Visual primes as culture-sensitive method to understanding acculturation processes

One facet of contemporary societies is their increasingly divers composition. With a foreign population percentage of 47, 5 %, Luxembourg is an example for a super-diverse society and provides a rich context to explore acculturation processes. The majority of immigrants have European roots, but the number of non-European immigrants is rising. Within this qualitative study we examined the identity construction processes of eight Japanese women living in Luxembourg using several visual primes guiding the interview. Building on Ying-yi Hong’s work on cultural mixing we developed hybrid images to evoke affective responses and to capture the negotiation processes between cultures.
The choice of images was carefully prepared and first involved an ethnographic study of cultural dimensions of Japan and Luxembourg. Based on this analysis we decided to explore the domains of beauty, food, living, leisure and family. For each domain, we chose a prototypical European and Japanese image and created a hybrid image. All images were culturally meaningful and anchored in real life experiences. The Japanese images were tested in a pilot study in Japan. The interviews were carefully planned, each phase involving different visual stimuli. In the opening phase, the interviewer presented a business card in three different designs – European, Japanese and a mixed version. Interviewees could choose their preferred version and explain their choice. Next, a series of 15 matched typical images of Japan and Luxembourg were shown and the interviewees again chose their preferred images and explained their choice. Finally, the five sets of domain-specific images were presented. These provided a context for narration and especially the reaction to the hybrid stimuli showed how participants negotiate their cultural identities. The visual primes made the negotiation strategies visible. Findings from this study and the potential of this culture-sensitive method for accessing the process of acculturation will be discussed.