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Self-consistency in Bicultural Persons: Dialectical Self-beliefs Mediate the Relation between Identity Integration
Rui Zhang1, Kimberly A Noels2, Richard N Lalonde3
1Department of Psychology, Dickinson College, Carlisle PA, USA.
Frontiers in Psychology
|March 23, 2017
Summary
Managing multiple cultural identities enhances self-concept consistency in bicultural individuals. Dialectical beliefs mediate this effect, showing that integrating cultures leads to a more consistent self.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Sociology
- Cultural Studies
Background:
- Prior research links cultural differences in self-concept consistency to dialectical thinking.
- Naïve dialecticism is often cited to explain variations between East Asian and Western cultures.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how managing multiple cultural identities affects self-concept consistency in bicultural individuals.
- To explore the mediating role of dialectical beliefs in bicultural identity integration and self-consistency.
Main Methods:
- Four studies were conducted with diverse groups of bicultural Canadians.
- Methods included assessing bicultural identity integration, dialectical self-beliefs, and self-consistency across roles and self-evaluations.
Main Results:
- Integrated bicultural identity correlated with greater role consistency and less ambiguous self-evaluations.
- Dialectical self-beliefs significantly mediated the relationship between bicultural identity integration and self-consistency.
- Latino biculturals reported higher role consistency than East Asian biculturals, highlighting ethnic heritage differences.
Conclusions:
- Bicultural identity integration positively influences self-concept consistency.
- Dialectical beliefs are a key psychological mechanism linking cultural integration to self-consistency.
- Both heritage culture content and the integration process shape self-consistency in bicultural individuals.
Keywords:
East AsianLatinobicultural identity integrationbiculturalismnaïve dialecticismself-concept consistencyMore Related Videos
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