Bicultural identity among economical migrants from three south European countries living in Switzerland. Adaptation and validation of a new psychometric instrument
2007

Bicultural Identity Among Economic Migrants in Switzerland

Sample size: 93 publication 10 minutes Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Eytan Ariel, Nuria Jene-Petschen, Marianne Gex-Fabry

Primary Institution: Geneva University Hospitals

Hypothesis

Can a new psychometric instrument effectively assess bicultural identity among economic migrants from South European countries living in Switzerland?

Conclusion

A new, easy-to-use instrument can help clinicians assess the cultural identity of Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish economic migrants in Switzerland.

Supporting Evidence

  • 97.8% of participants found the questionnaire easy to complete.
  • The instrument discriminated between patients and healthy subjects.
  • Median time to complete the questionnaire was 5 minutes.
  • Cronbach's alpha for the culture of origin and host culture scales were 0.77 and 0.73, respectively.

Takeaway

The study created a simple questionnaire to help doctors understand the cultural identities of migrants from Italy, Portugal, and Spain living in Switzerland.

Methodology

A 24-item bi-dimensional scale was developed to assess involvement in both the culture of origin and the host culture, validated with 93 immigrant adults.

Potential Biases

Participants were not matched for socio-demographic characteristics, which may influence results.

Limitations

The instrument is not a direct translation of a validated scale and may not be applicable to other cultural groups.

Participant Demographics

Participants included 55 hospital workers and 38 patients, primarily from Italy, Portugal, and Spain.

Statistical Information

P-Value

0.005

Statistical Significance

p<0.05

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1186/1471-244X-7-17

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