<p> Transcultural migration is a growing phenomenon, yet research on the lived experience of individuals who willfully leave the security and comfort of their home nation and socio-cultural support to migrate alone as adults to a foreign nation where they do not have citizenship, do not look like the locals, and do not share the local mother tongue had not been previously researched. Marcia’s (2002) work on identity exploration and May’s existential psychological works (e.g., 1953), particularly his notion of “the stages in consciousness of self” (p. 100), served as major theoretical foundations of this research. Giorgi’s (2009a) descriptive phenomenological psychological method was used, as it aligns with the qualitative and existential nature of this topic. I interviewed three transcultural migrants and analyzed the data sets with imaginative variations to yield an essential psychological structure that describes the phenomenon. Fourteen constituents were identified: the presence of a call to adventure, an urge to defy the sense of confinement or frustration, an appetite to develop one’s potential for action in the world, indefinite and flexible migration plans, an imagined or desired horizon as the destination, commitment depending on the passion for and pursuit of growth and challenges, identity reflections on being different, a sense of extra effort or work, constant revival of earlier psycho-social crises, questioning traditional cultural boundaries, integrating cultural experiences into cultural identity and orientation, rebellion against cultural judgment-based interactions, cultural flexibility through experiential understanding, and heightened awareness of global, local, and identity politics. These findings support the existing literature emphasizing migrants’ openness to experience and interest in developing personal potential (Madison, 2009), their sense of extra effort (Moreau et al., 2009), and a pluralistic sense of political and socio-cultural identity (e.g., Ortega, 2016). In addition, the present findings challenge preconceived notions of culture, suggesting that concepts of cultural orientation, rather than racial/ethnic identity, and cultural humility in place of cultural competency have greater functional applications to the transcultural phenomenon. Some clinical, educational, socio-cultural, and political implications are presented. Future studies are encouraged to examine various transcultural possibilities.</p><p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:10928675 |
| Date | 25 October 2018 |
| Creators | Hsu, Anne Y-J |
| Publisher | Saybrook University |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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