Dynamic Biculturalism: Socially Connected and Individuated Unique Selves in a Globalized World

In an increasingly connected world brought about by globalization, opportunities abound for countries and individuals to become bicultural or multicultural. This paper reviewed experimental studies that were designed to test bicultural Chinese individuals' responsiveness to Chinese and Western culture primes with regard to autobiographical memory, the inclusion of significant others in the self-concept, and how such self-inclusiveness can be revealed by functional magnetic resonance imaging of the bicultural brain. Results showed that across all three areas, bicultural individuals resonated to the specific cultural context by displaying their socially connected or individuated unique self in support the 'alternation' model of biculturalism ( LaFromboise, Coleman, & Gerton, 1993 ) and its underlying dynamism.     

Acculturation,Respect for Cultural Differences,and Biculturalism Among Three Generations of Mexican American and Euro American School Children

In this study, we examined acculturation, respect for cultural differences, and biculturalism among first-, second-, and third-generation Mexican American and Euro American school children. Teachers' ratings of children's classroom behavior were used as measures of acculturation, respect for cultural differences, and biculturalism. Results showed first-generation children to be most integrated with the Mexican American culture and third-generation children to be the most integrated with Euro American culture. In addition, there were no differences in respect for cultural differences between the groups of Mexican American and Euro American children. Finally, first-generation children were the most bicultural group of Mexican Americans. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for the development of children's bicultural identity.     

Biculturalism amongst ethnic minorities: Its impact for individuals and intergroup relations

This review article offers an integration of acculturation, biculturalism, and intergroup relations research. Additionally, it argues that bicultural identities can be more accurately conceptualised as a third, hyphenated cultural identity (e.g., Chinese‐Australian), in addition to one's ethnic and the dominant national identity. In doing so, this article proposes that hyphenated cultural identities may be personally meaningful for many ethnic minorities and discusses the function of hyphenated cultural identification for individuals and society. Given the relevance of bicultural identification, it is argued that recognising and understanding a hyphenated cultural identity is fundamental to ethnic minorities' wellbeing, as well as improving the quality of intergroup relations in multicultural societies, such as Australia.     

Biculturalism Unpacked: Components, Measurement, Individual Differences, and Outcomes

Cultural contact due to migration, globalization, travel, and the resulting cultural diversity, has led to growing numbers of bicultural individuals, which demands further research on this group. In this article, we introduce the concept of biculturalism and provide the foundation necessary for understanding literature on this topic, beginning research in this area, and recognizing biculturalism in everyday life. In unpacking the construct of biculturalism, we first define it along with its components and related constructs (e.g. acculturation strategies). Second, we compare and discuss various ways of measuring biculturalism (e.g. unidimensional versus bidimensional models). Third, we organize and summarize the limited literature on individual differences in bicultural identity, focusing on the construct of Bicultural Identity Integration ( Benet-Martínez & Haritatos, 2005 ). Lastly, we review the possible outcomes resulting from biculturalism.     

Negotiating Multiple Identities,Constructing Western‐Muslim Selves in the Netherlands and the United States

This article evaluates the psychological processes, discursive practices, and sociopolitical mechanisms underlying the identity reconstruction of Muslim immigrant women in the United States and the Netherlands. Specifically, it focuses on the ways in which Muslim immigrant women who are embedded in both Islamic and Western cultures negotiate their traditional and modern identities and self‐representations and construct a coherent self‐narrative about their bicultural existence as “Western‐Muslim.” The qualitative evidence presented here expands existing theoretical and empirical discussions on biculturalism and acculturation by demonstrating the ways in which contextual factors define the negotiation repertoire that is available to bicultural individuals. The findings of this article also call into question some of the earlier findings on cultural conflict hypothesis, because it shows that successful negotiation of bicultural identities depends not so much on whether the individual perceives these identities and cultures to be compatible with each other, but rather on the availability of a coherent self‐narrative of belonging to both cultural worlds.     

Dynamic self‐representation of interdependent Chinese: The effect of bicultural experience

The process of globalisation has increased the opportunity for Chinese individuals to utilise influences from other cultures that differ from their own collectivistic culture. The explorations of the impact of acculturation on Chinese individuals' self‐construals have become intriguing. Thus, we recruited German‐Chinese (N = 192) people who live in Germany and had direct bicultural experiences, as well as Mainland‐Chinese (N = 192) people who live in Mainland China and had internalised a second culture through more indirect means of exposure. We investigated their accessibility to both interdependent and independent cultural frameworks using temporal self‐construal priming. The results showed that priming effects were observed in both cultural groups. However, the self‐construals of the German‐Chinese participants were more flexible than those of Mainland‐Chinese under self‐construal priming. Also, the results suggested that women were easier to be influenced by direct bicultural experiences, due to their private and collective self were different between the two cultures. These findings provide evidence regarding the opinion that individuals could use influences from more than one culture. More importantly, these results suggest that the acculturation induced by direct bicultural experiences facilitates cultural frame switching.     

