Bicultural Identity and Competence Development

该奖项是美国国家科学基金会社会、行为和经济科学博士后研究奖学金（SPRF）计划的一部分。SPRF计划的目标是为学术界、工业界或私营部门和政府的科学事业准备有前途的早期职业博士级科学家。SPRF奖励包括在知名科学家的赞助下进行为期两年的培训，并鼓励博士后进行独立研究。美国国家科学基金会寻求促进科学界各阶层的科学家，包括那些未被充分代表的群体的科学家，参与其研究项目和活动；博士后阶段被认为是实现这一目标的一个重要的专业发展阶段。每个博士后必须解决各自学科领域的重要科学问题。在哈佛大学Adriana Umana-Taylor博士的赞助下，这个博士后奖学金奖支持一位研究双文化主义的前因和后果的早期职业科学家。鉴于美国种族、民族和文化的持续多元化（美国人口普查局，2018年），需要对双文化主义进行发展研究。重要的是，学习成为两种文化群体的成员- -成为双文化的- -是少数群体个人，包括移民和少数民族-种族少数群体成员的个人的规范性发展任务。例如，约有4300万移民生活在美国，40%的美国人口属于白人以外的非西班牙裔族群（移民政策研究所，2018）。对这些人来说，在每种文化中达到某种程度的熟练程度（即某种程度的双文化能力）是一个重要的调整指标，对其他发展能力也有影响。预计属于两个文化群体的个人（例如拉丁裔和美国人、华裔和美国人）将首先通过探索其族裔-种族和美国人身份并解决和整合这些身份的过程来发展双文化身份。这些过程被理论化，以促进双文化能力和心理社会适应的积极发展。然而，个体发展双文化身份和能力的机制尚未得到很好的理解。该项目的总体目标是发展和推进文化与发展的科学知识，特别是关于少数民族青少年发展双文化认同和能力的机制，以及双文化认同形成过程、双文化能力发展和社会心理适应之间的联系。本研究项目采用混合方法，分为两个阶段。第一阶段包括定性调查，旨在确定并为青少年提供参与双文化认同过程和发展双文化能力的机会和工具。第二阶段涉及对第一阶段制定的工具和战略进行试点测试，这些工具和战略将纳入现有的族裔-种族认同干预措施。具体来说，两个额外的干预课程旨在促进双文化认同的探索、解决和融合，并将进行试点测试。试点测试将能够审查实施的可行性和关于双文化认同发展的增加与双文化能力和社会心理适应的增加之间随时间推移的关联效应大小的初步数据。这项研究推进了科学知识，可以支持少数民族个体的福祉。值得注意的是，它可以为侧重于实现关键发展能力的促进工作提供信息，从而使社会受益。促进双文化认同和能力可以增加来自不同种族群体的个人之间的积极的相互态度，并加强个人对整个美国社会的依恋感。因此，这项工作可以为所有美国人建设一个更好的社会做出贡献。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award was provided as part of NSF's Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellowships (SPRF) program. The goal of the SPRF program is to prepare promising, early career doctoral-level scientists for scientific careers in academia, industry or private sector, and government. SPRF awards involve two years of training under the sponsorship of established scientists and encourage Postdoctoral Fellows to perform independent research. NSF seeks to promote the participation of scientists from all segments of the scientific community, including those from underrepresented groups, in its research programs and activities; the postdoctoral period is considered to be an important level of professional development in attaining this goal. Each Postdoctoral Fellow must address important scientific questions that advance their respective disciplinary fields. Under the sponsorship of Dr. Adriana Umana-Taylor at Harvard University, this postdoctoral fellowship award supports an early career scientist investigating the antecedents and consequents of biculturalism. Given the continued racial, ethnic, and cultural diversification of the United States (U.S. Census Bureau, 2018), developmental research on biculturalism is needed. Importantly, learning to be a member of two cultural groups - to become bicultural - represents a normative developmental task of minority individuals, including immigrants and individuals who are members of ethnic-racial minority groups. For example, approximately 43 million immigrants live in the U.S. and 40% of the U.S. population belongs to an ethnic-racial group other than White, non-Hispanic (Migration Policy Institute, 2018). For these individuals, attaining some degree of proficiency in each culture (i.e., some degree of bicultural competence) is an important indicator of adjustment with implications for other developmental competencies. It is expected that individuals who are members of two cultural groups (e.g., Latino and American, Chinese and American) will first develop bicultural identities through the processes of exploring their ethnic-racial and American identities and resolving and integrating them. These processes are theorized to promote positive development in the form of bicultural competence and psychosocial adjustment. The mechanisms by which individuals develop bicultural identities and competencies, however, are not well understood. The overall goal of the project, entitled Bicultural Identity and Competence Development, is to develop and advance scientific knowledge of culture and development, specifically relative to the mechanisms by which minority adolescents develop bicultural identities and competencies, and the associations among bicultural identity formation processes, bicultural competence development, and psychosocial adjustment. This research project employs a mixed-method approach organized in two phases. Phase 1 involves a qualitative investigation aimed at identifying and providing adolescents with opportunities and tools to engage in bicultural identity processes and to develop bicultural competence. Phase 2 involves a pilot test of the tools and strategies developed in Phase 1, which will be integrated into an existing ethnic-racial identity intervention. Specifically, two additional intervention sessions designed to promote bicultural identity exploration, resolution, and integration will be developed and pilot tested. The pilot test will enable examining feasibility of implementation and preliminary data regarding effect sizes for the associations between increases in bicultural identity development and increases in bicultural competence and psychosocial adjustment over time. This research advances scientific knowledge that can support the well-being of minority individuals. Notably, it can benefit society by informing promotion efforts focused on the achievement of key developmental competencies. Promoting bicultural identities and competencies can increase positive mutual attitudes among individuals from diverse ethnic-racial groups and strengthen individuals' sense of attachment to the American society at large. This work, therefore, can contribute to the development of a better society for all Americans.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.