Between two worlds: East Asian sojourners’ negotiation of identity in the United States

ABSTRACT

As sojourners adjust to a new culture, they adjust their identities, navigating both their home and host culture expectations. This study examines the process of identity development sojourners experience. Utilizing the communication theory of identity, we analyzed East Asian international sojourners’ experiences, adjusting to life in the U.S. Participants used different strategies when enacting identity with home culture members (e.g., using cultural informers, sharing home culture experiences, avoiding home culture groups) versus enacting identity with host culture members (e.g., avoiding certain topics, seeking strategically beneficial interactions, working to make a good impression). Also, they negotiated identity gaps by adhering to American norms while interacting with other Asians, choosing between keeping their home culture or following American norms, being extra polite, and even de-emphasizing Americanness. Fundamentally, both cultures remained important, but the sincerity with which they would perform either culture was negotiated in each interaction. The gaps in their layers of identity were inevitable but provided them with opportunities to make choices based on their own goals.

KEYWORDS:

• Identity
• intercultural communication
• cultural adjustment
• international sojourners
• communication theory of identity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 These participants are purposefully selected because their experience in the U.S. would be likely to be different from that in their home culture due to the cultural gap between Eastern and Western cultures, which could be beneficial in responding to questions for the interview. In addition to the cultural meanings they share, people from East Asian countries form a pan-ethnic identity in the United States, negotiating similar experiences and structural barriers.