Navigating Identity: How Migrants Sustain a Coherent Sense of Self Across Cultures

TL;DR

Migrants often navigate complex identity challenges as they balance their heritage culture with that of the host country. Through strategies like selective adaptation, identity integration, and flexible cultural expression, migrants sustain a coherent sense of self. Support from social networks, reflective practices, and cultural rituals also help foster belonging and well-being.

Key Takeaways

• Migrants often form bicultural or hybrid identities that adapt depending on context.

• Strategies like the chameleon or butterfly model help youth navigate dual cultural expectations.

• Internal tactics such as reflective awareness and storytelling enhance identity coherence.

• Social anchoring through community and family plays a key role in supporting migrant identity.

Introduction

Migration is a transformative experience, marked by profound shifts in environment, community, and identity. One of the most pressing psychological tasks for migrants is to maintain a coherent sense of self amidst sometimes conflicting cultural norms. This blog explores how migrants negotiate dual identities and employ internal strategies to adapt while preserving a sense of coherence and belonging.

How Migrants Negotiate Conflicting Identities

Bicultural and Hybrid Identities

Many migrants adopt bicultural or hybrid identities, blending values, behaviors, and worldviews from both their country of origin and their host nation. Some lean heavily into their heritage culture, others assimilate more fully into the host society, and many toggle between the two depending on their context (Popescu & Pudelko, 2024; Karataş et al., 2023).

Chameleon and Butterfly Strategies

Migrant youth often develop strategies to function in multiple cultural environments. The “chameleon” strategy involves adapting one’s behavior and identity to suit different cultural settings. The “butterfly” strategy refers to creating a hybrid identity that draws from both cultural backgrounds to form a new, unique subculture (Okyere-Manu, 2020).

Situational Identity Shifts

Flexibility in cultural expression, often called situational identity shifting, allows migrants to adapt based on context—such as behaving differently at home versus at work or school. This adaptability is associated with improved psychological adjustment (Doucerain et al., 2024).

Cultural Continuity Dilemmas

Migrants frequently face decisions about which cultural practices to retain or discard. This can manifest in everyday routines, from food preferences to parenting styles, and reflects deeper negotiations around cultural continuity (Akifeva et al., 2023).

Internal Strategies for Sustaining Coherence

Selective Adaptation

Migrants often selectively adopt practices from both cultures based on personal values or situational demands. This strategy allows individuals to maintain authenticity while adapting to new norms (Hulubaș, 2022).

Identity Integration

Rather than feeling torn between two identities, some migrants consciously integrate both heritage and host cultures into a unified sense of self. This process enhances psychological resilience and cultural bridging skills (Popescu & Pudelko, 2024).

Social Anchoring

Family, peer groups, and community networks offer a stable backdrop against which identity can be negotiated. These anchors provide emotional support, reinforce cultural practices, and enhance belonging (Dizon et al., 2021).

Reflective Awareness

By recognizing and reflecting on the internalized norms of both cultures, migrants can make conscious identity choices. This reflective awareness fosters agency and self-coherence (Akifeva et al., 2023).

Storytelling and Rituals

Personal narratives and cultural rituals serve as tools for identity preservation and meaning-making. Migrants often use storytelling to connect with their past and rituals to sustain continuity across life transitions (Bala et al., 2024).

Conclusion

Navigating identity as a migrant is a complex, dynamic process that involves balancing the influence of two or more cultural systems. By adopting flexible strategies such as identity integration and situational adaptation—and by grounding themselves in social support and cultural practices—migrants can sustain a resilient and coherent sense of self across cultural divides.

References

Akifeva, R., Fozdar, F., & Baldassar, L. (2023). Experiences of culture and cultural negotiations among Russian-speaking migrants: National habitus and cultural continuity dilemmas in child-rearing. Ethnicities, 24, 744 - 765. https://doi.org/10.1177/14687968221149167

Bala, P., Nisi, V., & Nunes, N. (2024). Stories as Boundary Objects: Digital Storytelling with Migrant Communities for Heritage Discourses. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 8, 1 - 32. https://doi.org/10.1145/3641016

Dizon, L., Selak, V., Ramalho, R., & Peiris-John, R. (2021). Factors influencing the negotiation of ethnic identity among 1.5 and second-generation Asian migrants: A mixed methods systematic review. Journal of Adolescence, 89, 95-112. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2021.04.005

Doucerain, M., Bragoli-Barzan, L., Benkirane, S., & Medvetskaya, A. (2024). General or Situational? Exploring Cultural Identification Patterns Using Entropy Among Maghrebi Immigrants to Canada. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 55, 776 - 798. https://doi.org/10.1177/00220221241231949

Hulubaș, A. (2022). Self-perception through customs among Romanian immigrants. Cambio. Rivista sulle Trasformazioni Sociali. https://doi.org/10.36253/cambio-14094

Karataş, S., Crocetti, E., Schwartz, S., & Rubini, M. (2023). Developmental trajectories of ethnic and national identities in adolescents from migrant families: The role of social identification with family and classmates. European Journal of Personality, 37, 705 - 722. https://doi.org/10.1177/08902070221149602

Okyere-Manu, B. (2020). Negotiating Identity and Belongingness as Migrant Youth: The Chameleon and Butterfly Strategies. Alternation - Interdisciplinary Journal for the Study of the Arts and Humanities in Southern Africa. https://doi.org/10.29086/2519-5476/2020/sp34a7

Popescu, C., & Pudelko, M. (2021). Impact of Cultural Identity Negotiation on Bridging Activities of Highly Qualified Migrants. Academy of Management Proceedings. https://doi.org/10.5465/ambpp.2021.13267abstract

Popescu, C., & Pudelko, M. (2024). The impact of cultural identity on cultural and language bridging skills of first and second generation highly qualified migrants. Journal of World Business. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2024.101571