Paper short abstract:

The results of a qual. textual analysis of online representations of expatriates' everyday, of psychological reactions to anxiety and uncertainty caused by living in a novel cultural environment: reinforcing existential security and diffusing identity vulnerability via identity boundary regulation

Paper long abstract:

In postmodern Europe the Internet increasingly substitutes the modern expatriate community, providing an arena for expatriates to represent the sense of cultural distinctiveness they feel, to pass on and multiply these representations created and sustained in their daily interpersonal communications in a novel cultural environment. In this context, our paper looks into the nature and characteristics of psychological reactions to intercultural everyday, which are often reactions to anxiety and uncertainty.

Our qualitative textual analysis focuses on the representations of those feelings - crucial indicators of lack of security - experienced offline and represented online by members of the expatriate community of people of Estonian origin (PEO) living and experiencing their daily lives in Western Europe, Luxembourg. We analyse the elements of self-identity construction of the expatriates of PEO as maintained by identification with others and other groups. Taking the existential security-vulnerability of the identity as the primary motivation dialectic for human interaction, the analysis reveals expatriates' latent goal: to reinforce existential security and diffuse identity vulnerability via identity boundary regulation. Inclusion and differentiation are being performed and represented in PEO weblogs to enhance or verify positive self-conceptions with supportive others. Expressions of 'being themselves' include maintaining the perceived dominant position and symbolic capital PEO expatriates held in home culture; therewith both their representations in and towards the culturally hostile environment are political acts. We have selected the identity-cognitive security model to discuss how PEO expatriates in Western Europe fulfil their need for positive regard and symbolic capital confirmation.