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Project

Emotional Biculturalism - Emotions and social networks of immigrant-origin minority adolescents in Belgium

Emotions are more than just internal feelings; they are also a means of interacting with our social environment. Our emotions reflect what we value and perceive, and they can evolve alongside our values and perceptions. This evolution of emotions is reflected well in research on emotional fit, which refers to the degree of similarity between the emotions experienced by individuals. Studies have found that regular interaction between individuals increases emotional fit, which leads to positive relational outcomes. Similarly, people from the same culture tend to experience more similar emotions than those from different cultures due to different emotional experiences promoting different central cultural values and goals. Moreover, individuals with higher emotional fit to their culture tend to have better psychological and somatic well-being.

However, what happens when individuals experience a shift in cultural context? Research on emotional acculturation has shown that emotions of immigrant-origin individuals can change to fit with the norms of the new culture, particularly among those who have more exposure to the majority culture and contact with majority group members. Yet, people with an immigrant background do not necessarily lose contact with their heritage culture, meaning that both the heritage and majority cultures may continue to shape their emotions.

To further explore this, my PhD research investigates the nature and consequences of emotional biculturalism in minority adolescents with an immigrant background. These minority adolescents navigate between their heritage culture at home and the mainstream culture at school, engaging in countless interactions with individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds, including family members, majority peers, and teachers. These social interactions play a vital role in shaping emotions of minority adolescents, and examining their social networks can offer valuable insights into emotional biculturalism. Specifically, analyzing the composition and structure of social networks, we can gain a deeper understanding of their lived emotional experiences across different cultural contexts.

To capture the dual cultural influences on their emotions, my research examines emotional fit of minority adolescents with majority culture and two minority cultures, which are variants of heritage culture that these minority adolescents get exposed to in their daily life. I will conduct five studies with immigrant-origin adolescents and their majority peers in culturally diverse secondary schools in Flanders, Belgium, to address four specific aims: (1) examine the extent to which emotional fit with majority and minority cultures coexist; (2) investigate whether emotional fit with both cultures varies across cultural contexts in daily lives; (3) identify the social network characteristics that promote emotional fit with either culture and are associated with different profiles of emotional biculturalism; and (4) examine the impact of having emotional fit with either (or both) cultures on well-being.

By focusing on emotional biculturalism among minority adolescents, the research project will provide insight into how exposure to more than one culture shapes emotions, and it will contribute to a better understanding of the lived experiences of bicultural adolescents. Furthermore, the findings will shed light on how these adolescents thrive across the various cultural contexts in their daily lives.

Date:15 Oct 2020 →  Today
Keywords:emotion, social network, emotional fit, emotional biculturalism, immigrant adolescent
Disciplines:Social psychology not elsewhere classified
Project type:PhD project