Balanced Cultural Identities Promote Cognitive Flexibility among Immigrant Children

Frontiers in Psychology

Olivia Spiegler¹  Birgit Leyendecker¹ 

[1] Department of Developmental Psychology, Ruhr University BochumBochum, Germany;Department of Psychological Methods and Evaluation, University of HagenHagen, Germany;

关键词: biculturalism;    identity acculturation;    dual identity;    ethnic identity;    executive functioning;    cognitive control;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01579

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The acculturation complexity model suggests that immersion into dissonant cultures promotes cognitive skills in biculturals (Tadmor and Tetlock, 2006). In the present study, we examined links between identity acculturation and executive functioning (EF). Turkish-German immigrant origin children (N = 225; M = 11 years, SD = 1.6 years, 99 males) were given questions about their identification with Turks and Germans to capture bicultural involvement and a Dot Task (using Hearts and Flowers) to measure EF. Results showed that Turkish-German bicultural children who endorse both cultures with equal strength did not have a cognitive advantage in working memory and inhibition compared to their peers who more clearly preferred one culture over the other. However, bicultural children who endorse both cultures with equal strength performed significantly better on a switching task that required cognitive flexibility. The study highlights the potential cognitive benefits associated with biculturalism.

【 授权许可】

Unknown