Traditionally the empirical study of acculturation has focused on the integration, preservation, or abandonment of one's ethnic heritage in relation to the host culture. This study attempted to broaden the concept of the acculturation process by examining the interaction between an immigrant's religious identity and the host culture. It was hypothesized that for Muslims living in America the integration of one's Islamic and American identities, as compared to level of integration between one?s ethnic heritage and American identities, would provide unique value in predicting the level of acculturation stress, depressive symptoms and life satisfaction. Identity integration between Islamic and American identities was found to correlate with decreased acculturation stress, decreased depressive symptoms and increased life satisfaction and in some instances provided significant predictive value when compared to only an assessment of bicultural integration. Implications of this and other findings were explored.

British Muslims make up the second largest, and fastest growing, non- Christian religious community in Britain. Because of this, their integration into society has become a focus of interest for academic study and in broader social and political debates. Despite this, the question of how Muslims make sense of their own religious identity remains relatively unexplored in previous research. The same is true for the question of how they construct understandings of what integration means to them and of how this relates to what they say about their own wellbeing. This thesis aims to fill these gaps in extant research and to provide a platform for the voices of this minority group to be heard. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 20 first generation and 20 second generation Muslim immigrants and a further four focus groups were also conducted. Gender was balanced across all of these. Data were analysed using discourse analysis focusing on participants’ discursive constructions of religion, identity, integration, wellbeing, and the problems that impacted on wellbeing. Analysis showed that British Muslims adopt a variety of forms of categorization in constructing their religious and ethnic identity. Some first generation Muslims focus on presenting their identities as flexible phenomena that depend upon the culture they are living in; others display a rigid religious identity. Second generation Muslims use hyphenated identities for defining the multiplicity of their belongings to Britain and their ethnic home country. Integration in Britain is usually welcomed by both generations but is described as being restricted and guided by religious boundaries. British Muslims construct happiness and unhappiness in relation to life in Britain in a complex manner. The most prevalent reasons they give for happiness are the religious freedom and security found in Britain. But these are described by comparing Britain with their home countries, where such freedoms and security are often said to be lacking. In a sense, this allows participants to legitimize their status as immigrants into Britain. Unhappiness is also associated with life in Britain, with references made to moral decline and to discrimination and racism. Participants also construct a sense of their wellbeing, or lack of it, in relation to other problems. They present Muslims’ selfs-egregation, and a lack of proper leadership among Muslims in Britain, as further major problems associated with living in Britain. However, while talking about these problems, participants seek to distance themselves from them by making vague attributions of agency and by indicating that such problems were faced by others rather than by themselves. When participants talk of ways in which Muslims’ wellbeing could be enhanced, they focus on Muslims’ own need for personal improvement but also on the need for responsible media coverage of Muslims and Islam. The thesis concludes by discussing these findings in relation to previous literature and by reviewing their implications for future policy, practice and research.

The overarching objective of the thesis was to better understand how second generation (G2) East and Southeast Asian emerging adult immigrants make sense of their bicultural identity integration (BII), and in turn experience well-being. Moreover, a domain-specific approach was adopted with the premise that an individual could experience a great deal of well-being in one context (e.g., at home) while encountering significant difficulties in adjustment in another (e.g., in the public sphere). To achieve this, two studies were completed as part of the thesis. In the first study, we focused on family domain adjustment and well-being. In particular, we were interested how parental autonomy support (proxy for individualism) and family allocentrism (proxy for collectivism) were related to participants’ parent-child relationship satisfaction, parent-child relationship conflict, and family-domain subjective well-being. We were also interested in how BII may explain the above relationships through mediation pathways. In the second study, the focus shifted towards community-domain adjustment. Research questions were formulated around the relationships between cultural socialization (independent variable [IV] 1), experiences with microaggressions (IV 2), and sense of belonging to heritage cultural community (dependent variable [DV] 1) and mainstream Canadian community (DV 2). Again, BII was included in the model to determine its ability to explain the above pathways. The results from study 1 revealed that parental autonomy support was positively related to family domain-specific well-being for all participants. Family allocentrism was linked with parent-child relationship satisfaction, but only for participants who had moved away from parents. BII appeared to partially explain the relationship between family allocentrism and parent-child conflict. The results from study 2 revealed that co-ethnic peer cultural socialization towards East and Southeast Asian culture had a positive relationship with participants’ sense of belonging to their heritage community. Meanwhile, parental and Euro-Canadian peer cultural socialization towards Canadian culture had positive relationships with participants’ sense of belonging to the dominant Canadian community. Not surprisingly, microaggressions were negatively linked with participants’ sense of belonging to heritage and Canadian communities. The results from the mediation model again suggested that BII was able to partially explain the link between microaggressions and sense of belonging to heritage and dominant communities. Moreover, BII also appeared to be able to explain some of the relationships between cultural socialization and participants’ sense of belonging. Taken together, the findings from the two studies shed light on how BII may subtly influence well-being differently across the home and community spheres, reinforcing the need to look at BII from a situated approach. Implications for clinicians on how to best support G2 East and Southeast Asian emerging adult immigrants navigating their bicultural identity and experience well-being are discussed.

