Self-perception through customs among Romanian immigrants

Abstract

The article discusses concepts specific to sociology and social psychology to reveal the role played by cultural heritage in the life of Romanian immigrants. The complementarity between these fields in relation to traditional knowledge allows a better understanding of the socio-cultural dimension of migration. Selfperception theory is applicable to cultural reactions in host countries since subjects often perform ritual or magic gestures without even being aware they were familiar with them. Only then did they conclude that a certain attachment to cultural heritage is manifest. The role of community is underlined in the article from twoperspectives: on a cultural level, it transmits and preserves practices, while on a psychological level the group proves essential in the construct of social identity. In this regard, interviews with migrants from Italy, Spain, and Greece are presented in three sections focused on definitions of the self as part of the community, characteristics of the specific environment that maintains home country practices, and the perspective on the host society.