The main purpose of this article is to study the dialogical dynamics of people with multicultural experiences, a response to the call voiced by Hermans (2001a) to explore the self on the contact zones of culture. Using the theory of the dialogical self as a starting point, I explore in my empirical research the hypothesis that a dialogue between personal cultural positions allows new meanings to arise in the personal meaning system. Acculturation can thus be seen as a continuing process of self-innovation propelled by dialogues between personal cultural positions. Thirteen multicultural individuals (global nomads) were asked if they could identify personal cultural positions and conduct a dialogue between them. Each step in the dialogue was rated on a five-point scale measuring novelty, importance and authenticity. Results show that in the majority of cases novelty ratings increased, confirming the hypothesis. Stable novelty ratings occurred when initial statements were rated high on importance and/or authenticity, indicating that acculturation occurs within the field of tension created by the desire to maintain personal continuity, on the one hand, and self-innovation to facilitate integration into a new environment, on the other. This research is aimed at devising a suitable methodology for assessment and coaching of multicultural individuals.

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This article traces the personal and cultural voices expressed in the life-story interview of a former politically violent militant regarding her engagement with and disengagement from the armed struggle. Rather than looking at the macro and meso aspects related to politically motivated violence, we examine micro-narratives which express individual arguments, sociocultural discourses, and negotiations within and between them, These are voiced in the dynamics that take place within the self-system at times of key identity transitions (e.g., from being a committed militant to becoming a former militant). In this vein, we highlight how the embodied emotional chords of personal positions, the development of meta-positions, and the positioning and repositioning movements within the dialogical self, facilitate the emergence of new and more adaptive meanings in the personal meaning system of former militants.

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