Exploring the Lived Experiences of Cultural Identity Negotiation among Adolescent Migrants

Abstract

Migration studies increasingly highlight the psychological and cultural challenges faced by adolescents navigating life between multiple cultural worlds. Within this domain, the subjective experiences of identity negotiation among adolescent migrants remain underexplored, particularly in terms of how cultural tensions are lived and internalized. Despite growing interest in bicultural adaptation, existing research often relies on quantitative approaches that fail to capture the nuanced and evolving nature of personal meaning-making. This study addresses the question: How do adolescent migrants experience and negotiate dual cultural identities amid social and familial pressures? Conducted in Indonesia, this study employs an interpretative phenomenological approach to explore the lived experiences of ten adolescent migrants aged 13 to 17, each having resided in the country for a minimum of three years following cross-border migration. Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews, enabling rich exploration of individual narratives. Thematic analysis using NVivo software uncovered four central themes: (1) cultural in-betweenness, (2) emotional dimensions of language use, (3) conflicting family expectations, and (4) the emergence of empowered bicultural identities. Analytical procedures were grounded in Heideggerian phenomenology, ensuring interpretative depth in capturing participants’ meaning-making processes. The study reveals that cultural identity formation is a dynamic, emotionally intricate process influenced by continuous negotiation and adaptation within familial and social spheres. These findings enhance context-specific understanding of migrant identity development and provide practical insights for educators, mental health professionals, and policymakers engaging with multicultural youth populations. Future studies are encouraged to broaden phenomenological investigations across diverse migration contexts and refine theoretical frameworks on bicultural identity integration.