Acculturation
entry by Julie M. Marx, Global Family Expert at Expat Valley
The process of cultural and psychological change that occurs when individuals or groups come into sustained contact with a different cultural environment. Neither assimilation nor preservation of origin culture is assumed; outcomes range across a spectrum from integration to marginalization.
Comparable terms
Cultural adaptation (general, coaching — broader and less theoretically specific) · Integration (Berry’s preferred positive outcome — maintaining heritage culture while engaging host culture) · Assimilation (research — adoption of host culture at the expense of origin culture) · Biculturalism (research, education — equivalent to Berry’s integration) · Enculturation (anthropology — specifically the process of acquiring one’s first culture; distinct from acculturation)
Why this matters
Acculturation shapes how globally mobile families adjust, belong, and function day to day. It affects identity, relationships, and mental health across moves. Understanding it helps distinguish normal adaptation strain from situations that need support.
Cross-references
Culture Shock (Cultural Adaptation); Integration (Cultural Adaptation); Cultural Adjustment (Cultural Adaptation); BII (Identity & Belonging); Cultural Fatigue (Cultural Adaptation); CCK (Identity & Belonging). Acculturation is the overarching process of cultural and psychological change arising from sustained intercultural contact, of which culture shock is an early affective signal, cultural adjustment is a measurable operational dimension, and integration is the most constructive outcome. BII describes the quality of the identity that emerges from the process — whether the individual’s two cultural frameworks feel compatible or conflicted — and does not automatically follow from acculturation alone. Cultural fatigue signals that the demands of the acculturation process have exceeded the individual’s resources, and should be read as a support need rather than an adaptation failure. Practitioners applying Berry’s acculturation framework to internationally mobile children should consult the CCK entry: children do not simply acculturate onto a pre-formed self but develop through cultural contact, making the adult acculturation model an incomplete lens for younger mobile populations.
Sources
Berry’s bidimensional model identifies four acculturation strategies arising from two questions about cultural maintenance and host-culture engagement: integration, assimilation, separation, and marginalization. Open Maricopa Berry, J.W. & Sam, D.L. (1997). Acculturation and adaptation. In J.W. Berry, M.H. Segall & C. Kagitcibasi (Eds.), Handbook of Cross-Cultural Psychology Vol. 3 (2nd ed., pp. 291–326). Allyn & Bacon.
Berry’s model has been critiqued for its Western assumptions and bidimensional framing. See: Schwartz, S.J. et al. (2010). Rethinking the concept of acculturation. American Psychologist, 65(4), 237–251.
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