Biculturalism as a double-edged sword

The perspectives of Mexican American emerging adults

Bibliographic Data

ID11207129
AuthorsJ Mckenzie (0000-0001-8414-8122, California State University, Fresno, corresponding author), Cindy Thai Lopez (0000-0002-2501-499X, California State University, Fresno), Nancy Dionicio (California State University, Fresno), Shelby Ford (California State University, Fresno), Meng Thao (California State University, Fresno), Shazana Virani (California State University, Fresno)
Year2023
Volume92
Pages101754
Publication date2023-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Intercultural Relations (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0147-1767 • E-ISSN: 1873-7552
PublisherElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.ijintrel.2023.101754
OpenAlexW4315631653
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited48

Cultural and ethnic identity research largely highlights the adaptiveness of biculturalism among Latino youth in the United States. Less is known about how Latino youth themselves define and experience biculturalism, the cultural identity content that they deem relevant, and how heritage and host identities intersect. Using an inductive approach, this study examines the salience, valence, and meaning of biculturalism among Latino youth living in a multicultural U.S. city. Twenty-six Mexican American emerging adults (Mage = 22.35 years) participated in semi-structured interviews and constructed cultural identity maps focusing on their experiences of biculturalism. Qualitative analysis reveals that participants overwhelmingly deem biculturalism to be positive and explores the duality (i.e.: opposition or contrast) that lies beneath that positivity. Participants emphasized individual-level advantages of biculturalism, namely, that their Mexican heritage provides identity rootedness and enables expanded career and educational opportunities. The bicultural challenges that participants discussed were overwhelmingly relational: familial cultural gaps due to dissonant values and critical gazes from others due to inadequate cultural performances. By revealing that and why biculturalism is mostly positive in the eyes of participants, and exploring the duality that lies beneath that positivity, this study draws attention to the complexity of biculturalism that can be obscured by exclusive reliance on quantitative self-report measures

Acculturation · Aesthetics · Biculturalism · Cultural identity · Ethnic group · Identity (music · Neuroscience of multilingualism · Sociology · Anthropology · Critical Race Theory in Education · Gender Studies · International Student and Expatriate Challenges · Psychology · Racial and Ethnic Identity Research · Social Psychology

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Open DOIOpen Access