The effect of immigration, acculturation and multicompetence on personality profiles of Israeli multilinguals

The present study investigates the link between immigration, multilingualism, acculturation and personality profiles (as measured by the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire) of 193 residents in Israel. Participants born in Israel tended to score higher on Emotional Stability than those born abroad. Participants with one immigrant parent (but not two) scored higher on Cultural Empathy, Open-mindedness and Social Initiative. Participants who had become dominant in Hebrew as a foreign language scored lower on Emotional Stability than Hebrew L1-dominant participants. The number of languages known by participants was not linked to their personality profile. A high level of use of various languages was linked to significantly higher scores on Cultural Empathy and Open-mindedness. Gender and age were also linked to personality profiles. Advanced knowledge of more languages and frequent use of more languages were linked to higher levels of Social Initiative and Open-mindedness, while advanced knowledge of more languages was also linked to higher levels of Cultural Empathy. These findings confirm that some personality traits are shaped by individuals' linguistic history, degree of multilingualism and a combination of social and biographical factors.