Chapter 7

Question 1

migrants

Answer 1

• those who move from a heritage culture (original culture) to a host culture (new culture)
• Includes sojourners (those who only intent to stay temporarily) and immigrants (those who intend to stay permanently)

Question 2

u-shaped curve of acculturation

Answer 2

• People initially go through a honeymoon phase where they’re really happy with the new culture (ie. trying new foods, meeting new people)
• Eventually, they enter the crisis/culture shock phase where they feel a lot of negative emotions about the culture (ie. feeling hindered by language, feeling homesick)
• After this, they enter the adjustment phase where they begin to adjust and enjoy their experiences again (ie. improving language, making friends)
• Happens when people arrive in new cultures, but can also happen when migrants return to their home cultures (“reverse culture shock”)

Question 3

culture shock

Answer 3

Being anxious, helpless, irritable, and homesick when moving to a new culture

Question 4

What impacts adjustment and acculturation?

Answer 4

• cultural distance
• cultural fit
• acculturation strategies

Question 5

cultural distance

Answer 5

the difference between 2 cultures and their ways of life → greater distance, greater adjustment needed → more difficulty acculturating

Question 6

cultural fit

Answer 6

the degree of similarity between one’s personality and the dominant values of the host culture → greater similarity, less adjustment needed → less difficulty acculturating

Question 7

is acculturation always a good thing?

Answer 7

No, sometimes it can be detrimental to adopt a host culture’s values (ie. people gaining weight when they acculturate in the USA)

Question 8

identity denial

Answer 8

• When a person’s cultural identity is called into question because they don’t appear to match the prototype of that culture (ie. “Where are you from? No, where are you really from?”) → suggests that person doesn’t really belong in the culture
• When people’s identity is denied, they often engage in identity-affirming practices (doing things that are common in the host culture)

Question 9

stereotype threat

Answer 9

• the fear that one will accidentally do something to confirm a negative stereotype of their cultural group (ie. African-American taking a difficult test may worry that they’ll do badly and confirm the stereotype that African-Americans are less academically-inclined)
• • When people are primed/reminded of their race, gender, etc. before completing a task, they’re more likely to fulfill that stereotype

Question 10

blending

Answer 10

the tendency for bicultural people to display psychological tendencies between those of their two cultures (ex. Canadians that move to Japan start to display slightly lower self-esteem)

Question 11

frame-switching

Answer 11

• tendency for bicultural people to switch between different cultural selves (aka: alternation) depending on the cultural context
• Can be conscious (ex. Switching between languages, African-Americans “code-switching” between the street and ‘the decents’) or unconscious (ex. Switching to thinking in ways more in-line with Chinese culture after being exposed to a cultural prime)
• Varies based on the degree of bicultural identity integration
• People who aren’t bicultural can also use cultural knowledge to frame-switch when primed

Question 12

bicultural identity integration

Answer 12

• extent to which people see their two cultural identities as compatible or in opposition to each other
• • High bicultural identity integration: see them as compatible, integrate them together → should have more frame-switching
• • Low bicultural identity integration: see them as incompatible, must separate them (can’t identify with both simultaneously)

Question 13

multiculturalism and creativity

Answer 13

• Multicultural people may be more creative → living in other cultures may give you additional perspectives
• • Ex. in the fashion world, designers who had lived in a number of different countries (breadth) for a significant amount of time (depth) that had higher cultural differences (cultural distance) rated more creative
• Multicultural living fosters a way of thinking called integrative complexity (willingness and ability to acknowledge and consider different viewpoints at the same time)
• However, it’s also possible that creative people are just more inclined to move to a new culture