Ethnic Affirmation Versus Cross-Cultural Accommodation

Chinese bilinguals from Hong Kong responded to three different question-naires in their first or second language of Chinese or English. On some questionnaire items their answers to the English version differed from those to the Chinese version in a more "Western" direction (cross-cultural accommodation); for others, in a more Chinese direction (ethnic affirmation). These outcomes were unaffected by the respondents' level of identification with traditional Chinese culture or by their degree of anonymity vis-a-vis the experimenter conducting the research. An internal analysis of responses to the Rokeach Value Survey revealed that the more important the value to the respondent, the less likely they were to show cross-cultural accommodation. It thus appears that affirmation occurs on important issues in order to buttress the individual's of psychological distinctiveness from other groups (Tajfel, 1974a); compromise is possible on less important matters, presumably more peripheral to the individual's cultural self-concept.