Southern California’s Coachella and Imperial Valleys are major production regions for a wide variety of winter vegetables. Fields in these valleys are typically fallowed during the summer due to high temperatures that preclude the production of most vegetables. Recently, researchers at the University of California, Riverside, in conjunction with Riverside County Cooperative Extension, the Indio USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the USDA Agricultural Research Service in Beltsville, Maryland, developed a cover crop mulch production system for this region using cowpea , a warm-season legume. This system relies on the use of large, bush-type cultivars. The cowpea is seeded into preshaped soil beds in June and August. When the cover crop is chopped and converted into a mulch, the above ground biomass can be as much as 2,542 pounds per acre , providing a surface matte that has been shown to control weeds, reduce parasitic nematodes, and provide for vegetable yields comparable to the current bare soil production system. This cover crop mulch production technique has also resulted in increased soil carbon, which is an important management goal of producers in the region.With the increase of cross-cultural contacts worldwide, new types of ethnic/cultural identities start to develop and take shape for individuals. Most of this research has examined the cross-cultural influences on identity by asking individuals to consciously answer questions using self-report measures. What is less known is to what extent cross-cultural contact influences identity outside of conscious awareness?
Thus, the present research examined to what extent individuals implicitly incorporate cross cultural knowledge and/or experiences into their self-concept. Due to the limitations of self-report measures in measuring the self-concept,black plastic planting pots the current research used the Implicit Associate Test to assess implicit representations of the self-concept. The IAT’s main purpose is to measure the relative strength of automatic associations between mental representations of concepts. In particular, Study 1 examined differences in the strength of identification with both ethnic and mainstream cultures among multi-generational Mexican American college students. That is, the extent to which Mexican American participants implicitly endorsed Berry’s four acculturation strategies using a 3 IAT design. Study 2 went beyond the realm of Study 1 and examined the underlying dynamics of bicultural identity at an implicit level. That is, the extent to which Mexican American bicultural college students implicitly negotiates or integrates their dual cultural identities into their self-concept. A phenomenon known as Bicultural Identity Integration The findings across both studies are consistent with Devos and with the image rising from modern research on acculturation and bicultural identity that individuals often find themselves immersed into multicultural surroundings and define themselves along numerous cultural boundaries and incorporate into their self-concept knowledge about a variety of cultures. An important innovation of the present research provided evidence for acculturation strategies and the integration of bicultural identities into the self-concept through assessments of thoughts that cannot be consciously controlled. That is, the results of both studies clearly demonstrated that at least under certain circumstances, cultural knowledge and/or experience can implicitly be incorporated into the self-concept.
In today’s world it is nearly impossible to avoid the technological marvels that influence our daily lives. For instance, a typical night for any American might consist of playing online poker with 5 people from various cultures from around the world, watching a news broadcast of events unfolding in the Middle East, receive a telemarketing phone call from a center in India, and playing video games on a Japanese Nintentdo WII system. Not to mention the internet, texting, instant messaging, email, and cell phones all allow us to directly communicate and interact with individuals in other cultures that are half way around the world. As technology grows, cultures from around the world that were once isolated from each other are now interacting with one another. Technology is just one of many effects of globalization. Other effects of globalization include economic and financial , political , ecological , legal , and cultural . Of particular interest are the cultural impacts of globalization. For instance, seeing a McDonald’s in Delhi or a Starbucks Coffee located in Beijing’s Forbidden City are blazing symbols of the wonders of globalization. Global brands such as McDonalds and Starbucks Coffee are considered icons and carriers of American culture, whereas the Forbidden City and Delhi are considered symbols and carriers of Chinese and Indian cultures. The key premise about the cultural impacts of globalization is that it brings diverse cultures together. This type of multicultural environment can potentially allow for individuals to define themselves along multiple ethnic or cultural boundaries. The truth about globalization is that it offers a much more mixed, complex picture that contributes to a rich tapestry of multicultural experiences and identities for individuals. Globalization-based acculturation has led individuals from more and more countries to become multicultural. Historically, globalization was driven by factors such as colonization and slavery with the intent of creating a homogenized society.
