The present study investigates the link between immigration, multilingualism, acculturation and personality profiles (as measured by the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire) of 193 residents in Israel. Participants born in Israel tended to score higher on Emotional Stability than those born abroad. Participants with one immigrant parent (but not two) scored higher on Cultural Empathy, Open-mindedness and Social Initiative. Participants who had become dominant in Hebrew as a foreign language scored lower on Emotional Stability than Hebrew L1-dominant participants. The number of languages known by participants was not linked to their personality profile. A high level of use of various languages was linked to significantly higher scores on Cultural Empathy and Open-mindedness. Gender and age were also linked to personality profiles. Advanced knowledge of more languages and frequent use of more languages were linked to higher levels of Social Initiative and Open-mindedness, while advanced knowledge of more languages was also linked to higher levels of Cultural Empathy. These findings confirm that some personality traits are shaped by individuals’ linguistic history, degree of multilingualism and a combination of social and biographical factors.
Ben-EzerG. (1999). Cross-cultural misunderstandings: The case of the Ethiopian immigrants in Israeli society. International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health, 11, 21–37.
2.
Ben RafaelE.OlshtainE.GeijstI. (1997). Identity and language: The social insertion of Soviet Jews in Israel. In RitterbandP.Levin-EpsteinN.RoiY. (Eds.), Russian Jews on three continents: Emigration and resettlement (pp. 364–388). London, UK: Frank Cass.
3.
Benet-MartinezV.HaritatosJ. (2005). Bicultural identity integration (BII): Components and psychological antecedents. Journal of Personality, 73, 1015–1050.
4.
BerryJ. W. (1990). Psychology of acculturation. In BermanJ. (Ed.), Cross-cultural perspectives: Nebraska symposium on motivation (pp. 198–234). Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
5.
BerryJ. W.PoortingaY. H.SegallM. H.DasenP. R. (1992). Cross-cultural psychology. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
6.
ChenS. X.Benet-MartínezV.BondM. H. (2008). Bicultural identity, bilingualism, and psychological adjustment in multicultural societies: Immigration-based and globalization-based acculturation. Journal of Personality, 76, 803–838.
7.
CookV. (Ed.) (2002). Portraits of the L2 user. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.
8.
CooperR. L.FishmanJ. A. (1977). Study of language attitudes. The Bilingual Review, iv, 7–34.
9.
DevensJ. A. (2005). Depression rates among third culture kids in an international school setting (Unpublished masters dissertation). Capella University, Minneapolis, MN.
10.
DewaeleJ.-M. (2007a). The effect of multilingualism, sociobiographical and situational factors on communicative anxiety and foreign language anxiety of mature language learners. The International Journal of Bilingualism, 11, 391–410.
11.
DewaeleJ.-M. (2007b). Context and L2 users’ pragmatic development. In HuaZ.SeedhouseP.WeiL.CookV. (Eds.), Language learning and teaching as social interaction (pp. 162–183). Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave-Macmillan.
12.
DewaeleJ.-M. (2010a). Emotions in multiple languages. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave-Macmillan.
13.
DewaeleJ.-M. (2010b). Multilingualism and affordances: Variation in self-perceived communicative competence and communicative anxiety in French L1, L2, L3 and L4. International Review of Applied Linguistics, 48, 105–129.
14.
DewaeleJ.-M.PetridesK. V.FurnhamA. (2008). The effects of trait emotional intelligence and sociobiographical variables on communicative anxiety and foreign language anxiety among adult multilinguals: A review and empirical investigation. Language Learning, 58, 911–960.
15.
DewaeleJ.-M.ThirtleH. (2009). Why do some young learners drop Foreign Languages? A focus on learner-internal variables. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 12, 635–649.
16.
DewaeleJ.-M.Van OudenhovenJ. P. (2009). The effect of multilingualism/multiculturalism on personality: No gain without pain for third culture kids?International Journal of Multilingualism, 6, 443–459.
17.
DewaeleJ.-M.WeiL. (2011). Are bi- and multilinguals more tolerant of ambiguity than monolinguals?Paper presented at the 8th International Symposium on Bilingualism, Oslo, Norway, 15 June.
18.
FailH.ThompsonJ.WalkerG. (2004). Belonging, identity and third culture kids. Journal of Research in International Education, 3, 319–338.
19.
FurnhamA.HeavenP. (1999). Personality and social behavior. London: Arnold.
20.
HerfstS.van OudenhovenJ.TimmermanM. (2008). Intercultural effectiveness training in three western immigrant countries: A cross-cultural evaluation of critical incidents. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 32, 67–80.
21.
HermanJ. L.StevensM. J.BirdA.MendenhallM.OddouG. (2010). The tolerance for Ambiguity Scale: Towards a more refined measure for international management research. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 34, 58–65.
