Abstract
In the current time of high globalisation, mobility has changed the concept of distance; as such, it has thus altered the cultural identity of people who choose to practise tourism or to migrate. The purpose of this study is to elucidate the multi-centred bicultural identities that immigrants develop during their stay in a new cultural context and, as well, the factors that trigger the switch from one ‘self’ to another. To meet this aim, e-mail interviews were conducted with 32 lifestyle immigrants in order to discover a plurality of factors of self-reflection shared by locals, tourists and immigrants. Through theoretical thematic analysis, the importance of place attachment and social interaction has been highlighted as the generator of micro-moments when selves are switched, explaining that bicultural individuals, in actuality, develop five different selves in relation to the surrounding cultural context.
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Zerva, K., el Quardi Ahbouch, N. Me, Myself and I: Exploring the Micro-moments of Local, Immigrant and Tourist Self in Bicultural Identities. Int. Migration & Integration 22, 247–264 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-019-00735-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-019-00735-3