Acculturation
Definition:
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)
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.
See also:
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.
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