Module 4: Acculturation Flashcards
psychological definition of acculturation
refers to the changes an individual experiences after contact with one or more cultures and/or participation in the process of cultural change in his cultural group
anthropology definition of acculturation
the phenomenon that occurs when groups of individuals with different cultures come into long-term contact, resulting in a change in the original cultural patterns in one or both groups
ethnocultural groups
mobility: sedentary, voluntary contact with other groups
- e.g. Welsh, English, Irish in the UK have voluntary contact with each other
indigenous people
mobility: sedentary, involuntary contact with other groups
- e.g. Native Americans came into involuntary contact with Western colonizers
immigrants
mobility: permanent migrants, voluntary contact with other groups
- e.g. German man living and working in the Netherlands
refugees
mobility: permanent migrants, involuntary contact with other groups
- people who have been granted asylum
sojourners
mobility: temporary migrants, voluntary contact with other groups
- e.g. internatinal students
asylum seekers
mobility: temporary migrants, involuntary contact with other groups
cultural preservation
retaining the characteristics of one’s own culture
cultural adoption
adopting features of one’s culture into the ‘host culture’ or culture of settlement
intercultural adaptation
how a person feels about cultural adoption
Gordon (1964)
proposed a one-dimensional conceptualization
- ran from culture preservation at one end to culture acquisition at the other
Berry (1990)
assumes a 2-dimensional conceptualization, which includes 4 acculturation orientations
- integration
- separation
- assimilation
- marginalization
integration
lots of maintenance, lots of adaptation
- you see yourself as belonging to both cultural groups
separation
lots of maintenance, little adaptation
- you want to maintain your heritage culture without adopting the host culture
assimilation
little maintenance, lots of adaptation
- you shed your heritage culture and adopt the host culture
marginalization
little maintenance, little adaptation
- the most dysfunctional orientation and often is not a conscious choice
interactive acculturation model (Bourhis et al. 1997)
looks at the attitudes of the majority of the group in a culture
1. do people believe it is acceptable that immigrants maintain their home culture
2. do people believe is it acceptable that immigrants adopt their new culture
integration
acceptable to maintain home culture and acceptable to adopt their new culture
assimilation
not acceptable to maintain their home culture, but acceptable to adopt their new culture
segregation
acceptable to maintain their home culture but not acceptable to adopt their new culture
exclusion/individualism
not acceptable to maintain their home culture and not acceptable to adopt their new culture
fusion model (LaFrombroise)
states that when 2 cultures closely interact, a new third culture is created that contains elements of both
acculturation framework
one can have acculturation conditions (1)
- characteristics of the receiving society
- characteristics of the society of origin
- characteristics of the immigrant group
- personal characteristics (family)
acculturation orientation (2)
acculturation conditions influence how you behave and whether you adopt cultural adaptation and/or cultural preservation
acculturation outcomes (3)
- psychological well-being
- socio-cultural competence in ‘mainstream’ culture
- sociocultural competence in ethnic culture
how acculturation can be measured
- one statement method
- two statement method
- four statement method
- vignette method
one statement method
involves being asked to choose which of the statements offered best fits you
- limitations: it is difficult to choose a midpoint because you don’t know anything quantitatively
two statement method
given 2 statements that you have to score on a scale (e.g. 1-5)
- allows you to work with mean, median, and mode
- may cause you to lose insight into the data
four statement method
given 4 statements to score on a scale
- the statements are 2 statements in 1 (“I think … is important AND I think … is important”)
- limitations: it requires good cognitive and mental state to answer the questions, and participants’ interpretation may also differ
vignette method
a description is given of a person who has to adapt to a new culture
- you are asked to what extent you agree with everything that person has done
- these many aspects sometimes make the question difficult which requires cognitive and mental abilities
- not always clear which part of the question the participants are answering
acculturation gap
the discrepancy between acculturation of children and parents
- acculturation gap increases when father-child communication is poor, and decreases when it is better
- when the acculturation gap decreases, so does the number of internalized symptoms (e.g. depression) and vice versa
pressure on acculturation
in institutions and organizations for young people such as schools, pressure on acculturation is counterproductive
- social support, multicultural policies, and encouragement of equal treatment works
Celeste et al.’s policies of dealing with diversity and equality
- multiculturalism: recognizing and valuing being part of a group and its diversity
- colorblindness: minimizing differences, emphasizing individuals with equal treatment
- assimilationism: minority group fits in to the crowd
how the policies of diversity relate to students’ school performance and belonging
- overall, the crowd scored higher on both school performance and belonging relative to the minority group
- the ‘gap’ of belonging was reduced with policies focused on mulitculturalism and also with assimilationism
- the ‘gap’ of achievement was reduced with the policy of colorblindness
- when minority groups felt they were treated more equally they felt more included, motivated, and performed better
compartmentalized identity
when a person keeps different aspects of their identity separate, such as their cultural, social, or personal identities, rather than integrating them into a unified sense of self
tridimensional acculturation (Ferguson, 2012)
‘belonging’ involves more than just your own culture and that of the one you want to belong to
- it involves a third party
remote acculturation
the process by which people adopt aspects of another culture without direct, physical contact, often through exposure to global media, technology, or online interactions
return migration
when people move back to their home country after living abroad for a period of time
return of failure
due to social or political factors, the person cannot adapt to the country of migration
return of conservatism
they migrated with the goal of returning to their country of origin later
return of retirement
they return to their country of origin as soon as they finish working
return of innovation
they have changed during their stay in the country they migrated to
- upon returning to their old country, they also plan to make changes through the things they have learned such as knowledge or values
Almanci
what people in Turkey call it when people returning to Turkey after many years abroad are not accepted by the mono-cultural people still living there
- they have to re-acculturate
intercultural contact
the start of the acculturation process
cultural distance hypothesis
states that integration will be difficult when there are large differences between the home culture and host culture
cross-cultural acculturation framework
states that the acculturation orientation a person chooses is influenced by the family, which affects adaptation
