Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Multicultural Psychology Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Personality and Social Contexts

Bicultural identity integration (BII)

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Multicultural Psychology

The Malleability Of Bicultural Identity Integration (Bii), Chi-Ying Cheng, Fiona Lee Nov 2013

The Malleability Of Bicultural Identity Integration (Bii), Chi-Ying Cheng, Fiona Lee

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Bicultural Identity Integration (BII), or biculturals’ perceived compatibility between their two cultural identities, has been found to predict a variety of psychological processes and behavioral outcomes. However, it is not clear why biculturals differ in their levels of BII. We suggest that the valence of bicultural experiences influences BII. Furthermore, we predict that biculturals’ level of BII can be changed momentarily by recalling valenced bicultural experiences. An experimental study manipulating recall of positive or negative bicultural experiences found that recalling positive bicultural experiences increased BII, whereas recalling negative bicultural experiences decreased BII. However, recalling experiences irrelevant to bicultural experiences did …


Assimilation And Contrast Effects In Cultural Frame Switching: Bicultural Identity Integration And Valence Of Cultural Cues, Chi-Ying Cheng, Fiona Lee, Veronica Benet-Martinez Nov 2006

Assimilation And Contrast Effects In Cultural Frame Switching: Bicultural Identity Integration And Valence Of Cultural Cues, Chi-Ying Cheng, Fiona Lee, Veronica Benet-Martinez

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This study examines how the valence of cultural cues in the environment moderates the way biculturals shift between multiple cultural identities. The authors found that when exposed to positive cultural cues, biculturals who perceive their cultural identities as compatible (high bicultural identity integration, or high BII) respond in culturally congruent ways, whereas biculturals who perceive their cultural identities as conflicting (low BII) respond in culturally incongruent ways. The opposite was true for negative cultural cues. These results show that both high and low BIIs can exhibit culturally congruent or incongruent behaviors, and have implications for understanding situations where high and …