An Empirical Investigation of Identity (In)Security: A Two-Stage Model of Self-Assessment and Behavior Towards Culturally Dissimilar Others

• In Event: Cultural Adaptation, Identity, and Integration

Abstract

This study tested the role of identity (in)security, empirically, in intercultural/intergroup
encounters. Portions of Kim’s contextual theory of interethnic communication were used as the theoretical framework for a two-stage model of identity (in)security. The first stage of the model measured self-assessments of personal self-esteem and ego-strength. The second stage measured how internal states influenced the evaluation of and communication with culturally dissimilar others. Results indicate ego-strength positively predicted personal self-esteem, which had an inverse relationship with intergroup anxiety and the derogation of culturally dissimilar others. Similarly, intergroup anxiety negatively predicted the derogation of culturally dissimilar others, and positively predicted perceptions of symbolic and realistic threat. The implications of our study are discussed, along with limitations and directions for further research.

Authors

• Zach Massey, U of Oklahoma

• Ioana A. Cionea, U of Oklahoma

• Claude H Miller