22.
HorenczykG. (2000). Conflicted identities: Acculturation attitudes and immigrants. In OlshtainE.HorenczykG. (Eds.), Language, identity and immigration (pp. 13–30). Jerusalem, Israel: Magnes Press.
23.
HorwitzE. K. (2010). Foreign and second language anxiety. Language Teaching, 43, 154–167.
24.
JangK. L.LivesleyW. J.VemonP. A. (1996). Heritability of the Big Five personality dimensions and their facets: A twin study. Journal of Personality, 64, 577–592.
25.
KimY. Y. (2001). Becoming intercultural: An integrative theory of communication and cross-cultural adaptation. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
26.
KorziliusH.Van HooftA.PlankenB.HendrixC. (2011). Birds of different feathers? The relationship between multicultural personality dimensions and foreign language mastery in business professionals working in a Dutch agricultural multinational. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 35, 540–553.
27.
LeoneL.Van Der ZeeK. I.Van OudenhovenJ. P.PeruginiM.ErcolaniA. P. (2005). The cross-cultural generalizability and validity of the multicultural personality questionnaire. Personality and Individual Differences, 38, 1449–1462.
28.
LeongC. H. (2007). Predictive validity of the multicultural personality questionnaire: A longitudinal study on the socio-psychological adaptation and intercultural experience among Asian graduates. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 31, 545–559.
29.
MainesD. R. (1978) Bodies and selves: notes on a fundamental dilemma in demography. In DenzinNorman (ed.), Studies in Symbolic Interaction, Vol. I. (pp. 241–65). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
30.
McCraeR.CostaJ. R., P. T.OstendorfF.AngleitnerA.HrebíckováM.AviaM. D.. . .SmithP. B. (2000). Nature over nurture: Temperament, personality, and life span development. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 173–186.
31.
MolS. T.Van OudenhovenJ. P.Van Der ZeeK. I. (2001). Validation of the multicultural personality questionnaire among an internationally oriented student population in Taiwan. In SaliliF.HoosainR. (Eds.), Multicultural education issues, policies, and practices (pp. 167–168). Greenwich, CT: IAP Press.
32.
MoosR.TsuV. (1976). Human competence and coping. In MoosR. (Ed.), Human adaptation, coping with life crises (pp. 3–16). Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath.
33.
OlshtainE.KotikB. (2000). The development of bilingualism in an immigrant community. In OlshtainE.HorenczykG. (Eds.), Language, identity and immigration (pp. 199–219). Jerusalem, Israel: Magnes Press.
34.
OlshtainE.StavansA.KotikB. (2003). Language patterns use in Russian speaking immigrants to Israel. Final Report to Israeli Academy of Science.
35.
PeltokorpiV.FroeseF. J. (2011). The impact of expatriate personality traits on cross-cultural adjustment: A study with expatriates in Japan. International Business Review. doi:10.1016/j.ibusrev.2011.08.006.
36.
PonterottoG.UtseyS. O.PedersonP. (2006). Preventing prejudice: A guide for counselors, educators, and parents (2nd ed.). London, UK: SAGE.
37.
SandhuD. S.AsrabiB. R. (1994). Development of an acculturative stress scale for international students: Preliminary findings. Psychological Reports, 75, 435–448.
38.
SpolskyB. (2004). Language policy. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
39.
SpolskyB.ShohamyE. (1999). The languages of Israel: Policy, ideology, and practice. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.
40.
StavansA.GoldzweigG. (2008). Insights on learning Hebrew as L2 by Ethiopian and Russian immigrants in Israel: ‘Must’ or ‘Have’. Iyunim Besafa Vehevra [Studies in Language and Society], 1, 59–85.
41.
StavansA.OlshtainE.GoldzweigG. (2009). Parental perceptions of children’s literacy and bilingualism: The case of Ethiopian immigrants in Israel. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 30, 111–126.
42.
Van Der ZeeK. I.BrinkmannU. (2004). Construct validity evidence for the intercultural readiness check against the multicultural personality questionnaire. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 12, 285–290.
43.
Van Der ZeeK. I.Van OudenhovenJ. P. (2000). The multicultural personality questionnaire: A multicultural instrument for multicultural effectiveness. European Journal of Personality, 14, 291–309.
44.
Van OudenhovenJ. P.TimmermanM.Van Der ZeeK. (2007). Cross-cultural equivalence and validity of the multicultural personality questionnaire in an intercultural context. Journal of International Communication, 13, 51–65.
45.
Van OudenhovenJ. P.Van Der ZeeK. I. (2002). Predicting multicultural effectiveness of international students: The multicultural personality questionnaire. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 26, 679–694.
46.
WardC.BochnerS.FurnhamA. (2008). The psychology of culture shock (2nd ed.). London, UK: Routledge.
