Identity Development: From Cultural to Intercultural

Academic investigations of cultural identity have provided many useful insights into the nature of the relationship between an individual and an ethnic group. At the heart of identity development are various forms of information exchange with the environment. Such interactions occur in a wide range of direct new cultural knowledge, attitudes, and behavioral elements are assimilated into an enactment of growth—an emergent "new" person at a higher level of integration. The psychological advancements of individuals into new dimensions of identity often accompany some forms of temporary and partial personality disintegration, or even "breakdown" in some extreme cases. The development of an intercultural identity requires an information exchange with an environment of multiple cultural forces. Few systematic studies have directly examined the phenomenon of the development of intercultural identity. The chapter ends with a discussion of the factors external and internal to the individual that are likely to facilitate or constrain intercultural identity development.