Leadership and Adolescent Girls: A Qualitative Study of Leadership Development

This research investigated youth leadership experiences of adolescent girls who participated in a comprehensive feminist-based leadership program. This qualitative study utilized a grounded theory approach to understand changes that occurred in 10 female adolescent participants. The words of the participants revealed that initially they viewed leadership in traditional terms and were hesitant to identify themselves as leaders or to see themselves included within their concepts of leadership. Following the program their view of leadership expanded and diversified in a manner that allowed for inclusion of themselves within it. They spoke with greater strength and confidence and felt better positioned and inspired to act as leaders. Participants identified having examples of women leaders, adopting multiple concepts of leadership, and participating in an environment of mutual respect and trust as factors that contributed to their expanded conceptualization.     

A Balancing Act: Integrating Evidence‐Based Knowledge and Cultural Relevance in a Program of Prevention Parenting Research with Latino/a Immigrants

Family therapists have a unique opportunity to contribute toward the reduction of widespread mental health disparities impacting diverse populations by developing applied lines of research focused on cultural adaptation. For example, although evidence‐based prevention parent training (PT) interventions have been found to be efficacious with various Euro‐American populations, there is a pressing need to understand which specific components of PT interventions are perceived by ethnic minority parents as having the highest impact on their parenting practices. Equally important is to examine the perceived cultural relevance of adapted PT interventions. This qualitative investigation had the primary objective of comparing and contrasting the perceived relevance of two culturally adapted versions of the efficacious parenting intervention known as Parent Management Training, the Oregon Model (PMTO). According to feasibility indicators provided by 112 Latino/a immigrant parents, as well as findings from a qualitative thematic analysis, the core parenting components across both adapted interventions were identified by the majority of research participants as relevant to their parenting practices. Participants exposed to the culturally enhanced intervention, which included culture‐specific sessions, also reported high satisfaction with components exclusively focused on cultural issues that directly impact their parenting practices (e.g., immigration challenges, biculturalism). This investigation illustrates the relevant contributions that family therapy scholars can offer toward addressing mental health disparities, particularly as it refers to developing community‐based prevention interventions that achieve a balance between evidence‐based knowledge and cultural relevance.     

Essentializing race: implications for bicultural individuals' cognition and physiological reactivity

It is a widely held belief that racial groups have underlying essences. We hypothesized that bicultural individuals who hold this essentialist belief about race are oriented to perceive rigid interracial boundaries and experience difficulty passing between their ethnic culture and the host culture. As predicted, we found that the more strongly Chinese American participants endorsed an essentialist belief about race, the less effective they were in switching rapidly between Chinese and American cultural frames in a reaction time task (Study 1), and the greater emotional reactivity they exhibited (reflected in heightened skin conductance) while they talked about their Chinese and American cultural experiences (Study 2). Taken together, these findings suggest that essentialist beliefs about race set up a mind-set that influences how bicultural individuals navigate between their ethnic and host cultures.     

Christian School Leaders and Spirituality: A Reaction to Banke,Maldonado, and Lacey

Banke, Maldonado, and Lacey (2012) found evidence to suggest that the experiences of Christian school leaders affect their roles as spiritual leaders because learning from various prior experiences aided these leaders on how to be better spiritual leaders. Argued herein is that this conclusion “begs the question” because the conclusion that the authors attempt to prove is included in the initial premise of their argument. This approach perhaps explains why the authors purposefully nominated participants for the study and made other simplifying assumptions such as equating servant leadership to spiritual leadership, equating protestant Christians to all Christian denominations, equating Christian school leaders to spiritual leaders, and equating Christian primary and secondary school leaders to Christian college and University leaders.     

