Negotiating Biculturalism: Cultural Frame Switching in Biculturals with Oppositional Versus Compatible Cultural Identities

The authors propose that cultural frame shifting—shifting between two culturally based interpretative lenses in response to cultural cues—is moderated by perceived compatibility (vs. opposition) between the two cultural orientations, or bicultural identity integration (BII). Three studies found that...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of cross-cultural psychology 2002-09, Vol.33 (5), p.492-516
Main Authors: Benet-Martínez, Verónica, Leu, Janxin, Lee, Fiona, Morris, Michael W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attributions
Biculturalism
Chinese American people
Chinese Americans
Cultural Framing
Cultural identity
Culture
Ethnicity
Higher Education
Integration
Multiculturalism & pluralism
Priming
Secondary Education
Social conditions & trends
Social psychology
USA
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Summary:The authors propose that cultural frame shifting—shifting between two culturally based interpretative lenses in response to cultural cues—is moderated by perceived compatibility (vs. opposition) between the two cultural orientations, or bicultural identity integration (BII). Three studies found that Chinese American biculturals who perceived their cultural identities as compatible (high BII) responded in culturally congruent ways to cultural cues: They made more external attributions (a characteristically Asian behavior) after being exposed to Chinese primes and more internal attributions (a characteristically Western behavior) after being exposed to American primes. However, Chinese American biculturals who perceived their cultural identities as oppositional (low BII) exhibited a reverse priming effect. This trend was not apparent for noncultural primes. The results show that individual differences in bicultural identity affect how cultural knowledge is used to interpret social events.
ISSN:0022-0221
1552-5422
DOI:10.1177/0022022102033005005