User:Fdanbold/Acculturation

Acculturation explains the process of cultural and psychological change that results following meeting between cultures. The effects of acculturation can be seen at multiple levels in both interacting cultures. At the group level, acculturation often results in changes to culture, customs, and social institutions. Noticeable group level effects of acculturation often include changes in food, clothing, and language. At the individual level, differences in the way individuals acculturate have been shown to be associated not just with changes in daily behavior, but with numerous measures of psychological and physical well-being. As enculturation is used to describe the process of first-culture learning, acculturation can be thought of as second-culture learning.

The concept of acculturation has been studied scientifically since 1918. As it has been approached at different times from the fields of psychology, anthropology, and sociology, numerous theories and definitions have emerged to describe elements of the acculturative process. Despite definitions and evidence that acculturation entails a two-way process of change, research and theory have primarily focused on the adjustments and adaptations made by minorities such as immigrants, refugees, and indigenous peoples in response to their contact with the dominant majority. Contemporary research has primarily focused on different strategies of acculturation and how variations in acculturation affect how well individuals adapt to their society.

Historical approaches
The earliest recorded thoughts towards acculturation can be found in Sumerian inscriptions from 2370 B.C. These inscriptions laid out rules for commerce and interaction with foreigners designed to limit acculturation and protect traditional cultural practices. Plato also said that acculturation should be avoided as he thought it would lead to social disorder. Accordingly, he proposed that no one should travel abroad until they are at least 40 years of age, and that travellers should be restricted to the ports of cities to minimize contact with native citizens. Nevertheless, the history of Western civilization, and in particular the histories of Europe and the United States, are largely defined by patterns of acculturation.

J.W. Powell is credited with coining the word "acculturation" in 1880, defining it as “the psychological changes induced by cross-cultural imitation.” The first psychological theory of acculturation was proposed in W.I. Thomas and Florian Znaniecki’s 1918 study, “The Polish Peasant in Europe and America.” From studying Polish immigrants in Chicago, they illustrated three forms of acculturation corresponding to three personality types: Bohemian (adopting the host culture and abandoning their culture of origin), Philistine (failing to adopt the host culture but preserving their culture of origin), and Creative-Type (able to adapt to the host culture while preserving their culture of origin). In 1936, Redfield, Linton, & Herskovits provided the first widely used definition of acculturation as “those phenomena which result when groups of individuals having different cultures come into continuous first-hand contact, with subsequent changes in the original cultural patterns of either or both groups…under this definition acculturation is to be distinguished from…assimilation, which is at times a phase of acculturation Since then scholars in different disciplines have developed more than 100 different theories of acculturation.

Conceptual Models of Acculturation
Although numerous models of acculturation exist, the most complete models take into consideration the changes occurring at the group and individual levels of both interacting groups. To understand acculturation at the group level, one must first look at the nature of both cultures before coming into contact with one another. One communications-based approach to understanding the interaction of acculturating groups is Eric Kramer's User:Fdanbold/Dimensional_Accrual_And_Dissociation_Theory.

At the individual level, elements of both the original cultures and the changed cultures must be taken into consideration when considering an individual’s psychological acculturation. Psychological acculturation concerns the behavioral shifts and experienced thoughts, feelings, and stress associated with cultural change. Differences in psychological acculturation then affect how well individuals adapt to their new cultural environment, leading to both psychological and sociocultural outcomes such as experiencing low self-esteem or acquiring a new language.

Fourfold Models
Meta-analyses of research on acculturation have shown pronounced disagreement in the categorization of different strategies of acculturation. However, the majority of these models have divided the ways in which individuals approach acculturation into four categories.

The fourfold model categorizes acculturation strategies along two dimensions. The first dimension concerns the retention or rejection of an individual’s minority or native culture (i.e. “Is it considered to be of value to maintain one’s identity and characteristics?”). The second dimension concerns the adoption or rejection of the dominant group or host culture (i.e. “Is it considered to be of value to maintain relationships with the larger society?”) From this, four acculturation strategies emerge.

1.	Assimilation – Assimilation occurs when individuals reject their minority culture and adopt the cultural norms of the dominant or host culture.

2.	Separation – Separation occurs when individuals reject the dominant or host culture in favor of preserving their culture of origin. Separation is often facilitated by immigration to ethnic enclaves.

3.	Integration – Integration occurs when individuals are able to adopt the cultural norms of the dominant or host culture while maintaining their culture of origin. Integration leads to, and is often synonymous with biculturalism.

4.	Marginalization – Marginalization occurs when individuals reject both their culture of origin and the dominant host culture.

Predictors of Acculturation Strategies
The fourfold models used to describe the attitudes of immigrant groups parallel models used to describe the expectations of the larger society of how groups should acculturate. In a melting pot society, in which a harmonious and homogenous culture is promoted, assimilation is the endorsed acculturation strategy. In segregationist society, in which humans are separated into racial groups in daily life, a separation acculturation strategy is endorsed. In a multiculturalist society, in which multiple cultures are accepted and appreciated, individuals are encouraged to adopt an integrationist approach to acculturation. In societies where cultural exclusion is promoted, individuals often adopt marginalization strategies of acculturation.

