A model of Acculturation: Berry (2005)
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By Corinne Wright
Multiculturalism is becoming increasingly common. If you were to walk along a street of any major world city, you would be likely to encounter people of varying different ethnic backgrounds and hear numerous languages being spoken. Within the Pamoja community, many (but not all) of our students and staff are living and working in places that we don’t consider to be our home country. Have you experienced spending an extended period of time in a foreign country? If so, how easy or difficult did you find it to adjust to the new culture? Did you want to adjust to the new culture?
Acculturation is the process of social and psychological adjustment that takes place when two different cultures meet. Acculturation is experienced by immigrants, refugees or anybody taking an extended stay in a foreign country. Berry (2005) proposed that people experiencing acculturation behave in one of four ways:
Assimilation: adapting to the new culture and leaving the original culture behind.
Separation: Avoiding interactions with the new culture and holding on to the original culture.
Integration: Becoming bi-cultural. Integrating with the new culture whilst still maintaining the original culture.
Marginalisation: Leaving the original culture behind but struggling to integrate in the new culture due to discrimination.
Berry argued that the process of acculturation can often be stressful. However, it is thought that those individuals who take an integration approach are likely to experience less stress in comparison to the other groups.
Supportive Studies
Berry, Phinney, Sam and Vedder (2006) aimed to discover if there is a relationship between acculturation and adaptation to life in the new culture. They studied immigrant youth aged 13 – 18. It was found that participants who adopted an integration acculturation profile (meaning that they viewed both their original and new culture positively and had frequent contact with both cultures) adapted to life in the new culture most successfully. This was in comparison to participants who focused primarily on their original culture, or their new culture, or who were confused about their cultural identity. This finding supports the claim that acculturation is more successful and less stressful when an individual seeks integration with their new culture, as well as maintaining contact with their original culture.
Lueck and Wilson (2010) studied Asian immigrants to America with the aim of discovering factors which affect acculturation stress. They studied around 2000 Asian – Americans using semi structured interviews. Results revealed that participants who were fully bilingual experienced less acculturation stress than those who weren’t, as they were able to interact with both their original and new cultures. Unsurprisingly, participants who were subjected to discrimination suffered high levels of acculturation stress. This finding also supports the view that taking an integration approach to acculturation has the most successful outcomes.
Points to consider when evaluating Berry’s model:
An older theory of acculturation is the Assimilation theory which is uni-dimensional. It claims that the more an individual integrates into a new culture, the less contact they will maintain with their original culture. Berry’s theory is bi-dimensional as it claims that contact can be maintained with the original culture, whilst at the same time, integrating into the new culture.
Berry fails to acknowledge that national culture is complex and not homogeneous.
Sam (2000) studied a sample of multicultural adolescents living in Norway and found that those who aimed for separation from their new culture reported higher life satisfaction than those who integrated.
Many studies into acculturation use self-report methods, such as surveys (questionnaires) and interviews, which are subject to participant bias, especially desirability bias. Many of these studies also only focus on the aspects of culture which are quantifiable, such as food and language. They tend to ignore areas that are difficult to study, such as religion.
Attribution or other external references
Berry, J. W. (2005). Acculturation: Living successfully in two cultures. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 29(6), pp. 697-712
Berry, J. W., Phinney, J. S., Sam, D. L., & Vedder, P. E. (2006). Immigrant Youth in Cultural Transition: acculturation, identity, and adaptation across national contexts. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Lueck, K., & Wilson, M. (2010). Acculturative stress in Asian immigrants: the impact of social and linguistic factors. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 34(1), pp. 47-57.
Sam, D.K. (2000). Psychological adaptation of adolescents with immigrant backgrounds. The Journal of Social Psychology, 140(1), pp. 5-25
