Intercultural Identity Essay

America is the “melting pot” country where immigrants from various countries around the world come here and settle. They come here either for economy, political, education or medical reason. When they migrate here they bring with them their culture, religious, value and belief which makes America more diverse and interest. Yet, at the same time it often leads to two cultures collision. Cultural shock is unavoidable for almost newcomer refugee people.

Therefore, there is an apparent dynamic system of constraints and barriers and an immigrant or refugee’s level of assimilation or acculturation in which suggests that as one becomes more familiar and integrated into their new environment, the constraints and barriers they face will not be as significant (Stodolska, 1998).

Migration from the native country imparts an indelible scar in the psyche of the migrants. They not only migrate from their place of birth but also from their language, culture, tradition, food habits and the list is endless. Immigration gives them the trauma as they would take a voyage from the world of familiar to the unfamiliar. In addition to that the immigrants are compelled to understand and adapt to the culture of the new land, their life style, food habits, climatic factors and the political milieu. They immigrate hoping for a better world but it becomes a mirage in the newly settled land.

However, his theory and most of the previous research focus on mainly immigrants’ acculturation. Considering that there are also other groups such as sojourners and expatriates, Berry’s theory and other acculturation theories may not totally apply to the groups apart from immigrants. (Lian & Tsang , 2010). Furthermore, acculturation is usually referred as an adjustment and adaptation process of cultural change as the final outcome (Adler and Gielen (2003). For this reason, the extensive body of research in the expatriation literature has focused on cross-cultural adjustment process of individuals and minority groups in response to their contact with the dominant majority and it constitutes the central conceptual framework of this

China’s future has become one of the key global uncertainties in today’s geopolitical landscape. David Shambaugh highlights some of the monumental turning points China is currently facing in its societal structure, exploring the challenges and hurdles of the nations political body, economic strategy, and social cohesion. This essay will further investigate how China’s society has transformed from an agrarian, uneducated and developing state to an urbanized, industrial, and increasingly wealthy state, and how this has led to the current conditions that are generating this panic on China’s future. Shambaugh indicates that one of the major characteristics of this transformation to China’s society is the revolution of rising expectations.

However, with the increasing migration phenomenon, some problems are uncovered. In this special group, as for children, parents are not their closest people. Despite parents adapt a new environment, can speak a fluent new language, and apply a new way to make more friends, in their mind, the original culture is still their core values. This thought is stable and unchanged. Thus, their children’s original culture and core values become a wholly new thing for their parents.

The background of my cultural identity I am an African American female but that isn’t all there is to know me for. I am an African American girl who is very interactive with my religion and also my culture. Cultural identity can be hard to explain because some people don’t know what’s really in their culture and they fail to see , and understand it. I know what my cultural identity is because of my ethiopian flag, the baked macaroni, and the movie the lion king.

Throughout history, there have been many exploits of striping away the culture of numerous people. The act of modifying the culture of an individual or a group as a result of contact with a different culture is referred to as acculturation. The process results in having the individual acquire the culture of a specific society from early childhood. Furthermore resulting in the lost of culture for these people from a very young age. Diverse people in society can perform the act of acculturation in many different ways to influence the lives of numerous people in society.

She shows that cultural transition does not always lead to successful integration, which eventually brings the feeling of otherness among the migrants. This also leads to identity crisis for the migrants. Apart from that, the local community feels insecure of the newcomers for they differ in ethnic values, traditions, and life-style. In short cultural transition, which primarily entails the process of acculturation, keeps the emigrants in a struggling position while the host also feels insecurity unless an agreeable point for coexistence is reached. So wars should be avoided to make this world more

Throughout my experiences in this course so far, I have had many opportunities to reflect on my own past and have begun to better understand my own cultural identity. It has been much more difficult to wrap my head around than I would have predicted it to be because so many things play into the construction of an identity that it can be hard to look at all of those separate pieces together. My cultural identity, like all others, is more complicated than it first appears. I identify as a white person, a woman, an American, a gay person, and a feminist, just to name a few. While all of these labels carry with them stereotypes and expectations, they also interplay with the cultural influences I was subject to throughout my childhood.

I am from Japan which has a population of about one hundred twenty-seven million. Japan is small country, but it has developed its economy and culture such as Japanese food and anime. I grew up in Shizuoka which has three million seven hundred thousand people, until I graduated from my high school. Then I moved to Osaka which is one of the biggest city in Japan and has population of eight million eight hundred thousand. Although Japanese people only speak Japanese, there are many different dialect each area.

Self-identity is defined as the recognition of one's potential and qualities as an individual, especially in relation to social context. In other words, self-understanding. Finding self-identity is more more difficult for some people than others. In the autobiography Black, White, and Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting Self by Rebecca Walker, the author reflects on her identity as a mixed raced individual which is illustrated through Walker’s reflections. People define themselves in many different ways.

Acculturation could be understood as the process of cultural and psychological change that results following interaction between cultures. This effect of this interaction happens on the group and individual level. According to Berry (2005), “At the group level, it involves changes in social structures and institutions and in cultural practices. At the individual level, it involves changes in a person’s behavioral repertoire” (p. 698-699). The cultural and psychological result of acculturation is a long-term process, and requires some level of adaptation between the cultured groups.

While identity focuses on uniqueness such as how an individual is different from and similar to others, diversity focuses on the range of the difference and uniqueness such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, among others. Diversity should be seen as source of strength. However, it can also be a source of violence, oftentimes by those who fear or dislike difference. In the best light diversity is foundation for peacebuilding – since it enables us to draw strength and be respectful of difference. Identity and diversity are linked.

Intercultural competence enables a person to interact both efficiently and in a way that is acceptable to others when you are working in a group whose members have diverse cultural backgrounds. The group may consist of two or more people including yourself. ‘Cultural’ may represent all manner of features, including the values and beliefs you have grown up with, your national, regional and local customs and, in particular, attitudes and practices that affect the way you work. For the tolerance of ambiguity category my results showed that I am willing to accept the lack of clarity when dealing people of different cultures and cope with it constructively. Being able to adapt the way I work with other people who may be of an unfamiliar cultural