Polycultural Identity Experiences: A Qualitative Exploration in Australia

Developing cultural identity can be a complex journey in culturally diverse spaces within Australia, where approximately half of the population is either born overseas or has one parent who was. We reflexively and thematically analyzed 45 semi-structured interviews with culturally and demographically diverse Australian residents to gain a deeper understanding of this complex process. Our approach was primarily inductive and data-driven. To explore how identity experiences are tied to societal assumptions about cultural diversity, we shared with participants the notions of multiculturalism and polyculturalism during interviews to facilitate discussion. Five themes were generated: (1) varied identification with heritage culture, (2) questioning Australian identity: what it means to be Australian, (3) being a product of many influences, (4) learning, bridging, and blending cultural influences, and (5) the importance of meaningful social group identities. These themes reflected an array of identity experiences concerning heritage and inclusivity but also appreciation and integration of diverse cultural influences as part of self, including values and worldviews shared within non-heritage social groups. Cultural identity experiences in a pluralistic society may be better seen as a process of active transformations where culture’s influence on the person is partial and plural, consistent with the polyculturalism paradigm rather than general and enduring, as seen in the multiculturalism paradigm.