Cultural variation in the motivational standards of self-enhancement and self-criticism among bicultural Asian American and Anglo American students

Recent work on biculturalism has made theoretical and methodological inroads into our understanding of the relation of cultural processes with psychological functioning. Through the use of cultural priming methodologies, investigators have demonstrated that biculturals, or individuals who have experienced and identify with more than one culture, can switch between various "cultural frames of reference" in response to corresponding social cues (Hong, Morris, Chiu, & Benet-Martinez, 2000). Drawing on this work on the cognitive implications of biculturalism, the purpose of the present study was to examine the assumption that independent and interdependent self-construals are associated with the motivational standards of self-enhancement and self-criticism, respectively. More specifically, the effects of differential primes of self on ratings of self-enhancement were investigated in a sample of bicultural Asian American (N = 42) and Anglo American (N = 60) college students; overall, more similarities than differences were noted between the two groups. It was hypothesized that Anglo American students would display marked tendencies toward self-enhancement. However, this hypothesis was not supported. Nevertheless, consistent prime effects were observed for a selected number of ratings related to academic virtues, with those who received an independent-self prime often exhibiting greater self-enhancing tendencies than those who received an interdependent-self prime. For example, participants in the independent-self condition reported on average significantly higher ratings for self-discipline and initiative, as well as the degree to which they perceived themselves to be hard working. Implications for the work on self-representations, motivation, and acculturation are discussed.     

Children’s Implicit Leadership Theories in Middle Childhood: Christian Children's Perceptions in the Cavite Province

This mixed methods study explored the implicit leadership theories (ILTs) of children from Christian elementary schools in the Philippines, in response to the lack of importance attached to leadership ideas and leadership developmental experiences that occur in childhood. Jesus was the most frequently cited leader by the children who also showed a preference for the male stereotype for leadership. Among the nominated leader’s roles, religious figures, parents, teachers, and politicians received consideration from the children. The themes on leader’s attributes were categorized into four factors: (a) socioemotional, (b) spiritual–moral, (c) cognitive, and (d) physical. Males, older children, and non-Catholic participants were more likely to choose male leaders. Girls, Catholics, and young children were more likely to nominate a female leader.     

Footsteps I would like to follow? How gender quotas affect the acceptance of women leaders as role models and inspirations for leadership

This research examines how the method of selecting women leaders affects other women's leadership interest. The results of three experiments (N = 1,015) indicated that only when women leaders were selected due to merit, not quota-based policies, did they boost female participants’ interest in a leadership position. These reactions were mediated by perceptions of the woman leader's deservingness of her position (Studies 1–3) and consequent acceptance as a role model (Studies 2 and 3). Accordingly, success information validating quota-based selected leaders’ competence provided a boost in leadership interest equal to that of merit-based selected leaders (Study 2). For male participants, quota but not merit-based selected women leaders lowered interest in leadership due to their pessimistic assessment of the probability of being selected (Study 1). These results suggest that a wise implementation of quota regulations includes validating women's competence so they are perceived as deserving of their leader roles and can thus serve as inspiring role models.     

Social anxiety among East Asians in North America: East Asian socialization or the challenge of acculturation?

North American research has consistently reported higher social anxiety among people of Asian heritage compared to people of Western heritage. The present study used a cross-national sample of 692 university students to explore explanatory hypotheses using planned contrasts of group differences in social anxiety and related variables. The East Asian socialization hypothesis proposed social anxiety would show a linear relation corresponding to the degree of exposure to East Asian cultural norms. This hypothesis was not supported. The cultural discrepancy hypothesis examined whether bicultural East Asian participants (residing in Canada) would endorse higher social anxiety in comparison to unicultural participants (Western-heritage Canadians and native Koreans and Chinese). Compared to unicultural participants, bicultural East Asian participants reported higher social anxiety and depression, a relation that was partially mediated by bicultural participants' reports of lower self-efficacy about initiating social relationships and lower perceived social status. Overall, the results suggest higher reports of social anxiety among bicultural East Asians may be conceptualized within the context of cultural discrepancy with the mainstream culture.     

The effects of leader illegitimacy on leaders' and subordinates' responses to relinquishing power decisions

This research examined how leader illegitimacy affects leaders' and subordinates' responses to relinquishing power decisions. The processes underlying responses to leader illegitimacy and relinquishing power were also examined. Across four studies, participants were placed in leader roles (Studies 1a/1b) or subordinate roles (Studies 2a/2b) in an online competition. In Studies 1a/1b, participants assigned a leadership role learned, via a leadership skills test, that their leadership was illegitimate or legitimate. By contrast, in Studies 2a/2b, participants assigned a subordinate role were confronted with either an illegitimate leader who retained their power after performing poorly or a legitimate leader who received the leader role after a poor‐performing leader had relinquished their power. Results demonstrated that leaders who felt they did not belong in their leadership role relinquished more power when their leadership was illegitimate (vs. legitimate) and subordinates who felt less in control and greater anger supported illegitimate (vs. legitimate) leaders less.     

