Does a Strong Bicultural Identity Matter for Emotional, Cognitive, and Behavioral Engagement?

Abstract

In the course of their acculturation process, minority students need to negotiate the adaption to the host society’s culture and the maintenance of the culture of their country of origin. This identity construction is complex and may encompass contradicting and competing goals. The adjustment to school is seen as a relevant acculturation marker. An increasingly prominent multidimensional construct is students’ school engagement because it can provide an insight into the way students feel and interact with the emotional, cognitive, and behavioral domains of school. Successful adjustment to school culture, and acculturation in general, can be closely related to school engagement. There is yet no common knowledge about the role bicultural national and/or ethnic identity plays for the three dimensions of school engagement. The present study focusses on minority students in Germany who report a strong bicultural identity (in comparison with single stronger ethnic or national identities, as well as weaker bicultural identification) to explain students’ emotional, cognitive, and behavioral school engagement when controlling for gender, SES, and cultural capital. Data is derived from paper–pencil questionnaires administered in secondary schools in Germany. Regression analyses show that students with a stronger bicultural identity have a significantly higher emotional, cognitive, and behavioral school engagement than their peers with a weaker bicultural identity, when controlling for gender, SES, and cultural capital. The results hint at the relevance of fostering students’ ethnic, but also their national, cultural identity to support their school engagement. Implications for teacher education are discussed.

“When I am with my friends I am free, I am supported.” - A mixed methods study on autonomy, relatedness and identity among culturally diverse adolescents in Germany

“…Some studies suggest that adolescents strongly identifying with their national identity exhibit higher school motivation and engagement (Schachner et al, 2016), though findings vary (Spiegler et al, 2018). Research indicates that when national identity is combined with a strong heritage identity during early adolescence, it may positively impact life satisfaction (Juang et al, 2023b) and school outcomes (Preusche & Göbel, 2022;Spiegler et al, 2018). Therefore, it is important to find ways to support adolescents in identity development of both heritage cultural and national identities, and explore whether promoting autonomy and relatedness is a pathway to supporting adolescents in both their heritage cultural and national identity commitment.…”

“…As commitment to both heritage cultural and national groups can serve as an important resource for adolescents, and has been found to foster positive academic and psychological outcomes in Germany (Juang et al, 2023b;Preusche & Göbel, 2022;Spiegler et al, 2018), it is important to find ways to support adolescents in both their heritage cultural and national identity development. While first studies indicate that autonomy and relatedness support can promote heritage cultural identity development (Hölscher et al, 2024), more research is needed to understand under which circumstances this support is effective.…”

Exploring the Relationship Between Servant Teacher Leadership Behaviour, Psychological Empowerment, and Cognitive Learning: Evidence from Universities of Pakistan

“…According to Adams (2015), there are three types of learning for students: cognitive, affective, and behavioral (Preusche & Göbel, 2022). In this paper, the focus is primarily on cognitive learning, which deals with how students comprehend and retain information (Bloom et al, 1956;Crompton et al, 2019) This type of learning is outcome-based and involves receiving, retaining, and applying new information, which is commonly evaluated through exams, writing assignments, and presentations (Messman & Jones-Corley, 2001).…”

Integration or isolation: Social identity threat relates to immigrant students’ sense of belonging and social approach motivation in the academic context

“…This is particularly problematic as national identity has been linked to educational success (Berry, 1997;Kiang et al, 2008;Nekby et al, 2009), school performance (Hannover et al, 2013), and successful integration in the host society (Froehlich et al, 2020;Martiny et al, 2017Martiny et al, , 2020. In terms of the acculturation framework by Berry (1997), a simultaneous orientation toward both the ethnic group of origin and the host society (i.e., acculturation strategy of integration) is most beneficial for academic success and adaptation (e.g., Phalet & Baysu, 2020;Preusche & Göbel, 2022). A strong identification with the negatively stereotyped group has been shown to aggravate the effects of social identity threat (e.g., Schmader, 2002).…”