CULTURE AND THE SELF 2 Flashcards
What is the primary distinction between individualism and collectivism?
Individualism emphasizes personal goals and autonomy
Collectivism priories group goals and interdependence
What is a Multicultural Identity?
Sense of belonging to 2 or more cultural groups
*E.g., Polish Canadian
Often experienced by:
*Immigrants
*Ethnic minorities
*Indigenous peoples
What is Acculturation?
Process of learning and cultural change that stems from balancing two cultures while adapting to the prevailing culture of the society
*Evidence of acculturation on a psychological level
*Example: Emotional acculturation
What did they find about Individual Emotional Acculturation?
STUDY: immigrant women from Eastern Europe and Caribbean living in US
Longer amount of time they had spent in USA, the more they fit mainstream American emotional norms ( r = 0.11)
*i.e. More expressivity and less inhibition of emotion
What did they find on Generational Emotional Acculturation?
(STUDY: Compared emotional fit between Turks and Belgian)
*Turkish people in Turkey (“Turkish majority”)
*1stgeneration Turkish immigrants in Belgium
*2ndgeneration Turkish immigrants in Belgium
*Belgians in Belgium (“Belgian majority”
Assessed “emotional fit”
More contact a generation has with Belgian culture, more emotional acculturation
*Turkish majority least like Belgians emotionally
*2nd generation Turkish immigrants indistinguishable from Belgians
*Evidence of emotional acculturation from one generation to the next
What are the implications of Turkish ppl in Belgium study? (Implications of Acculturation Findings)
*Minority individuals become psychologically more similar to majority culture individuals
*Can new culture and heritage culture co-exist
What is Cultural Frame Switching?
Multicultural individuals’ cognitive, emotional, and behavioural reactions are context specific
*Depend on which cultural identity is activated by the situation
Explain Cultural Frame Switching in Emotion (STUDY: 2ndgeneration Turkish immigrants’ emotional experience in Belgium)
FOUND:
- Work/school: emotions more consistent with characteristic Belgian pattern
-Home: emotions fit characteristic Belgian and Turkish patterns equally well
*Suggests that multicultural individuals flexibly shift behaviour to fit culture that’s most salient in a situation
Do multicultural individuals engage in cultural frame-switching in their self-descriptions? (STUDY: European-Canadian and Chinese born students at a Canadian university)
Wrote open-ended self-description: “Describe what you’re like as a person”
*Coded writing for references to others and collective self-statement
*Questionnaire assessing agreement with Chinese cultural view
For Chinese students (some did study in Chinese, others in English)
Found:
Chinese participants’ self-descriptions are more characteristically Chinese when answering in Chinese than in English
What are the Implications of Cultural Frame Switching?
Even though multicultural individuals undergo acculturation, their heritage cultural identity and mainstream cultural identity can co-exist
*Can flexibly shift between cultural selves depending on which is most salient
Explain the four strategies for maintaining cultural identity?
- Integration
- Assimilation
- Separation
- Marginalization
- Integration
Participate in mainstream culture and hold onto heritage identity - Assimilation
Participate in mainstream culture, give up heritage identity - Separation
Hold onto heritage identity, avoid mainstream culture - Marginalization
Not participating in mainstream or heritage culture
Order the integration strategies (best to worst):
- Integration
- Assimilation
- Separation
- Marginalization
- Integration
- Separation
- Assimilation
- Marginalization
Which multicultural identity strategy a person adopts depends on which factors?
*To what extent are they encouraged to hang on to heritage identity by larger society and/or family
*How much exposure do they have to the mainstream culture
*How similar is the heritage identity to the mainstream identity
Which multicultural identity is the most common?
Integration strategy most common
*Integration strategy more common the longer a person lives in the mainstream/ “new” culture
Explain the study on Multicultural Identity and Well-Being?
(Study of immigrants)
Study of immigrant youth from 26 different cultural backgrounds and living in 13 different countries
(determined which strategy they used)
And looked at
*Psychological adaptation: degree of life satisfaction, self-esteem, and mental health issues (Internal)
*Sociocultural adaptation: school and behaviour problems (e.g., dropping out of school, substance use) (external)
FOUND: Integration associated with best psychological and sociocultural adaptation,
Separation associated with better psychological adjustment than assimilation
marginalization associated with the worst adaptation
What are the Implications of multicultural adaptation study?
People are more reluctant to give up heritage cultural identity
*Choose separation (23%) over assimilation (19%)
*Giving up heritage identity (assimilation or marginalization) associated with poorer psychological adjustment than not identifying with mainstream culture (separation)
FINDINGS: *Suggests that multicultural individuals should be encouraged to retain their heritage cultural identity as well as establish close ties with new culture (integration)
How is everyone multicultural? What are independent vs interdependent groups?
Cultural groups extend beyond ethnicity, nationality, and race
*Independence: West, Global North, men, high SES, businesses, liberal religious groups, and coasts
*Interdependence: East, Global South, women, low SES, governments, conservative religious groups, and heartlands
A person’s social orientation towards independent or interdependence will depend on:
*Their mix of cultures
*What is salient in a given context
Is individualism increasing?
Yeah its on the rise
Explain study on rising individualism:
Examined 51 years of data on individualistic values and practices across 78 countries
Found that individualism is on the rise in most countries
*E.g. More likely to live alone
*Less likely to personally take care of elderly relatives
*Less emphasis on family
What is the biggest predictor of increased individualism ?
Socioeconomic development was the biggest predictor of increased individualism