In contemporary times, globalization-based acculturation serves the same purpose but is driven by other issues such as immigration, speed of travel and communication, and transnationalism. The difference is that although globalization is nothing new, it is more pervasive today than ever before. There is no doubt that as globalization advances in the twenty-first century, intercultural contact is increasingly becoming a worldwide norm consequently having an affect on the individual. With the increase of cross-cultural contacts worldwide, new types of ethnic/cultural identities start to develop and take shape for individuals. Chen, Benet Martinez, and Bond argue that globalization-based acculturation stresses identity issues as a central psychological outcome of globalization for individuals who define themselves along multiple ethnic or cultural boundaries. As a result, the cross-cultural influence on identity has received a good amount of attention in psychology over the two past decades . Most of this research has examined the cross-cultural influences on identity by asking individuals to consciously answer questions using self-report measures. What is less known is to what extent cross-cultural contact influences identity outside of conscious awareness? In fact, recent advances in the field of implicit social cognition argue that self-related processes frequently occur outside of conscious awareness or control . Thus, the present research examined to what extent individuals implicitly incorporate cross-cultural knowledge and/or experiences into their self-concept. As such, by understanding the basic social cognitive principles that underline the cultural dynamics of globalization on identity will help to advance the psychological research on culture and psychology. The cultural dynamics globalization has brought about in the world today is met with both support and criticism. Globalization is a complex phenomenon and has many different meanings. One widely accepted definition refers to globalization as a process by which regional economies, societies, and cultures become integrated through a globe spanning network of communication and exchange . Proponents of the cultural impacts of globalization believe that it is a profoundly enriching process that opens minds to new experiences, removes cultural barriers, strengthens the cultural diffusion of human rights, and accelerates cultural change. Proponents further believe that globalization will bring about a multicultural global environment in which people from different nations and cultural backgrounds will be able to freely share their ideas and practices and respect, appreciate and accept those who are of different origins In contrast, critics of the cultural impacts of globalization argue that it will destroy local cultures and undermine people’s sense of community and ethnic/cultural identity. As a result, people will resist the shifting cultural dynamics of globalization and will ignite cultural movements to preserve local culture. Critics are particularly worried about the impacts global brands have on local cultures, such as the McDonalds in Delhi or the Starbucks Coffee shop located in Beijing’s Forbidden City . Globalization-Based Acculturation to Psychological Acculturation Whether one is a critic or proponent of the cultural impacts of globalization,black plastic pots for plants one notion that both sides can agree on is the widespread cultural influence globalization has at both a macro and micro level. This widespread globalization influence is often referred to as acculturation which according to Berry exists at two levels: 1) a group/cultural level and 2) an individual/psychological level . Group acculturation refers to changes that occur within a society or culture when two different groups come into direct continuous contact . After such contact, changes in cultural patterns within either or both cultural groups become apparent. Psychological acculturation refers to changes that take place in an individual as a result of continuous and direct participation in a culture-contact situation .
Thus, a linkage is sought between the acculturation of an individual’s group and the psychological acculturation of that individual. In the past, there has been debate as to how to conceptualize psychological acculturation; is the construct unidimenisional or bidimensional? There is a growing consensus that psychological acculturation is not a linear process of assimilating and acquiring the host society’s values and behaviors at the expense of giving up one’s original cultural or ethnic identity . Bidimensional models of acculturation suggest that identifications with different cultural orientations are not mutually exclusive . The bidimensional model refers primarily to immigrant and ethnic minorities who are engaged in maintaining or preserving ethnic cultural identity and are also motivated or allowed to identify with the host culture . When these two dimensions traverse they form four distinct acculturation strategies: 1) Assimilation depicted as a strong identification with the host culture while weakly identifying with one’s own ethnic culture, 2) Separation referred to as strong identification with one’s own ethnic culture while weakly identifying with the host culture, 3) Marginalization characterized by weak identification with both cultures, and 4) Integration described as strong identification with both cultural orientations . Bidimensional models of acculturation have been shown consistently to be more advantageous than unidimensional models across an array of domains . Psychological Acculturation and Social Cognition There has been a wealth of research in the field of psychological acculturation . Much of this research has relied exclusively on the use of questionnaires to examine acculturation at a conscious level, i.e., people consciously dwelling on their acculturation experiences when asked via questionnaire methodology. However, due to the fact that globalization is a constant influential force in our daily lives, the question arises: “to what extent is psychological acculturation experienced out of reflective conscious awareness?” Some acculturation researchers state that advancements within the social cognition framework may benefit research on issues such as acculturation . Furthermore, the dynamic constructivist approach may lead to fresh insights about the psychology of acculturation . To get a better idea of how psychological acculturation can benefit from the social cognition perspective it is important to define social cognition and understand how it works. Social cognition refers to how people interpret, analyze, and remember information about the social world . It is concerned with how people process social information and apply this information to social situations. One central concept within the social cognition literature is “schemas”. Schemas are defined as generalized knowledge mental structures about the physical and social world, and how people interact with others in particular situations and with different kinds of people . To best illustrate how schemas work, it would be useful to compare them to a building under construction. That is, imagine the infrastructure of an unfinished building as a generalized mental structure that provides the framework to fill in the gaps of information derived from the surrounding social environment. Individuals use schemas to organize current knowledge and provide a framework for future understanding. They allow for individuals to have certain expectations and prior knowledge so that they can navigate daily life. Schemas which are often learned through experiences and socialization provide a sense of prediction and control and help guide attention. In essence schemas functions so as to allow for individuals to have an active construction of social reality . Schemas are organized in memory as associative networks of concepts. In social cognition, concepts represent persons, groups, and attributes. These associative networks are bidirectional relationships between pairs of concepts and are variable in strength. In the associative networks, similar concepts are clustered together. Strength of association is reflected as when a particular concept is activated and related concepts are activated as well.