Guided by the framework of bicultural identity integration (BII), a conceptual model depicting the direct and indirect effects of BII, cognitive flexibility, affect regulation, and coping on psychological wellbeing indicators (i.e., life satisfaction, depression) of adult children of immigrants (ACI) in the U.S. was developed. It was hypothesized that greater BII would contribute to greater cognitive flexibility and affect regulation, which would be associated with more utilization of adaptive coping strategies and greater psychological wellbeing. A total of 240 young ACI from across the U.S. completed the online research questionnaire that measured all variables of interest. Results from structural equation modeling analyses showed adequate model fit with the data. Findings provided support to the indirect effects of BII factors on wellbeing through affect regulation, however, the indirect effect paths are more complicated than what were hypothesized originally. Specifically, higher levels of identity harmony and identity blendedness contributed to more difficulties in emotion regulation, and subsequently, poorer wellbeing. Additionally, both cultural identity harmony and identity blendedness contributed to greater levels of cultural and relational maintenance strategies (i.e., avoidance, forbearance) in the context of intergenerational conflict through affect regulation, but not through cognitive flexibility. Notably, the latent variable of cultural coping strategies retained in the final model was not correlated with wellbeing. Findings are discussed from the BII framework and the sociological context of ACI in the U.S. Limitations, future directions, and implications for counseling, diversity, and advocacy issues are outlined.

Traditional studies of ethnic relations focus on racialization between Whites and Blacks, or ethnic stratification between Whites and people of color. The increasingly integrated world has ensured continued movements of humans and goods and the inevitable contacts between people of different cultural background. This dissertation aims at broadening conventional studies of interethnic relations to examine racial attitudes among people who have internalized more than one culture -- i.e. the biculturals and multiculturals. Social psychological research suggests that bicultural individuals are capable of switching between two cultural meaning frames depending on contextual demands. Bicultural individuals vary in how well they integrate the two cultural identities internalized in them -- i.e., their bicultural identity integration levels (BII levels). Their BII levels lead to either culturally congruent or culturally incongruent behaviors among bicultural individuals. The underlying assumption of linguistic intergroup bias indicates that people tend to describe more abstractly observed positive ingroup behaviors and negative outgroup behaviors and describe more concretely observed negative ingroup behaviors and positive outgroup behaviors. In this study, bicultural Asian American participants are hypothesized to use language of either higher or lower abstraction to describe actions of positive and negative valence performed by either ethnic Asians or European Americans depending on the cultural priming they received and their BII levels. The study results point out the perceived ingroup/outgroup orientation of the bicultural participants towards their coethnics and people of the mainstream culture. Effects of the cultural priming and impact of BII levels are also discussed. / text

