Multicultural Experiences: Impacts on the Mind and Self

Abstract

Globalization has brought unprecedented opportunities for individuals to be exposed to or interact with elements or people from different cultures. Recent research has examined how multicultural experiences could impact human psychology. Borrowing from this literature, this article discusses some key ways in which people adapt and respond to multicultural exposure through the acquisition and application of cultural knowledge (the multicultural mind) and development of cultural identities (the multicultural self). Multicultural exposure allows individuals to acquire and gain fluency in multiple cultural knowledge systems, enhancing cognitive flexibility and creativity and reducing prejudice. At the same time, as individuals amass multicultural experiences, they need to negotiate their multiple identities, forming different representations of them. Although individuals may display exclusionary responses when perceiving a threat toward their culture, a secure attachment to their culture can act as a safe haven that mitigates such threat. We discuss collectivization of multicultural experiences as a future research direction.