Zahra or Zoe, Arjun or Andrew? Bicultural baby names reflect identity and pragmatic concerns.

OBJECTIVES: Ethnic first names are a visible product of diversity in the West, yet little is known about the psychological factors that influence naming preferences and choices among bicultural individuals. METHOD: Participants in Studies 1a (South Asian Canadians; N = 326) and 1b (Iranian Canadians; N = 126) were prospective parents who completed an online survey with measures of naming (consequences of ethnic naming, naming preferences) and psychological factors related to naming: heritage and mainstream acculturation, ethno-cultural continuity. Study 2 participants (N = 211) were parents of an Indian background living in three English speaking countries (Canada, United States, UK). They completed an online survey with measures of naming (consequences of ethnic naming, names as markers of cultural identity, actual naming choices) and psychological factors: heritage and mainstream cultural identifications, ethno-cultural continuity. RESULTS: Across all 3 studies we observed a strong preference for ethnic over mainstream names. In Studies 1a and 1b heritage acculturation and motivation for ethno-cultural continuity predicted stronger preference for ethnic names. In contrast, a preference for mainstream names was predicted by mainstream acculturation and expectations of negative consequences of ethnic names. In Study 2 choice of an ethnic name was positively related to beliefs about names as markers of ethnic identity, and negatively related to expectations of negative consequences of ethnic names. CONCLUSIONS: Baby naming among ethnic minorities is a complex cultural decision, reflecting both identity and pragmatic concerns. Implications for studies of acculturation and identity, and future research directions are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Know Your Heritage: Exploring the Effects of Fit in Cultural Knowledge on Chinese Canadians' Heritage Identification.

In the present research, we introduce the notion of fit in cultural knowledge (FICK) - which we define as a match between the self and others in representing a cultural tradition. For ethnic minorities, FICK can be manifested in different degrees of matching their personal beliefs about their heritage culture with outgroup as well as ingroup beliefs about their heritage culture. We conducted two studies with the objective of exploring the potentially negative effects of FICK on Chinese Canadians' heritage identification. In both studies, Chinese Canadian university students (N = 102; N = 156) indicated their personal beliefs about what values are normative in Chinese culture. Ingroup beliefs were assessed by beliefs about Chinese values that Chinese Canadians ascribed to their parents (Study 2), whereas outgroup beliefs were assessed by beliefs about Chinese values that were held by Euro-Canadians (Study 1) or that Chinese Canadians ascribed to Euro-Canadians (Study 2). The main findings based on a series of path models are as follows: (1) a stronger FICK generally predicted lower Chinese identification (centrality, ingroup ties, and affect), yet those negative effects were largely manifested in the openness to change versus conservation rather than in the self-transcendence versus self-enhancement value dimension. (2) The negative effects could be explained by Chinese Canadians' experience of bicultural conflict (Study 1) and the frustration of continuity, meaning, and belonging identity motives (Study 2), suggesting that it matters which specific views of Chinese culture are matched in FICK. 3) Individuals who agreed with the perceived outgroup beliefs, and parental beliefs to a lesser extent, were more likely to apply the model minority stereotype to other Chinese Canadians (Study 2). Taken together, those findings demonstrate the challenges FICK presents to heritage identity maintenance among Chinese Canadian young adults. Implications for enculturation and cultural fit are discussed.

Self-consistency in Bicultural Persons: Dialectical Self-beliefs Mediate the Relation between Identity Integration and Self-consistency.

Prior research differentiates dialectical (e.g., East Asian) from non-dialectical cultures (e.g., North American and Latino) and attributes cultural differences in self-concept consistency to naïve dialecticism. In this research, we explored the effects of managing two cultural identities on consistency within the bicultural self-concept via the role of dialectical beliefs. Because the challenge of integrating more than one culture within the self is common to biculturals of various heritage backgrounds, the effects of bicultural identity integration should not depend on whether the heritage culture is dialectical or not. In four studies across diverse groups of bicultural Canadians, we showed that having an integrated bicultural identity was associated with being more consistent across roles (Studies 1-3) and making less ambiguous self-evaluations (Study 4). Furthermore, dialectical self-beliefs mediated the effect of bicultural identity integration on self-consistency (Studies 2-4). Finally, Latino biculturals reported being more consistent across roles than did East Asian biculturals (Study 2), revealing the ethnic heritage difference between the two groups. We conclude that both the content of heritage culture and the process of integrating cultural identities influence the extent of self-consistency among biculturals. Thus, consistency within the bicultural self-concept can be understood, in part, to be a unique psychological product of bicultural experience.

Development and Validation of the Bicultural Youth Acculturation Questionnaire.

