3 questions of the day
- how do you measure the way in which cultures have been internalized?
- how do immigrants and children of immigrants internalize and integrate their diverse cultures?
- are all cultural guidelines equally easy to internalize?
gazette article about father and his two sons who immigrated from Cameroon - psychologist in the article talks about what?
psychologist in the article talks about a classic mistake:
- young kids/teens often don’t want to do cultural things and want to instead do mainstream things
- most parents let their children leave their heritage culture behind - “you have to be your own person”
- turns out this is a mistake, even though it seems totally sensible
there are RISKS TO MENTAL HEALTH if you leave your heritage culture behind
quote from Gazette: “parents inevitably want to pass on…”
“parents inevitably want to pass on some of the values that shaped their upbringing (eg. politeness, respect)”
“for some immigrant parents trying to do this can be challenging as their children navigate two different cultural universes”
cultural internalization
process by which cultural beliefs and practices are adopted by the individual
and then enacted in the absence of immediate external contingencies or constraints
cultural internalization involves not only taking in cultural beliefs and practices, but also…
enacting them in absence of immediate external contingencies/constraints
^ VOLITIONALLY continuing with the practices
what is very important for cultural internalization?
the way your parents set up guidelines
Deci & Ryan’s theory of internalization
- children are willing and even active participants in the process
- there are different processes by which internalization occurs (introjection and identification/integration)
- these different internalization processes result in qualitatively different styles of self-regulation
- the social context (ie. parenting) influences which internalization process and regulatory style occurs
Deci & Ryan - “children are willing and even active participants in the process”
internalization isn’t something that must be forced on kids
kids are willing and active - they want to learn and participate
young kids care about what their parents/communities care about
(relatedness needs)
kids want to be good at the things happening around them
(competency needs)
this understanding should guide the way that parents parent
different processes by which internalization occurs
- introjection
- identification and integration
introjection (internalization process)
taking in a value or regulatory process
but not accepting it as one’s own
(swallowing your food without chewing it - means it won’t digest well and may leave you feeling defiant)
identification and integration (internalization process)
fully assimilating a regulation with one’s core sense of self
(chewing up your food, thinking about what you’re eating and accepting it)
identification and integration are enabled by…
parental strategies
Downie et al - “the degree to which immigrants fully…”
“the degree to which immigrants fully internalize their host and heritage cultures will importantly relate to their adjustment”
2 factors that make internalization of heritage culture difficult
- if you are tri or quadro-cultural
- if your cultures come into conflict
relative autonomy of cultural internalization question
Q: How much do you pursue specific cultural traditions, practices and values for the following reasons?
scale from:
1. external regulation
2. introjected regulation
3. identified regulation
(ask this for the HERITAGE and HOST culture)
specific example for relative autonomy of cultural internalization question
why did you go to German school?
why did you go to Oktoberfest?
(rate this on scale from external, introjected to identified regulation)
relative autonomy of cultural internalization question - EXTERNAL answer
“my parents and relatives want me to”
relative autonomy of cultural internalization question - INTROJECTED answer
“I would feel ashamed, guilty, or anxious if I did not - I feel I ought to do this”
relative autonomy of cultural internalization question - IDENTIFIED answer
“I really believe it is important to do - I endorse it freely and value it wholeheartedly”
measures of cultural adjustment
- POSITIVE and NEGATIVE AFFECT experienced in heritage and host cultural contexts
- GLOBAL WELLBEING (asked people ow they felt in heritage culture setting vs mainstream settings)
(included both self and peer reports)
measures of cultural adjustment - results
- specific links between INTERNALIZATION of each culture and AFFECT in those cultural settings
^ full internalization of heritage guidelines = better wellbeing in those contexts
(confirmed by self reports and close others reports)
- significant association between BI-CULTURAL INTEGRATION and global WELLBEING
^ balance between heritage and mainstream components is important
why are some immigrants better able to internalize & integrate their multiple cultures?
hypothesis:
PARENTAL AUTONOMY SUPPORT around cultural issues will promote autonomous internalization
what is parental autonomy support?
extent to which your parents consider:
- explaining and providing rationale for why you should be participating in your heritage culture
- increasing information as you age
- giving you a voice and choice in the process
measuring parental autonomy support re: culture
“my mother, whenever possible, allows me to choose how I will participate in my heritage culture
“my father insists upon my doing things like a typical member of my heritage culture”
