Social psychology (psychology)/Tutorials/Cross-cultural training/Cultural identity

Cultural identity

Purpose: This exercise is designed to help individuals identify cultural influences on their personal identity.

• What is cultural identity?
• Ask individuals to draw a concept map of their cultural identity e.g.,
  • indicate group memberships,
  • use size/colour to highlight the overlay between one's cultural groupings/shadings.
• Cultural groupings may fall along ethnic/racial lines, but also encourage students to consider other cultures/sub-cultures which they may identify with, e.g.,
  • • youth culture vs. older people's culture
    • online vs. offline culture
    • rural vs. city
    • skateboarding culture
    • church culture, etc.
• Allow 5 to 10 minutes for individual concept mapping
• In small groups (3 to 4), allow 10 to 15 minutes for participants to share, explain, and possibly modify their maps by sharing them with one another.
• Optional: Ask students to consider what "saliency" is and how it influences cultural identity.
  • This should hopefully lead to discussion about fluidity/dynamic nature of cultural identity, i.e., that it changes with situational and cognitive circumstance.
• Note: Relates to Blog 1 Social Self