhibit greater cognitive complexity. Similarly, Thomas et al. [24] found that biculturals perceiving greater identity conflict have higher cultural metacognition — self-awareness of their cultural assumptions and inferences. Biculturals’ level of identity conflict also moderates how they respond to cultural primes through frame switching [5]. High BII-conflict individuals shift their biases to contrast with norms of the primed culture rather than to assimilate with it. Mok and Morris [25,26,27] compared Asian-American with conflicted cultural identities to those with compatible cultural identities. Conflicted Asian-Americans exhibited a contrastive or contrarian response — more Western biases (on measures such as focal/holistic attention, need for uniqueness, and individualism) after Chinese priming and more East Asian biases after American cultural priming. One explanation is that conflicted biculturals feel dis-identified with their cultures, motivated to dissociate themselves from each culture [4]. An alternative explanation is the motivation to protect the non-cued cultural identity [25,26,27]. Recent studies using subliminal priming indicate this response occurs implicitly rather than through conscious impression management [25]. Although this response of conflicted biculturals may prevent them from meshing with cultural contexts, it is useful in protecting them from groupthink when working in groups from their two cultures [28]. This finding implies that bicultural individuals with conflicted identities can contribute to avoiding decision biases. Because culture and race/ethnicity are often conflated, how bicultural individuals conceptualize the nature of race and ethnicity should also affect how they manage their identities. In particular, two lay theories of race have been identified — racial essentialism refers to a belief in race as fixed biological essence that determines a person’s traits and ability, whereas social constructivism refers to a belief in racial categories as malleable (see review, [29]). Asian Americans (ethnic minorities) who believe in racial essentialism identified less with American (host) culture than did those who believe in social constructivism [30]. www.sciencedirect.com
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Furthermore, holding racial essentialism was also associated with less flexibility in shifting between cultures [31], more rigid racial categorization [32], and dampened creativity [33]. Conversely, holding less racial essentialism was associated with better psychological well-being for multiculturals because it reduces the racial barrier in interracial contexts [34].
Interpersonal influences Individuals negotiate their cultural identities within specific social contexts as social performers meet social perceivers [35]. Problems arise when a person’s own perceptions and others’ perceptions fail to align [35,36]. For instance, an Asian American can strongly embrace both her Asian and American identities; however, perceivers might forcefully categorize her only as Asian (e.g., by white Americans) or American (e.g., by her co-ethnics). When this occurs, she may feel that her autonomy to exercise identity choice is thwarted. Another key challenge for multicultural individuals is that they are often ethnic minorities who face discrimination from majority groups [37,38]. These problems contribute to a range of negative outcomes such as dampened self-esteem, sense of belonging, and motivation [40,41], increased substance abuse and depression [42], and impaired academic performance [43], among others. Multicultural individuals, especially those with minority status, can take a wide range of strategies to battle identity denial and discrimination. An automatic response to identity denial is to over-emphasize the denied identity in a compensatory defense manner, for example, by behaving in more stereotypically American ways if one perceives denial to her American identity [35,43]. Common strategies for combatting discrimination are identity switching and identity redefinition. Identity switching is deemphasizing the vulnerable target identity and self-recategorizing into a more positively valued identity. Identity redefinition is highlighting positive associations with the target identity so as to protect self-esteem associated with that identity (see [45] for a review on the mechanisms, moderators, and limitations of each strategy). In addition to these reactive strategies, preventive approaches can be taken to protect multiculturals against potential threat. For instance, parents who have successfully adjusted to a multicultural environment can engage in racial socialization (i.e., raising awareness of racism and discrimination, and possible coping strategies) with their children to improve their adjustment and adaptation experiences [43].
Organizational and societal influences The diversity policies that organizations and societies adopt affect individuals’ multicultural identity formation and negotiation. In the remaining section, we review the impact of two alternative policies, that is, multiculturalism and interculturalism, on outcomes for multicultural individuals and societies. www.sciencedirect.com
Multiculturalism was coined in 1970s Quebec to name the ‘policy of honoring differences with the goal of preserving different cultural communities within a society or organization, valuing purity of traditions’ [17], p. 636. In essence, cultural groups have rights; societies should treat none of its major cultural groups as more central than the others; individuals should be recognized in their cultural identities. In two experimental studies, Verkuyten [46] found that presenting a statement endorsing multiculturalism in the local society enhances subsequent self-esteem of high ethnic-minority identifiers’ but not that of low identifiers. Also, individuals endorsing multiculturalism show less social dominance orientation, more interest in and appreciation of diversity, and greater comfort with differences [47]. However, some findings reveal costs of multiculturalism. One cost is reduced national unity [48]. Furthermore, multicultural approaches that focus only on superficial characteristics of cultural groups may unintentionally reinforce group stereotypes [49,50]. Discontent with multiculturalism has led to the adoption of interculturalist policies that promote ‘intercultural contact and dialog.’ The underlying theory is polyculturalism, the view that individuals have ‘partial and plural’ connections to cultures and that cultural communities have always interacted and affected each other’s evolution [17], p. 634. Recent studies of diversity ideologies find that individuals with a polyculturalist mindset, compared with those with multiculturalist mindsets, were more willing to criticize their own cultural traditions [51], more eager for intergroup contact [47], and held more positive attitudes toward people from different cultures [52]. Foreign visitors who dramatically accommodate to the norms of the society they are visiting are appreciated by polyculturalists and derided by multiculturalists [53] as multiculturalists generally prefer individuals to maintain their cultural distinction. In general, polyculturalist individuals welcome fluidity and hybridity in enacting cultural norms whereas multiculturalist individuals see them as threats to cultural preservation and authenticity.
Conclusion and directions for future research The study of multicultural identity has gained prominence in recent decades and will be even more urgent as the mobility of individuals and social groups becomes the ‘new normal.’ As reviewed, this topic cuts across three (intrapersonal, interpersonal, and collective) intimately linked levels. For instance, Cheng and Lee [54] have shown that asking Asian Americans participants to recall positive (negative) interactions with the mainstream American group increases (decreases) participants’ level of bicultural identity integration, suggesting that the interpersonal level affects the intrapersonal level. Conversely, intrapersonal level can also affect interpersonal experiences as well. For instance, No et al. [30] found that Asian American participants who held a social constructivist view of race increased Current Opinion in Psychology 2016, 8:49–53
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their American identification significantly after recalling a large (vs. small) number of positive encounters with American culture but those who held a racial essentialism did not. Finally, both the intrapersonal and interpersonal experiences are affected by national policies [55]. Future research can further elucidate the interplay between the three levels of multicultural identity processes. Interestingly, the exponential prevalence of multicultural contacts and mixing could possibly change human biology as well. A recent study found that adult Spanish-English bilinguals have larger gray matter volume in frontal and parietal brain regions (that are typically implicated in executive control) when compared with English-speaking monolinguals [56]. The researchers explain that managing two languages (i.e., the experience with two languages and the increase need for cognitive control to use them appropriately) changes the brain. To the extent that adapting to multiple cultures also requires navigating between cultural contexts and managing multicultural identities, multicultural experiences may change human brain as well [see elaboration in [29]). Future research can investigate this intriguing possibility.
Conflict of interest statement Nothing declared.
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