The multidimensional and dynamic nature of ethnic identity(1)

Abstract

The present study explores the extent to which ethnic identity is multidimensional and susceptible to changes in social context. Two groups of Welsh adolescents were asked to write an essay either related or unrelated to English‐Welsh conflicts. They were then administered a multidimensional scaling questionnaire which involved having them make similarity judgments between various stimulus labels including certain Welsh and English social groups. It was found that both groups of subjects conceptualized the stimulus labels multidimensionally in terms of a Welsh‐English cultural dimension and a radical separatist‐conservative integrationist dimension. In addition, it was found that increasing the salience of intergroup conflict led Welshmen to closer affiliation with ingroups and an accentuated polarization of outgroups on the former dimension.

Daily Variation in Ethnic Identity, Ethnic Behaviors, and Psychological Well–Being among American Adolescents of Chinese Descent

“…As many theorists have recently suggested (e.g., Christian, Gadfield, Giles, & Taylor, 1976;Deaux & Ethier, 1998;Helms, 1995;Matute-Bianchi, 1991;Phinney, 1996;Rosenthal, 1986;Sellers, 1993;Sellers et al, 1998), ethnic identity does seem to include a variable component expressed as a dynamic, fluctuating sense of self. In contrast to earlier conceptualizations and assessments of ethnic identity that considered the construct to be solely stable, this study provided support for ethnic identity as a changing self-concept that varies within individual adolescents.…”

An investigation of Chinese immigrant consumer behaviour in Toronto, Canada

“…Some incorporate multiple facets of ethnicity, often including language use, social interaction, and religious belief (Donthu and Cherian, 1994;Laroche et al, 1998). The multiple-facet measure corresponds to the conceptualization of ethnicity being multidimensional (Christian et al, 1976;Phinney, 1992Phinney, , 2000Phinney, , 2003Isajiw, 1999), and emphasizes the variable nature of ethnic identity which is constantly changing with social environment, interpersonal situations, and other structural conditions.…”

Explicating ethnicity in theory and communication research

“…Furthermore, these situational constraints may vary with the broad societal rapport de force existing between groups (e.g., Clement 1986; Giles, Bourhis, and Taylor 1977) to the most immediate situational characteristics (Christian, Gadfield, Giles, and Taylor 1976;Clement and Noels 1992;Turner and Oakes 1987;Okamura, 1981), or the dialogical norms and rules impinging onto the interaction (Cöte and Clement 1994; Giles and Coupland 1991). Finally, the social context of ethnic identification never involves only one group.…”