Identity Mapping Reveals Adaptive Labeling Across Cultural Boundaries

Theory predicts that larger, more ethnically diverse populations will employ a greater breadth of identity categories where ethnicity is the primary focus. Further, in the presence of a clear majority group, out-group observers will select for more coarse-grain labeling while in-group observers will highlight culture-specific roles. We test these expectations by introducing a new empirical approach – identity mapping – where observer-subject free-listing produces a map of label dependencies. After collecting data in Tonga and Salt Lake City, Utah, we produced identity maps to evaluate expectations regarding how Tongan identity shifts across cultural boundaries. Supporting formal theory, a greater number of labels were ascribed in the larger, more complex U.S. population where ethnic labels were also more salient. For Tongan in-group observers, gender, age, and wealth were the most salient identity groups with strong interdependencies, whereas U.S. out-group respondents used a wide variety of categories including wealth, age, ethnicity, but downplayed gender.