Acculturation Orientations and Ego Identity Style: Impact on Stress and Well-being

In the scientific literature, the link between the acculturation orientations immigrants endorse (the way individuals perceive themselves among the mainstream cultural group and their heritage group) and the satisfaction with life and well-being has already been well established. ​However, we know little about the antecedents of acculturation orientations​​.​

According to developmental psychologists Erik Erikson and James Marcia, the development of an ​​ego ​identity is an uphill process that occurs at adolescence for the majority of human beings, leading us to socialization at individual and social levels when this stage is successfully completed. It consists of a search for personal identity and a sense of self, but it is also a stage of exploration and reassessment of personal values, beliefs and goals - all of which are pertinent to what acculturation orientation people chose​. According to this theory, ego identity development can reach one of four statuses: informational, normative, diffuse/avoidant, or committed.

​In this study, we first replicate the well documented link between acculturation orientations and adjustment. Second, we test the hypothesis that the four identity statuses​ an individual can endorse will have a differential impact on their acculturation orientation. This research was conducted at Concordia University among 200 immigrant young adults (1st and 2nd generation). Participants filled an online survey assessing their acculturation orientation (Vancouver Index of Acculturation), their identity style (Berzonsky’s Identity Style Inventory) and their state of stress and well-being. Results largely supported our hypotheses.