中国企业环境下领导行为的研究述评:高管领导行为,领导授权赋能及领导-部属交换

国外有关领导行为的研究已经不胜枚举,而针对中国企业环境下的领导行为研究则相对较少.近年来,中国情境下的领导行为研究开始逐渐涌现,本文从中国高层管理者的领导行为、领导授权赋能行为以及领导-部属交换理论三个方面对中国企业环境下的领导行为研究进行了述评,总结了相关研究在中国情境下的维度表现、前因后果变量,以及中介或调节作用,并指出了中国情境下相关本土化研究的理论与实践贡献.这些研究,从理论贡献上来说,一方面体现出中国情境下领导行为区别于西方情境的独特性,另一方面验证和扩充了西方相关领导行为的研究发现,进一步丰富了领导行为理论;从实践意义上而言,为中国企业领导者提供了一个反思的镜子进而调整自己的领导行为,为中国企业领导者提供企业决策及管理的参考依据,为人力资源管理人员提供实际操作的手段及工具,而且启发下属注意与领导者建立好关系的方式方法和适宜程度.     

双文化认同整合与心理适应的关系:辩证性自我的中介作用

本研究从双文化人对于文化认同的主观感知视角出发,采用问卷调查法,以藏汉杂居区的藏族大学生和汉文化区域的藏族寄居大学生为例,探讨双文化认同整合、辩证性自我与心理适应之间的关系,以及辩证性自我在两者之间的中介作用。结果表明:(1)对于两类被试来说,双文化认同整合问卷的和谐冲突维度与心理适应呈显著正相关,与辩证性自我呈显著负相关;但不同的是,藏族杂居区的被试,双文化认同整合的混合区分维度与辩证性自我和心理适应的相关都不显著(2)辩证性自我在双文化认同整合(和谐-冲突维度)与心理适应的关系中起中介作用。实践中,应通过加强少数民族大学生的双文化认同整合,降低其冲突心理、增强矛盾容忍性等辩证主义思想,进而增强其心理适应。     

Bicultural identity, bilingualism, and psychological adjustment in multicultural societies: immigration-based and globalization-based acculturation

ABSTRACT The present investigation examined the impact of bicultural identity, bilingualism, and social context on the psychological adjustment of multicultural individuals. Our studies targeted three distinct types of biculturals: Mainland Chinese immigrants in Hong Kong, Filipino domestic workers (i.e., sojourners) in Hong Kong, and Hong Kong and Mainland Chinese college students. Individual differences in Bicultural Identity Integration (BII; Benet-Martínez, Leu, Lee, & Morris, 2002 ) positively predicted psychological adjustment for all the samples except sojourners even after controlling for the personality traits of neuroticism and self-efficacy. Cultural identification and language abilities also predicted adjustment, although these associations varied across the samples in meaningful ways. We concluded that, in the process of managing multiple cultural environments and group loyalties, bilingual competence, and perceiving one's two cultural identities as integrated are important antecedents of beneficial psychological outcomes.     

Hindu Leaders in North America?

Abstract. “Are there Hindu leaders in North America”? Can there be leaders of a purportedly invented or imaginary religion that has no shared doctrines or beliefs? This provocative essay offers answers to these and related questions about the nature of Hindu leadership in North America. Three ideal types are examined: Ritualists, Guides, and Administrators. Their roles and responsibilities, though relatively clear in India, have become complicated in their current incarnations in North America. The difficulties are further enhanced when combined with a drive to derive a syncretic form of Hinduism, a pan‐Hinduism that never existed before. This article challenges the leaders of Hinduism in North America to confront and perhaps even jettison their invented identity as a way of becoming better leaders.     

Perceptions of Femininity in Leadership: Modern Trend or Classic Component?

Recently, leadership theorists have commonly suggested that leaders should demonstrate new, arguably feminine, leadership behaviors. This contrasts with traditional stereotypes of leadership as strictly masculine. However, leadership research has a long history of recognizing two categories of leadership behaviors, initiation of structure and consideration, which appear to reflect stereotypically masculine and feminine behaviors. In the current study, 24 undergraduate volunteers rated traits of purported leaders based solely upon their viewing of the leaders’ faces. These faces were visually impoverished so that the raters had to rely on implicit personality theories of leaders to guide their ratings. The results demonstrate that participants’ ratings of purported leaders’ masculinity and femininity indeed correlate very closely with their ratings of initiation of structure and consideration respectively.