Who wants to know? The effect of audience on identity expression among minority group members

Statements of social identification among ethnic minority members were examined as a function of group membership of the participants, group membership of the audience, and personal identifiability. In Study 1, Turkish migrants and Iranian refugees in the Netherlands expressed their identification with native and host groups as a function of the audience implicit in the language of the questionnaire (native, host). Turks stressed identification both with native and with the host group more to the host audience, whereas Iranians did not. Both groups, but particularly the Turks, emphasized the adaptation problems and associated stress, to the host culture and to the host audience. In Study 2, identification with native and host group was examined among Portuguese migrants in the Netherlands, as a function of audience (native, host) and personal identifiability (anonymous, identifiable). Degree of identification with native and host groups depended both on the audience and on personal identifiability. Results from both studies are explained primarily in terms of strategic self-presentation of identities, determined by the relation between the group and the audience. In general, participants address identity claims to audiences that might question these claims (or are in a position to redress grievances), although because of reality constraints, this is easier when anonymous.