OBJECTIVES: Acculturation is a multidimensional process involving changes in behaviour and beliefs. Questionnaires developed to measure acculturation are typically designed for specific ethnic populations and adult experiences. This study developed a questionnaire that measures acculturation among ethnically diverse populations of youth that can be included as a module in population surveys. METHODS: Questionnaires measuring acculturation in youth were identified in the literature. The importance of items from the existing questionnaires was determined using a Delphi process and this informed the development of our questionnaire. The questionnaire was then pilot tested using a sample of 248 Canadians aged 18-25 via an online system. Participants identified as East and South East Asian (27.8%), South Asian (17.7%) and Black (13.7%). The majority were 1st (33.5%) or 2nd generation immigrants (52.0%). After redundant items were eliminated, exploratory factor analysis grouped items into domains, and, for each domain, internal consistency, and convergent validity with immigrant generation then age at immigration estimated. A subset of participants re-completed the questionnaire for reliability estimation. RESULTS: The literature review yielded 117 articles that used 13 questionnaires with a total of 440 questions. The Delphi process reduced these to 32 questions. Pilot testing occurred in 248 Canadians aged 18-25. Following item reduction, 16 questions in three domains remained: dominant culture, heritage language, and heritage culture. All had good internal consistency (Cronbach's alphas > .75). The mean dominant domain score increased with immigrant generation (1st generation: 3.69 (95% CI: 3.49-3.89), 2nd: 4.13 (4.00-4.26), 3rd: 4.40 (4.19-4.61)), and mean heritage language score was higher among those who immigrated after age 12 than before (p = .0001), indicative of convergent validity. CONCLUSIONS: This Bicultural Youth Acculturation Questionnaire has demonstrated validity. It can be incorporated into population health surveys to elucidate the impact of acculturation on health outcomes among bicultural youth.

Drinking too much and feeling bad about it? How group identification moderates experiences of guilt and shame following norm transgression.

The role of reference group norms in self-regulation was examined from the perspective of transgressions. Results from four studies suggest that following the transgression of a reference group's norms, individuals who strongly identify with their group report more intense feelings of guilt, an emotion reflecting an inference that "bad" behaviors are perceived as the cause of the transgression. Conversely, weakly identified individuals reported more intense feelings of shame, an emotion reflecting an inference that "bad" characteristics of the person are perceived as the cause of the transgression. The studies also explored the differential relevance of the reference groups when assessing transgressive behaviors, the counterfactual thoughts individuals have about possible causes for the transgressions, and the motivational outcomes of guilt and shame using behavioral data. Results of the studies offer insights into self-regulation, maintenance of group norms, and offer implications for alcohol consumption interventions, such as social marketing campaigns.

Diversity policy, social dominance, and intergroup relations: predicting prejudice in changing social and political contexts.

In contrast to authors of previous single-nation studies, we propose that supporting multiculturalism (MC) or assimilation (AS) is likely to have different effects in different countries, depending on the diversity policy in place in a particular country and the associated norms. A causal model of intergroup attitudes and behaviors, integrating both country-specific factors (attitudes and perceived norms related to a particular diversity policy) and general social-psychological determinants (social dominance orientation), was tested among participants from countries where the pro-diversity policy was independently classified as low, medium, or high (N = 1,232). Results showed that (a) anti-Muslim prejudice was significantly reduced when the pro-diversity policy was high; (b) countries differed strongly in perceived norms related to MC and AS, in ways consistent with the actual diversity policy in each country and regardless of participants' personal attitudes toward MC and AS; (c) as predicted, when these norms were salient, due to subtle priming, structural equation modeling with country included as a variable provided support for the proposed model, suggesting that the effect of country on prejudice can be successfully accounted by it; and (d) consistent with the claim that personal support for MC and AS played a different role in different countries, within-country mediation analyses provided evidence that personal attitudes toward AS mediated the effect of social dominance orientation on prejudice when pro-diversity policy was low, whereas personal attitudes toward MC was the mediator when pro-diversity policy was high. Thus, the critical variables shaping prejudice can vary across nations.

Bias against foreign-born or foreign-trained doctors: experimental evidence.

OBJECTIVES: Bias against foreign-born or -trained medical students and doctors is not well understood, despite its documented impact on recruitment, integration and retention. This research experimentally examines the interaction of location of medical education and nationality in evaluations of doctors' competence and trustworthiness. METHODS: A convenience sample of prospective patients evaluated fictitious candidates for a position as a doctor in community practice at a new local health clinic. All applicants were described as having the same personality profile, legal qualifications to practise, a multi-degree education and relevant work experience. The location of medical education (the candidate's home country or the UK) and national background (Australia or Pakistan) of the applicants were independently experimentally manipulated. RESULTS: Consistent with previous research on skills discounting and bias, foreign-born candidates were evaluated less favourably than native-born candidates, despite their comparable education level, work experience and personality. However, overseas medical education obtained in the First World both boosted evaluations (of competence and trustworthiness) and attenuated bias based on nationality. CONCLUSIONS: The present findings demonstrate the selective discounting of foreign-born doctors' credentials. The data show an interaction of location of medical education and birth nationality in bias against foreign doctors. On an applied level, the data document that the benefits of medical education obtained in the First World can extend beyond its direct outcomes (high-quality training and institutional recognition) to the indirect benefit of the attenuation of patient bias based on nationality.