Due to the on-going growth of the Multiracial population in the U.S. (Rockquemore, et al., 2009; Shih & Sanchez, 2005, 2009) and the continuous struggle minorities face regarding racial attitudes, discrimination, and understanding their own racial identity, it is more important than ever for mental health professionals, including professional counselors and counselor educators, to work to further understand how these factors interact and ultimately impact Multiracial people. This study explored the relationships between the constructs of Multiracial identity, color-blind racial ideology, and discrimination in Multiracial individuals through data analysis including correlation, hierarchical regression, and moderation analysis. Participants (n = 287) were Biracial and Multiracial adults living in the U.S. Participants were recruited primarily through a southeastern university and through social media, and they each anonymously completed a questionnaire packet that included the following measures: demographic questions, the Multiracial Identity Integration Scale (MII; Cheng & Lee, 2009), the Color-Blind Racial Attitudes Scale (CoBRAS; Neville et al., 2000), the Brief Perceived Ethnic Discrimination Questionnaire – Community Version (PEDQ-CV; Brondolo et al., 2005), and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (short version) (M-C II; Strahan & Gerbasi, 1972). Bivariate correlations revealed significant relationships among the color-blind racial attitudes outcome factors of Unawareness of Blatant Racial Issues and Unawareness of Institutional Discrimination with Multiracial identity integration and all four subscales of the experiences of discrimination variable (Exclusion, Workplace Discrimination, Stigmatization, and Threat and Harassment) with Multiracial identity integration. Controlling for social desirability and gender, a blockwise hierarchical regression indicated that several subscales of the constructs contributed to Multiracial Identity Integration. Surprisingly, participants’ Unawareness of Blatant Racial Issues and experiences of discriminatory Exclusion, most significantly predicted Multiracial Identity Integration. A moderation analysis revealed that color-blind racial attitudes does not moderate the relationship between experiences of discrimination and Multiracial identity integration in Multiracial people. Implications for professional counselors and counselor educators working with Multiracial clients, students, and supervisees, as well as limitations, and future research are discussed.

Migration is at the centre of human history (Benmayor & Skotnes, 1994, p.5) and it has become easier to migrate inside Europe since the Schengen Area has been implemented in 1995. However, European immigration in France is invisibe and very little researched (Lillo, 2014, p.85). The migration to Brittany is a phenomenom developed recently (Morillon & Etiemble, 2008, p.125) and even if it is gaining momentum, this French region has still the lowest rate of immigrants in France (Economic and Social Council of Brittany, 2007, p.87, INSEE & DRJSCS, 2005, p.5-6). Brittany's regional identity is well known in France (Quand les sondages sont unanimes, 2019, p.44) and this region is defined as one with a strong identity (Kernalegenn, 2011). The aim of this master thesis is to elaborate hypothesis about whether or not European immigrants are aware of Brittany's regional identity before settling in the region, the perception they have of Brittany's regional identity once they live there and finally whether or not their integration in this French region with a strong identity is difficult. This qualitative research is based on four semi-structured interviews with European immigrants and one with a French person born in England, all now living in Brittany.

As the majority of Americans identify with a religious affiliation, the religious context is an important backdrop upon which identity development occurs. For lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, and allied (LGBTQA) youths, the process of development may be complicated in a religious context due to denominational positions on same-sex sexuality. While recent researchers highlighted the importance of contextual influences on LGBTQA developmental processes, few studies have examined LGBTQA sexual and religious identity development. The goal of the current study was to gain a better understanding and appreciation of LGBTQA adolescent and young adult experiences of religious and sexual identity development. Eight adolescents (15-18 years) and 11 emerging adults (19-24 years) who identified as both LGBTQA and having been raised in an active Christian religious tradition participated in the study. The study included three phases: face-to-face individual interviews, journal writings, and focus groups. In each phase of the study, participants were asked to reflect on their experiences of sexual and religious identity development across childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood (if applicable). Findings from the current study supported three broad themes and several subthemes. Early in their development, participants described a behavioral religious participation and early awareness of their same-sex attractions. The young adult participants also shared a tendency to deny their attractions. During their middle phase of experiences, participants often self-labeled as LGBTQA. Religiously, participants shared they questioned their beliefs yet continued their religious participation. A proportion of the participants indicated experiencing guilt, conflict, and mental health difficulties, which many participants related to their emerging sexual orientation and religious involvement. The late experiences, which often coincided with sharing a same-sex attracted label with friends and/or family members, was marked by a religious disengagement, social consequences, self-acceptance, and personal values clarification. Using the participants’ own words these findings are presented, along with possible implications and suggestions for future research.

