The proximal distant: How does remote acculturation affect wellbeing in the multicultural context of Lebanon?

Abstract

As a multicultural context, Lebanon has been subjected to complex cultural influences across history and has no clear cultural delineations. Lebanese currently choose to maintain or abandon a combination of four local cultural identities (sectarian, religious, national, and supranational). They may also choose to adopt postcolonial French culture and/or remotely acculturate to American culture. In this unique Middle Eastern context, we specifically examined Americanization in relation to well-being. Using a cross-sectional design, we analyzed data from 741 participants aged 18–40. We identified several cultural clusters from measures of identity and behavioral orientations towards one's self-ascribed sectarian, Arab, religious, national, postcolonial French, and American cultural indicators. Cluster analysis indicated the existence of three clusters within the sample: a national multicultural Americanized cluster (23%), a religious multicultural Americanized cluster (40%), and a religious multicultural traditional cluster (37%). The clusters’ composition and characteristics potentially reflect historical and current events related to the political and social fabric of the country and the region (e.g., the Arab Nationalist Movement, the recent national uprising). In addition, we compared psychological well-being across clusters; the analyses demonstrated significant differences. Universally, our results highlight the importance of maintaining a positive attitude towards one's local culture(s) to protect one's well-being and indicate that Americanization extends beyond adolescence and the emerging adulthood periods into adulthood. At the societal level, the emergence of a cluster prioritizing national identity encourages efforts to promote a superordinate national identity and could be indicative of a significant shift within the Lebanese social and political fabric.