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The Social Dimension of Stress: Experimental Manipulations of Social Support and Social Identity in the Trier Social Stress Test
Published on: November 19, 2015
The impact of cultural internalization and integration on well-being among tricultural individuals
Michelle Downie1, Richard Koestner, Shaha ElGeledi
1McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada. mdownie@ego.psych.mcgill.ca
Abstract:
The cultural internalization and competence of a diverse sample of tricultural university students was assessed. Based on recent research on the internalization of cultural norms, it was predicted that (a) having a heritage culture that embraced egalitarian values would be conducive to autonomous internalization and cultural competence, (b) competence and internalization would be associated with positive affect in heritage cultural contexts, and (c) the same positive relations between competence, internalization, and affect would be evident in English Canadian and French Canadian contexts. The study included 113 participants representing more than 35 distinct ethnicities. Results supported the hypothesized relations among egalitarianism, autonomous internalization, competence, and affect. Furthermore, the results indicated that individuals' cultural adaptation in both heritage and English Canadian cultures, combined with the extent to which they had integrated their cultural identities in their self, predicted psychological wellbeing.
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