Bicultural identity conflict in second-generation Asian Canadians.

Researchers have shown that bicultural individuals, including 2nd-generation immigrants, face a potential conflict between 2 cultural identities. The present authors extended this primarily qualitative research on the bicultural experience by adopting the social identity perspective (H. Tajfel & J. C. Turner, 1986). They developed and tested an empirically testable model of the role of cultural construals, in-group prototypicality, and identity in bicultural conflict in 2 studies with 2nd-generation Asian Canadians. In both studies, the authors expected and found that participants' construals of their 2 cultures as different predicted lower levels of simultaneous identification with both cultures. Furthermore, the authors found this relation was mediated by participants' feelings of prototypicality as members of both groups. Although the perception of cultural difference did not predict well-being as consistently and directly as the authors expected, levels of simultaneous identification did show these relations. The authors discuss results in the context of social identity theory (H. Tajfel & J. C. Turner) as a framework for understanding bicultural conflict.

Serial migration and its implications for the parent-child relationship: a retrospective analysis of the experiences of the children of Caribbean immigrants.

This study addressed the potential impact of serial migration for parent-children relationships and for children's psychological well-being. The experience of being separated from their parents during childhood and reunited with them at a later time was retrospectively examined for 48 individuals. A series of measures (e.g., self-esteem, parental identification) associated with appraisals at critical time periods during serial migration (separation, reunion, current) revealed that serial migration can potentially disrupt parent-child bonding and unfavorably affect children's self-esteem and behavior. Time did not appear to be wholly effective in repairing rifts in the parent-child relationship. Risk factors for less successful reunions included lengthy separations and the addition of new members to the family unit in the child's absence.

Do alcohol expectancies become intoxicated outcomes? A test of social-learning theory in a naturalistic bar setting.

According to social-learning theory, alcohol outcome expectancies (AOEs) are important motivators of drinking behavior that are reinforced, in part, as a result of one's direct experience with alcohol's intoxicating effects. To date, limited research has been conducted in naturalistic bar settings to examine the congruency between AOEs held prior to drinking and individuals' subjective perceptions of post-drinking outcomes. The present study was designed to fill this void. Fifty regular bar patrons (30 males and 20 females) participated. Prior to the initiation of the drinking episode, expected alcohol effects and associated valences were assessed using the Comprehensive Effects of Alcohol (CEOA) questionnaire [Fromme, Stroot, and Kaplan, (1993) 19]. At the conclusion of the drinking episode, all individuals completed the CEOA that was modified in order to assess their subjective alcohol-related outcomes. Overall, while individuals' intoxicated outcomes generally mirrored their pre-drinking AOEs, a lack of congruency was observed with respect to alcohol-related risk and aggression, such that participants reported feeling less aggressive and more disinclined to engage in risky behavior than they had expected as a result of consuming alcohol. As well, two presumably negative (i.e., behavioral impairment and self-perception) and one positive (i.e., liquid courage) alcohol-related outcomes were rated more favorably at the end of the drinking episode. Finally, a main effect for gender was found for specific AOEs. The implications of these findings for social-learning explanations of drinking behavior are discussed.

Testing the social identity-intergroup differentiation hypothesis: 'We're not American eh!'.

The social identity-intergroup differentiation hypothesis is a hotly debated issue among social identity researchers (Brown, 2000; Turner, 1999); it states that individuals having a stronger in-group identification will perceive greater differences between their in-group and a relevant out-group. This study examines the importance of three factors when testing this hypothesis: the strength and salience of in-group identification, the relevance of the out-group for social comparison, and the relevance of the dimension of social comparison. The hypothesis was examined in relation to the national identity of a sample of Canadian students. Perceptions of the in-group and out-groups were measured at Time 1 (N =171). The same measures were given at Time 2 (N = 77), along with a variety of measures of social identity. It was predicted that this hypothesis would be supported when the dimension of social comparison was of high relevance and only for an important social comparison group (i.e. Americans). Finally, the ability of identity to predict differentiation at another point in time was examined in order to examine the issue of identity salience and stability. Results generally supported the hypotheses and are discussed in relation to prior research and the conceptualization of a minority identity.