Attitudes of the larger society towards acculturation, and thus the range of acculturation strategies available, have not been consistent over time. For example, for most of American history, policies and attitudes have been based around established ethnic hierarchies with an expectation of one-way assimilation for European immigrants. Although the notion of cultural pluralism has existed since the early 20th century, the recognition and promotion of multiculturalism did not come to prominence in America until the 1980s. Separatism can still be seen today in autonomous religious communities such as the Amish and the Hutterites. Immediate environment also impacts the availability and advantage of different acculturation strategies. As individuals immigrate to unequal segments of society, immigrants to areas low on economic and ethnic hierarchies may find efforts to assimilate leading to limited social mobility and membership to a disadvantaged community.

It should also be noted that most individuals show variation in both their ideal and chosen acculturation strategies across different domains of their lives. For example, among immigrants, it is often easier and more desired to acculturate to their host society’s attitudes towards politics and government, than it is to acculturate to new attitudes about religion, principles, and values.

Individual health
A great deal of public health research has used the degree to which individuals adopt the cultural norms of the dominant host culture as a predictor of numerous health outcomes, primarily among immigrant groups. Acculturation is thought to impact health by impacting levels of stress, access to health resources, and attitudes towards health. Among U.S. Latinos, higher levels of adoption of the American host culture has been associated with negative effects on health behaviors and outcomes, but positive effects on health care use and access. The effects of acculturation on physical health is thought to be a major factor in the Immigrant Paradox, the finding that first generation immigrants tend to have better health outcomes than members of the host culture, and that these differences decrease over generations.

One prominent explanation for the negative health behaviors and outcomes (e.g. substance use, low birth weight) associated with the acculturation process is the acculturative stress theory. Acculturative stress refers to the psychological, somatic, and social difficulties that may accompany acculturation processes, often manifesting in anxiety, depression and other forms of mental and physical maladaptation. Stress caused by acculturation has been documented in phenomenological research on the acculturation of adolescent female Mexican immigrants. This research has shown that acculturation is a “fatiguing experience requiring a constant stream of bodily energy”, an “individual and familial endeavor”, and involves “enduring loneliness caused by seemingly insurmountable language barriers”. However, the same individuals also report “finding relief and protection in relationships” and “feeling worse and then feeling better about oneself with increased competencies” during the acculturative process.

Culture
In situations of continuous contact, cultures have exchanged and blended foods, music, dances, clothing, tools, and technologies. Cultural exchange can either occur naturally through extended contact, or deliberately though cultural appropriation or cultural imperialism.

Cultural appropriation is the adoption of some specific elements of one culture by a different cultural group. It can include the introduction of forms of dress or personal adornment, music and art, religion, language, or behavior. These elements are typically imported into the existing culture, and may have wildly different meanings or lack the subtleties of their original cultural context. Because of this, cultural appropriation is sometimes viewed negatively, and has been called "cultural theft."

Cultural imperialism is the practice of promoting the culture or language of one nation in another, usually occurring in situations in which assimilation is the dominant strategy of acculturation. Cultural imperialism can take the form of an active, formal policy or a general attitude regarding cultural superiority.

Language
The transactional nature of acculturation is particularly notable in the evolution of languages. In some instances, acculturation results in the adoption of another country’s language, which is then modified over time to become a new, distinct, language. For example, Hanzi, the written language of Chinese language, has been adapted and modified by other nearby cultures, including: Japan (as Kanji), Korea (as Hanja), and Vietnam (as Chữ-nôm). Another common effect of acculturation on language is the formation of pidgin languages. Pidgin is a mixed language that has developed to help communication between members of different cultures in contact, usually occurring in situations of trade or colonialism. For example, Pidgin English is a simplified form of English mixed with some of the language of another culture.

Definitions
Some anthropologists make a semantic distinction between group and individual levels of acculturation. In these instances, the term “transculturation” is used to define individual foreign-origin acculturation, and occurs on a smaller scale with less visible impact. Scholars making this distinction use the term “acculturation” only to address large-scale cultural transactions.

Recommended Models of Acculturation
From the vast catalog of theories on acculturation, many different prescriptions have emerged for the most adaptive form of acculturation. When asking individuals about their preferred acculturation strategy, there is an almost universal preference for integration and dislike of marginalization. In general, most research seems to indicate that the integrationist model of acculturation will lead to the most favorable psychosocial outcomes A meta-analysis of the acculturation literature, however, found these results to be unclear,. Recognizing that acculturation was measured inconsistently among these studies, later meta-analyses of up to 83 studies showed that integration was indeed found to have a “significant, strong and positive relationship with psychological and sociocultural adjustment”. Factors such as how different the two interacting cultures are, and how easily individuals can integrate these two cultures (bicultural identity integration) may partially explain why general statements about approaches to acculturation are not sufficient in predicting successful adaptation.

Typological Approach
Several theorists have stated that the fourfold models of acculturation are too simplistic to have predictive validity. Some common criticisms of such models include the fact that individuals don’t often fall neatly into any of the four categories, and that there is very little evidence for the applied existence of the marginalization acculturation strategy. In addition, the bi-directionality of acculturation means that whenever two groups are engaged in cultural exchange, there are in fact 16 permutations of acculturation strategies possible (e.g. an integrationist individual within an assimilationist host culture). The Interactive Acculturation Model represents one proposed alternative to the typological approach by attempting to explain the acculturation process within a framework of state policies and the dynamic interplay of host community and immigrant acculturation orientations.