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The Reaffirmation of Cultural Identity in Cross-Cultural Encounters

University of California, Berkeley

This study examined the relation between cultural contact and psychological aspects associated with cultural identity, as conceptualized in two research approaches: social identity theory and acculturation research. The groups studied were German and U.S. American individuals who either lived in the respective nonnative culture (biculturals) or had no direct contact (monoculturals). Participants provided information about their sociocultural backgrounds and their cultural experiences, and they rated how characteristic each of 120 trait-attributes was of themselves, their native cultural group, and their nonnative cultural group. They also rated the attributes' desirability. Comparisons between monocultural and bicultural groups revealed a reaffirmation effect. Compared with monoculturals, biculturals saw themselves as more similar to their native cultural group, they evaluated that particular group's attributes more positively, and they saw the two cultural groups as less similar to each other. Theoretical implications of the reaffirmation effect are discussed.

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