The article introduces the concept of cultural identity styles, strategies that individuals use for decision making about identity-relevant issues, and proposes that blending and alternating are two strategies that acculturating individuals activate to manage multiple cultural identities. Drawing on diverse samples from New Zealand, Mauritius, and Israel, we present two studies. The first describes the construction of the Multicultural Identity Styles Scale (MISS) and the validation of its Hybrid Identity Style (HIS) and Alternating Identity Style (AIS) subscales. HIS was associated with greater blendedness as assessed by the Bicultural Identity Integration Scale (BIIS-1) and was more prominent in second-generation immigrants compared with their first-generation peers. AIS was associated with less BIIS harmony and was stronger in first-generation immigrants. In the second study, we propose, test, and replicate a mediational model, whereby cultural identity outcomes mediate the impact of cultural identity styles on well-being. Path analysis demonstrated that the motivation to integrate predicted the use of both HIS and AIS; however, HIS led to greater cultural identity consolidation and on to higher levels of well-being. In contrast, AIS predicted greater cultural identity conflict and poorer psychological adaptation. The studies advance our theorizing on biculturalism and integration by adopting a process-oriented approach to cultural identity negotiation.

Findings highlight that Internet use can support older adults' well-being; however, not every form of engagement impacts well-being the same way. These findings will inform the focus of interventions which aim to promote well-being.

We examined two conceptualizations of bicultural identity-the Bicultural Identity Integration (BII) framework (cultural identity blendedness-distance and harmony-conflict) and cultural hybridizing and alternating (mixing one's two cultural identities and/or switching between them). Utilizing data from a 12-day diary study with 873 Hispanic college students, we examined three research questions: (1) cross-sectional and longitudinal intercorrelations among these biculturalism components, (2) links among daily variability in these biculturalism components, and (3) how this daily variability predicts well-being and mental health outcomes over time. Bicultural hybridizing was positively related to, and longitudinally predicted by, both BII blendedness and harmony. Daily fluctuation scores for BII blendedness, BII harmony, and bicultural hybridizing were strongly interrelated. Well-being was negatively predicted by fluctuations in hybridizing, whereas internalizing symptoms were positively predicted by fluctuations in blendedness. These results are discussed in terms of what biculturalism is and how best to promote it.

The chapter reviews the major theoretical perspectives on acculturation and adaptation with their varying emphases on affect, behavior, cognition and development. Frameworks for elucidating Stress and Coping; Culture Learning; Cultural Orientations and Intercultural Relations; and Developmental Processes are discussed. Key conceptual and measurement issues are identified, empirical research is summarized and critically analyzed, and recommendations for advancing acculturation theory and research are presented for each approach. Finally, the chapter concludes that each of these approaches offers unique insights and that taken together, they provide a comprehensive perspective on acculturation processes and outcomes.

Although a substantial body of literature on stress and coping in international students exists, research has focused on the difficulties of adapting to a new cultural environment rather than the stress of leaving home (termed ‘uprooting’). The present study examined uprooting stress and coping (primary and secondary) strategies as predictors of anxiety in a 3-month longitudinal study of 127 international students. Given the low controllability of uprooting, it was hypothesized that primary coping would predict increments in anxiety over time, whereas secondary coping would predict decrements. Interactions between stress and coping strategies were also expected with primary coping exacerbating and secondary coping buffering the negative effects of stress on anxiety. The data were subjected to a hierarchical regression analysis, controlling for anxiety at Time 1, cultural background, length of residence, and English language proficiency. The analysis revealed that coping strategies at Time 1 exerted main effects on anxiety at Time 2 with primary coping predicting higher, and secondary coping predicting lower, levels of anxiety. Although uprooting stress did not exert a main effect on anxiety, it interacted with coping in that, specifically as hypothesized, primary coping exacerbated the negative effects of stress while secondary coping buffered its influence on anxiety.