Transcultural identity: the future self in a globalized world

Abstract

The era of globalization brings about an increasing number of people that migrates and adapts to different cultures not only once, but multiple times in their lives. One of the central questions for social psychologists is how these different cultural experiences are processed and integrated into a person’s cultural identity. To date, social psychology has mainly examined this issue from a biculturalism perspective. However, this does not correspond to the reality of multiple cultural experiences which assumingly all have an effect on people’s self-conception as cultural beings. In this paper it is suggested that a transcultural perspective is better fitted to respond to these new forms of multiculturalism. The present paper clarifies what this concept is and to what extent a transcultural identity is distinctive from a bicultural identity. A study conducted within a Master thesis project is briefly presented which aimed to examine the meaning of transcultural identity. This work has been conducted in partnership with a member of the Health for All (H4A) research group at CIS-IUL and the High Commission for Migrations (Alto Comissariado para as Migrações, ACM). A selection of the preliminary findings is briefly presented as well as implications of transculturalism for future research and applied areas.