The present study examined participants' responses to scales measuring cultural identifications and self-esteem among both Hong Kong Chinese and Mainland Chinese bilinguals. When the authors activated their ethnolinguistic identity and manipulated the language of assessment, Chinese-English bilinguals were found to identify more with Chinese culture but less with Western culture, and to report lower self-esteem when responding in English than in Chinese. These results were interpreted as arising from activation of the participants' ethnolinguistic identity and their becoming aware of their own ethnic vitality and cultural norms, leading to ethnic affirmation (contrast effect) rather than cultural accommodation (assimilation effect).
Benet-Martínez, V., & Haritatos, J. (2005). Bicultural identity integration (BII): Components and psychological antecedents. Journal of Personality, 73, 1015-1050.
2.
Berry, J.W. (1984). Cultural relations in plural societies: Alternatives to segregation and their sociopsychological implications. In N. Miller & M. Brewer (Eds.), Groups in contact (pp. 11-27). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
3.
Bond, M.H. (1983). How language variation affects inter-cultural differentiation of values by Hong Kong bilinguals. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 2, 57-66.
4.
Bond, M.H., & Cheung, M.K. (1984). Experimenter language choice and ethnic affirmation by Chinese trilinguals in Hong Kong. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 8, 347-356.
5.
Bond, M.H., & Yang, K.S. (1982). Ethnic affirmation versus cross-cultural accommodation: The variable impact of questionnaire language on Chinese bilinguals in Hong Kong. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 13, 169-185.
6.
Briley, D.A., Morris, M.W., & Simonson, I. (2005). Cultural chameleons: Biculturals, conformity motives, and decision making. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 15, 351-362.
7.
Chiu, C.Y., & Chen, J. (2004). Symbols and interactions: Application of the CCC Model to culture, language, and social identity. In S. H. Ng, C. N. Candlin, & C. Y. Chiu (Eds.), Language matters: Communication, culture, and identity (pp. 155-182). Hong Kong: City University of Hong Kong Press.
8.
Earl, M. (1969). A cross-cultural and cross-language comparison of dogmatism scores. Journal of Social Psychology, 4, 1-20.
9.
Gallois, C., Ogay, T., & Giles, H. (2005). Communication accommodation theory: A look back and a look ahead. In W. B. Gudykunst (Ed.), Theorizing about intercultural communication (pp. 121-148). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
10.
Giles, H., & Ogay, T.Communication accommodation theory (2006). In B. Whalen & W. Samter (Eds.), Explaining communication: Contemporary theories and exemplars (pp. 293-310). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
11.
Giles, H., Willemyns, M., Gallois, C., & Anderson, M.C. (2007). Accommodating a new frontier: The context of law enforcement. In K. Fiedler (Ed.), Social communication (pp. 129-162). New York: Psychology Press.
12.
Heine, S.J., Lehman, D.R., Markus, H.R., & Kitayama, S. (1999). Is there a universal need for positive self-regard?Psychological Review,106, 766-794.
13.
Hong, Y.Y., Morris, M.W., Chiu, C.Y., & Benet-Martínez, V. (2000). Multicultural minds: A dynamic constructivist approach to culture and cognition. American Psychologist, 55, 709-720.
14.
Kuhnen, U., & Hannover, B. (2000). Assimilation and contrast in social comparisons as a consequence of self-construal activation. European Journal of Social Psychology, 30, 799-811.
15.
Rosenberg, M. (1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
16.
Ross, M., Xun, W.Q.E., & Wilson, A.E. (2002). Language and the bicultural self. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28, 1040-1050.
17.
Trafimow, D., Silverman, E.S., Fan, R.M.-T., & Law, J.S.F. (1997). The effects of language and priming on the relative accessibility of the private self and the collective self. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 28, 107-123.
18.
Yang, K.S., & Bond, M.H. (1980). Ethnic identification by Chinese bilinguals. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 11, 411-425.
