Do pieces of the self-puzzle fit? Integrated/fragmented selves in biculturally-identified Chinese Americans

Individual differences in integrated/fragmented selves were examined among 179 biculturally-identified Chinese Americans. Although 58% reported multiple selves that felt truly integrated, as bicultural acculturation would assume, 42% reported self-fragmentation. Integration/fragmentation was differentially associated with adjustment and relationship quality. Those with integrated selves reported the most adaptive outcomes, those who were distressed about their self-fragmentation reported the least adaptive outcomes, and those who felt comfortable with self-fragmentation fell somewhere in between. Results caution against assuming that bicultural individuals are homogenously well-adapted, and speak to the utility of bridging acculturation and self research to better understand sociocultural adaptation processes.