Acculturation

Acculturation refers to the interactions between an individual (or a group) and an individual (or a group) from a different culture.^[1]

History

Psychologists have also been interested in studying acculturation but are often interested in the effects of acculturation on individuals. For example, studies in psychology have looked at how people's way of thinking changes after the move to a new culture.^[2] Psychologists have also studied the stress people feel when moving to a new culture^[3] and whether certain coping styles help people manage that stress better or worse.^[4] Sociologists also study acculturation and how societies change from interacting with new cultures.^[1][5]

Models

Models of acculturation.^[6]

The process of acculturation can have four outcomes: assimilation, integration, separation, and marginalization.^[7][8] These four outcomes are shown in the picture to the right.

• Assimilation is when one culture loses its original identity and takes on the identity of the other culture (in the picture, all of the blue dots become red dots).
• Integration is when one culture still has some of its original identity while also trying to be a part of the other culture (in the picture, there are still blue dots in the larger circle, but some blue dots are trying to “act” or “look like” red dots; some red dots may try to look like blue dots too).
• Separation is when there is an interaction between the two cultures, but nothing is exchanged, the cultures do not change (in the picture, the red and blue dots are in the same circle, but none of them change color).
• Marginalization is when no interaction occurs between the two cultures and one culture loses their own culture (in the picture, the blue dots are in their own circle and are not colored in, while the red dots remain unchanged).

Social science

Anthropologists, psychologists, and sociologists all use acculturation to help explain changes that happen when cultures interact. One way of measuring levels of acculturation is through acculturative stress.^[9]

This measurement helps relate acculturation to other ideas or issues and helps researchers understand what happens to individuals and groups during acculturation. Many studies have looked at acculturative stress and health of individuals.^[10][11][12] Other acculturation research studies have focused on immigrant populations to the United States^[13] and other minority groups.^[14]