The past three decades have seen increasing interest in the integration of Muslims as the most visible ethno-religious minority group in Britain. Previous research reported that Muslims in northern parts of England, for instance, had developed separate rather than integrated lives (Cantle 2001: 9). Though more recent surveys have reported an emerging change in such trends (Simpson 2012), Muslims in the Scottish context established a more mixed and integrated way of living with the majority from the outset, (Hussain and Miller 2006: 19) which was associated partly with the smaller population of Muslims in Scotland (Penrose and Howard 2008: 95). This qualitative research looks at the different identity negotiation and integration strategies of Muslims, and introduces the idea of ‘Halal integration’ which entails fitting into society while maintaining religious identity. This refers to the life of many Scottish Muslims, Halal Scots, who integrated into many aspects of Scottish society whilst maintaining their religious identity and practices. One example of such integration was the construction of hybrid or multiple social identities that constitute both Scottish and Muslim identity (Saeed et. al. 1999: 836; Hussain and Miller 2006: 150; Hopkins 2008: 121). Other examples were adopting alternative ways of socialising such as meeting at cafés, running family and social events in non-alcoholic environments, and taking part in voluntary and charitable work. This study, thus, explains important barriers and pathways to Muslims’ integration in Scotland. The research involved 43 semi-structured interviews with Muslims who were differentiated by generation and gender. Most existing studies of Muslims in Scotland have focused on major urban areas such as Edinburgh and Glasgow (Hopkins 2004; Hussain and Miller 2006; Virdee et. al. 2006; Kyriakides et. al. 2009). My study will therefore extend such research by comparing the experiences of Muslims across Scottish major cities and small towns. It will thus deepen our understanding of Muslims in Scotland. This thesis suggests that even though religion played an important role in their integration and identity negotiation, other factors such as nationality, ethnicity, racism and Islamophobia also played a significant part. It also suggests an emerging shift in the second generation Muslims’ economic, educational and social integration into Scottish society.

Many cross-cultural advertising studies in the last decade focus on matching the advertising messages to consumers’ self-concepts. Despite the cultural differences in self-concept, research on self-concept still has some limitations given the lack understanding of the dialectical thinking style. Dialectical thinking represents one’s perception of conflicted information. To develop the understanding of dialectical thinking in predicting the persuasiveness of advertising messages, this research uses arguments proposed in the literature and validates the importance of dialectical thinking in predicting advertising appeals’ persuasiveness for East Asian bicultural consumers. In addition to dialectical thinking, Benet-Martinez et al. (2002) proposed the concept of Bicultural Identity Integration (BII) to group biculturals into high Bicultural Identity Integration individuals and low Bicultural Identity Integration individuals. Lau-Gesk (2003)’s work claimed that Chinese Americans who perceive Chinese and American cultures are compatible (high Bicultural Identity Integration) tend to favour ads appeals that emphasizing on both cultural values. Whereas, those individuals who perceive the two cultures are contradicted and compartmentalised tend to favour ads appeals that emphasizing on only one cultural value. This research aims to examine the role of product type in moderating the relationship between Bicultural Identity Integration and the persuasiveness of dual-focused advertising appeals. Building upon marketing and psychology literature, the aim of this research is to extend our understanding of impacts of dialectical thinking and Bicultural Identity Integration (BII) on the persuasiveness of dual-focused advertising appeals. This research adopts both qualitative and quantitative techniques to examine the research questions. Firstly, 10 in-depth interviews with Chinese participants from The University of Manchester were conducted to understand the predictors of dialectical thinking. To examine the impacts of dialectical thinking and Bicultural Identity Integration on the persuasiveness of dual-focused advertising appeals, 161 participants were recruited in Experiment 1 and 164 participants were recruited in Experiment 2. The findings suggest that individuals’ perspective-taking and flexibility and openness capabilities tend to predict one’s degree of dialecticism. In Experiment 1, the results showed that dialectical thinking only explains the attitudinal differences among the immigration-based Chinese bicultural group when shared products were promoted. The differences in attitudes among high and low dialectical globalisation-based Chinese biculturals were not significant when either shared or personal products were promoted. Bicultural Identity Integration explains the attitudinal differences within both immigration-based and globalisation-based bicultural groups when shared products were promoted. Experiment 2 results suggested that language cues tend to have a priming effect on immigration-based Chinese biculturals’ degrees of dialecticism. They have shown higher degree of dialecticism when advertising appeals were written in Chinese and are less likely to favour dual-focused advertising appeals; participants also reported lower degree of dialecticism when advertising appeals were written in English and favour dual-focused advertising appeals. However, such priming effects were not significant within the globalisation-based Chinese bicultural group.