The globalization-based acculturation process in the Indian Himalayan region of Ladakh represents a highly complex network of intercultural interactions. Ladakhi youth negotiate their cultural orientation and identity in relation both (a) to indirect intercultural exposure through media and (b) to intermittent cultural contact through tourism in Ladakh. Additionally, many Ladakhi students take sojourns in large Indian cities. Like other Eastern populations exposed to cultural globalization, young Ladakhis are influenced by several local and global cultural streams. Within this acculturative process, Ladakhi youth are caught between ambiguous societal pressures toward both tradition and change. Through in-depth interviews, in the present study we investigated the negotiations of eight Ladakhi students' cultural identity in Leh (Ladakh) and Delhi. In doing so, we draw pragmatically on theories of multiculturalism and dialogical self.Participants reported negotiating their cultural identity through dialogue among various personal, cultural, religious, and social voices, where these voices require selectively incorporating various cultural elements within the parameters established by societal constraints. Results indicate the vast complexity and dynamics within the Ladakhi acculturation process, with multiple interacting cultural streams, religions, and significant sociohistorical factors calling for an indepth qualitative approach to elucidating the processes underlying globalization-based acculturation.Keywords: Cultural identity, Globalization, Acculturation, Dialogical Self Theory, Ladakh, India Globalization has emerged as a major force through which individuals can acculturate to other cultural streams 1 within the context of their homelands. Although the study of cultural adaptation has been ongoing for several decades, the vast majority of this work has focused on immigration (e.g., Berry, 1997). Only recently have researchers begun to focus on globalizationrelated acculturation, wherein people are exposed to new cultural elements without leaving their countries of origin (Chen, Benet-Martínez, & Bond, 2008;Ferguson & Bornstein, 2012 Accordingly, the younger generation, especially, has been exposed to, and must balance and integrate, various cultural streams and traditions. Such integration requires tradition and family on one hand, and attention to their own personal aspirations and autonomy on the other hand. As a result of globalization, a cultural gap between youth and the parents may arise regarding authority and autonomy -which are central issues in the development of one's cultural identity (Jensen, Arnett, & McKenzie, 2011 (Dinnerstein, 2013;Gupta, 2014;Ozer, 2015). In the present study, we investigated Ladakhi college students' negotiation of multicultural identity challenges during the process of globalization in a local Ladakhi town (Leh) and in the Indian capital (Delhi). Through exploration of variations, dynamics, and nuances fundamental to the integration of multiple cultural streams ...
Life psychology has emerged as an integrative framework theory that has been applied in interventions preventing and countering radicalization processes. Central to this theory is the experience of living in a safe and secure sociocultural context, designated as life attachment and conceptualized as a root cause of radicalization. Furthermore, the theory emphasizes the interplay between generic life tasks (e.g., participating in community activities) and skills (e.g., taking one's own and others' perspectives into consideration) through which the individual can develop and reach a good-enough life attachment. A deficiency in development of life skills is a risk factor, as it functions as an underlying mechanism regarding the relationship between insecure life attachment and extremism. Through cross-national samples from the United States (n ϭ 322) and Denmark (n ϭ 364), the present article operationalizes and validates the central concepts of life skills and life attachment. Furthermore, these measures are examined in a statistical model hypothesizing insecure life attachment as a root cause in relation to violent extremism and deficient life skills as a risk factor. Consequently, the study draws attention to how generic life skills can be developed as a way of preventing and countering radicalization. Public Significance StatementThis study suggests that an insecure sociocultural embeddedness can be a root factor for initiating radicalized trajectories. In addition, the developmental level of one's life skills can diminish or enhance this possible relationship. Consequently, interventions to develop individual life skills could be a way of preventing and countering radicalization.
The Indian region of Ladakh has recently undergone comprehensive sociocultural changes through the process of acculturation. The present study employs an acculturation psychological framework to assess how two groups of Ladakhi college students navigate through different degrees of exposure to acculturation and how this affects their mental health. Using mixed methods, 292 (age: M = 20.89, SD = 1.66; 64.4% females) respondents were included in the quantitative assessment and 12 participated in semistructured interviews. Analysis revealed that students with less acculturation exposure were more oriented toward ethnic culture and to a greater extent experienced impaired mental health when compared with the sample with more acculturation. Most prevalent among the students (34.2%) was a bicultural orientation, integrating both ethnic and mainstream culture. In general, acculturation orientation was not associated with quantitative measures of depression or anxiety. The qualitative analysis revealed agency and cultural identity to be pivotal factors in the process of reproducing culture and negotiating cultural change.
Violent radicalization has emerged as an important topic of theoretical and empirical investigation motivated by the devastating face of terrorism and by the aim of preventing such expressions of extremism. One central aspect of such research inquiries is the foundation of solid measurement. In this article, we develop and validate two generic scales pertaining to (1) endorsement of extremism and (2) acceptance of violent and/or illegal means. In conclusion, the scales yielded sound psychometric properties and cross‐cultural equivalence, providing a solid measure of the important aspects of extremism which can be empirically employed in elucidating generic mechanisms of violent radicalization processes.
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