Cultural identity and its measurement: a questionnaire for Asians

Cultural identity is an integral part of an individual's self and it may affect social and individual functioning of individuals leading to mental distress. The present paper describes the key concepts of cultural identity such as religion, attitudes to the family, leisure activities, rites of passages, food and language. The concept of acculturation is vital to the concept of the self and thus the development of the self and degree of comfort in living within other cultures becomes important. The measurement of acculturation and cultural identity is often a difficult one. In this paper various measurements illustrate rite need of having a multifaceted instrument in measuring cultural identity among Asians (those having connections with the Indian subcontinent).