Cultural psychology
Chapter 7
Living in multicultural worlds
Acculturation is the process by which people migrate to and learn a culture that is different from their original (or heritage) culture.
Reaching consistent conclusions on acculturation is difficult because acculturating individuals have widely varying experiences. 1) People move to a new country for many reasons. 2) Acculturating individuals can move to dramatically different kinds of environments. 3) People move to cultures that vary in their similarity to their heritage culture. 4) Different individuals have different personalities, goals, and expectations that affect their acculturation experiences.
Moving to a new culture involves psychological adjustment. This adjustment occurs over a wide variety of domains: learning a new language, learning new interpersonal and social behaviours, becoming accustomed to new values, becoming a member of a minority group and adjusting one’s self-concept.
Changes in attitudes toward the host culture
Migrants are those who move from a heritage culture (their original culture) to a host culture (their new culture). This group includes sojourners (those who intend to stay only temporary), and immigrants (those who intend to move permanently).
A common pattern of adjustment to acculturation is a U-shaped curve. In the first few months people often have very positive feelings about the host culture, this is the honeymoon stage. Over time this gives way to the negative feelings associated with culture shock. The thrill of having novel and exotic experiences wears off and these experiences become tiring and difficult. In this stage, homesickness can become quite strong. Culture shock is the feeling of being anxious, helpless, irritable, and in general, homesick that one experiences on moving to a new culture. With time, people adjust to their new host culture and often develop positive feelings about it. This is the adjustment phase.
Sojourners can go through the same adjustment stages after they return to their home country.
This U-shaped curve does not characterize the adjustment pattern of everyone’s experiences.
Once societal feature of a host culture that seems to influence the acculturating individual’s adjustment is the ease with which migrants can be accommodated by the host culture. It is possible that in homogenous societies the adjustment phase takes longer.
Who adjusts better?
People tend to respond differently to the myriad challenges posted by acculturation, depending on the situation that they are in and
.....read more
The Netherlands
Add new contribution