The cultural narrative of francophone and anglophone Quebecers and their perceptions of temporal relative deprivation : links with esteem and well-being

The thesis describes a program of research that investigated the over-riding hypothesis that a clear cultural identity is associated with positive personal and collective self-esteem, and positive personal well-being. The testing of this novel hypothesis required first and foremost that a reliable measure of cultural identity generally, and the clarity of a person's cultural identity in particular, be developed. To meet this goal Study 1 introduced an innovative method in a story-telling form, the "Cultural Narrative". The Cultural Narrative method is built on McAdams' (1996, 2001) Life Story Model for assessing personal identity. In order to verify its generalizability, this novel methodology was applied to two natural cultural groups: Francophone and Anglophone Quebecers. Results showed that for Francophones, a clear cultural narrative was associated with positive personal self-esteem and personal well-being, in support of the hypothesis. Unexpectedly, however, results showed that for Anglophones, a clear cultural narrative was associated with negative collective self-esteem, in complete opposition to the hypothesis. In order to theoretically refine the nature of the relationship between cultural identity clarity and individuals' esteem and well-being, Study 2 explored the historical changes in the relative ingroup status of Francophone and Anglophone Quebecers. Results indicate that when temporal relative deprivation patterns are such that the status of one's ingroup is perceived to be on the rise, cultural identity clarity is associated with positive personal well-being. In contrast, when one's ingroup trajectory is perceived to be on the downturn, cultural identity clarity is associated with a lack of personal well-being