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    The effect of immigration, acculturation and multicompetence on personality profiles of Israeli multilinguals

    Dewaele, Jean-Marc and Stavans, A (2014) The effect of immigration, acculturation and multicompetence on personality profiles of Israeli multilinguals. International Journal of Bilingualism 18 (3), pp. 203-221. ISSN 1367-0069.

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    Abstract

    The present study investigates the link between multilingualism/multiculturalism, acculturation and the personality profile (as measured by the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire) of 77 young multilingual Israeli teenagers (34 females, 42 males). Statistical analyses revealed that veteran Israeli teenagers scored higher on Emotional Stability than immigrant teenagers with different nationality provenance. Language dominance had a significant effect on the participants’ scores on Emotional Stability; with participants having become dominant in Hebrew as a foreign language (LX) scoring lower than L1-dominant participants. The number of languages known by participants was not linked to their personality profile. A high level of use of various languages was linked to significantly higher scores on Cultural Empathy and Openmindedness. Gender was also found to have a significant effect on personality profiles and was linked to the knowledge of more languages. These findings confirm that some personality traits are shaped by a variety of social and biographical factors. Acculturation is stressful resulting in lower levels of Emotional Stability. While the mere knowledge of more languages did not affect personality profiles, the frequent use of more languages strengthened Cultural Empathy and Openmindedness.

    Metadata

    Item Type: Article
    Keyword(s) / Subject(s): multilingualism, multiculturalism, acculturation, personality, multicompetence
    School: Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Creative Arts, Culture and Communication
    Depositing User: Jean-Marc Dewaele
    Date Deposited: 16 Oct 2012 09:43
    Last Modified: 09 Aug 2023 12:31
    URI: https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/5097

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