Conceptual approaches to acculturation.

Abstract

Notes that although there is wide consensus that acculturation is an important part of cross-cultural psychology, there is disagreement about how to conceptualize and measure it. In the author's view, most researchers and policymakers have an implicit view about the process, and this colors every aspect of acculturation--how to define it, how to measure it, and what its consequences and policy implications are. At the heart of these implicit views are 2 core issues: (1) whether acculturation affects all groups in contact (dominant and nondominant) and hence is a mutual process and (2) whether acculturation is essentially unidimensional (and unidirectional) or whether it is multidimensional (with complex variations taking place). These issues constitute the underlying themes of this chapter. This chapter has 3 purposes: (1) to review the issues and some of the findings related to acculturation and to try to establish some common ground on which researchers can advance the field; (2) to emphasize individual differences in how people go about their acculturation (mainly using the concept of acculturation strategies); and (3) to outline what is currently known about the consequences of choosing the various acculturation strategies.