Identity Processing Styles During Cultural Transition: Construct and Measurement. (May 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Szabo, Agnes; Ward, Colleen; Fletcher, Garth J. O.
• Is Part Of: Journal of cross-cultural psychology. Volume 47:Number 4(2016)
• Page Start: 483
• Page End: 507
• Publication Date: 2016-05
• Subjects: identity styles -- commitment -- acculturation -- immigrants; Ethnopsychology -- Periodicals; 155.805
• DOI: 10.1177/0022022116631825
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0022-0221

Abstract

Drawing from previous work on identity styles by Berzonsky, the current article introduces a new version of the Identity Style Inventory assessing social-cognitive information processing strategies during cultural transition (ISI-CT). The ISI-CT incorporates five distinct identity styles (analytical informational, exploratory informational, normative to the country of origin, normative to the host society, and diffuse-avoidant) and a measure of immigrant identity commitment. The article reports the construction of the ISI-CT and examines its factorial structure (Studies 1 and 2), convergent and discriminant validity (Study 1), and longitudinal relationships among subscales (Study 3). Relationships between demographic variables, including age, gender, length of stay, language proficiency, and cultural background, and the ISI-CT subscales are also investigated. Findings support reliability and validity of the ISI-CT as an assessment of the identity processes underlying identity development of people in cultural transition. The potential of this new measurement and construct to contribute to the understanding of the immigrant experience and the wider field of acculturation research is discussed.