Third Cultural Individual Identity

HOW DOES BEING A THIRD CULTURE INDIVIDUAL AFFECT YOUR INTERNAL CULTURE AND INTERNAL IDENTITY? “That which does not kill us, makes us stronger.” Many people have heard this quote from the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche in some shape or form, perhaps no one more than a Third Culture Individual. A Third Culture Individual is a term coined by Ruth Hill Useem in the 1950s about a person who has spent significant time of their developmental years (0-18) out of their parent culture. Your first culture is your home culture, your second culture is your host culture and the third culture is a mix of first and second culture, with culture defined as “Customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious or social group”

The Chameleon adopts a ‘same as’ identity, taking on the identity of what is around them – the culture, the people, the environment. The Screamer adopts a ‘different from’ identity, choosing to be different from what is around them – in manner, morals or appearance. The Wallflower adopts a ‘non-identity’, which means that they adapt to whatever the situation calls for. Quite often, a TCI will not fit into one reaction completely, and will rather borrow and share aspects of different reactions when trying to create their internal identity. TCIs often have their parents support while trying to figure out their internal identity in the midst of all the moving around and resettling, however the parents’ internal identity and the TCIs emerging internal identity don’t always match. This can sometimes make figuring out what your internal indent is harder. Also, there is an element of hidden diversity that TCIs have to work with too. Their identity may not be seen right away, because on the outside they look like a typical British teen, yet internally, they identify more with the Taiwanese culture and way of doing

The internal mix then makes it hard for you to find your identity, because your identity and culture doesn’t fit with the external culture’s definitions of what your identity and culture should be. So, a TCI creates its own internal identity and culture to include little bits of all the external cultures and identity the person comes into contact with. Additionally, being a TCI has both positive and negative impacts on your mental state. It makes you both more open-minded and less prejudiced, but also leaves you dealing with unresolved grief and Saudade with each move. No matter how many times they move, or how much time goes by, a Third Culture Individual never forgets the places they’ve called home, and carry them with them wherever they