Cultural Identity

Ethnic versus Cultural Identity

Although culture often corresponds to nationality or ethnicity, ethnic identity is not the same as cultural identity. Although ethnic identity may be the organizing feature of different nationalities or ethnic groups, Jean S. Phinney's literature review of ethnic identity suggests that understanding how ethnicity distinguishes differing ethnic groups is complex. Whereas youth living within the same nation may have different cultures, youth of different ethnicities may actually share similar cultural values. Many youth of the same ethnicity live vastly different lives shaped by cultural bonds and identification. Youth within a specific racial, ethnic, language, nationality, or religious group are not homogeneous even though they may hold cultural beliefs, practices, and institutions in common. People's primary cultural identification is with the group toward which they most strongly feel a sense of belonging.

Cultural Identity in Youth

Shared values are powerful transmitters of culture. Culture determines how youth life is shaped, and cultural identity is the degree to which youth identify with the cultural norms of a specific group. Children identify with groups very early in their development. [Page 228]They first identify with family, later with friends, then later still with larger groups that use music, clothes, and social behavior to distinguish themselves as a group. Adolescents who grow up experiencing diverse cultures increasingly develop multicultural identities.

Cultural identity is not necessarily a logical and systematically defined term, but it is broader than ethnic identity. Ethnic identity typically refers to one's membership in a social group that has a common culture marked by shared language, history, geography, and sometimes physical characteristics. Cultural identity with a specific group can include people from many different ethnic backgrounds. Therefore, many different ethnic groups of youth can identify with the same culture, as for example, those youth who belong to the hip-hop generation or Generation X. Cultural identity has not been extensively studied in children and adolescents and, until recently, has rarely appeared in the scientific literature. A few studies have examined cultural identity and its relationship to mental health in youth and show that strong cultural identity is associated with lower levels of adolescent mental health problems. Overall, however, the relationship between cultural identity and general functioning in adolescence is not well understood.

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