CULTURE AND HEALTH: THE ROLE OF BICULTURAL INDIVIDUALS’ ETHNIC AND MAINSTREAM CULTURES IN THEIR HEALTH BEHAVIORS

Culture plays an important role in shaping individuals’ health behaviors, but relatively little is known about the simultaneous influence of bicultural individuals’ ethnic and mainstream cultures on their food intake and physical activity. This thesis used a mixed-methods approach to examine the relationship between African Americans’ ethnic and mainstream cultures and their health behaviors. Study 1 (a qualitative study) and Study 2 (a quantitative study) examined two health-enhancing behaviors that blend aspects of people’s ethnic and mainstream cultures: picking and choosing healthy behaviors from their ethnic and mainstream cultures, and consuming healthy makeovers of some of the less healthy ethnic dishes. These studies found that African Americans embrace picking and choosing and consuming healthy makeovers, and view them as ways to improve their health. These studies also identified a number of psycho-socio-environmental factors that can influence the likelihood of picking and choosing and consuming healthy makeovers (including self-efficacy and cultural factors).Studies 3 and 4 further investigated perceptions of picking and choosing. Study 3 found that participants were more interested in a health blog that allowed them to pick and choose health behaviors from their ethnic and mainstream cultures than they were in a health blog that focused exclusively on ethnic behaviors. Study 4 found that having a choice is especially desirable when the choice comes from a consistent set of options (e.g., “typical ethnic healthy behaviors” or “typical mainstream healthy behaviors”).Studies 5 and 6 further investigated perceptions of healthy makeovers. Both studies showed that healthy makeovers of African American dishes were perceived as healthier than traditional African American dishes, but just as desirable, suggesting that consuming healthy makeovers may be an acceptable means of improving the diet of African Americans.Overall, these findings highlight the potential benefit of incorporating positive aspects of individuals’ ethnic and mainstream cultures. Given that the world is becoming increasingly more diverse and that individuals can claim more than one cultural identity, it will be important for future research to continue to explore the ways in which people can take advantage of their dual or multiple cultural membership to improve their health